Martin McNeill
Data Management Team Leader
Citigroup

Citigroup run the Investment Operations functions for Standard Life Investments, however you originally joined Standard Life Investments as a graduate trainee, tell me about the programme?

Following my degree in law and accountancy at Edinburgh University I temped for a while with Standard Life. I saw an advert for the investment administration programme which I then applied for. I didn't know a lot about Investment Operations prior to this but Standard Life has an open access development centre which allowed me to carry out some research to find out more about Investment Operations.

The programme had six core areas and I spent between two and six months in each of them. There were also some peripheral areas where I spent less time. The idea was that you work in each of the areas, get involved in all the daily operations, and get a feel as to how things fit together. I also participate in a number of projects. During the scheme I had a mentor who was responsible for my overall development.

Tell me about what you do now?

I look after the Data Management team. Our job is to pull in information from external sources and validate it, so it can be used by the rest of the business. It's our responsibility to make sure the data gathering process is as efficient and robust as possible. We also have to answer numerous ad hoc enquiries from the rest of the business. These vary from a simple query about data to a fund manager's request to compare the value of some indices over the last ten years.

I find my job rewarding as it's quite a dynamic area and there is a lot of change going on. There are lots of challenges in terms of questioning and developing current processes. Trying to keep on top of these can be difficult as things change so rapidly.

What impact has this job had on your lifestyle?

My lifestyle has changed slightly as a result of the responsibility that I have been given. At Citigroup we have reasonably flexible working hours which means that you can chose to work late or leave a little early. This provides a healthy balance between work and your social life. I think Investment Operations is relatively well paid compared to other professions, so you have the opportunity to enjoy yourself out of work as well.

How do you see your career progressing?

At the moment I am happy in the department I'm in - we have recently kicked off a number of key projects looking at what we do and how we do it, so I'm keen to be involved in that. Once that challenge disappears maybe I'll move on to something else. One thing that I wouldn't rule out is working overseas if such an opportunity arose.

What would you say to other people considering a career in Investment Operations?

Because I was on the graduate training programme I have been to a lot of graduate recruitment drives. I try and give students an indication of what we do - that their job will change every couple of months and that there is potential to be given a lot of responsibility from early on in their career.