Rikke - Manager, Nordic Fund Administration Group

"We always have to keep up with the market to deliver what the customers require. This forces the company to develop as well, something that SimCorp has a great focus on."

Rikke Haugaard Sørensen - Manager, Nordic Fund Administration Group, with SimCorp since January 2006

I am the manager of the Nordic Fund Administration Group, managing a team of five implementation consultants. Besides managing the team I also work with implementation of SimCorp Dimension within fund companies. I am situated in a role where I learn a lot and face a lot of new situations every day at our customers - I find this very challenging. I have a master’s degree in finance and a graduate diploma in Accounting. When I implement SimCorp Dimension, I deal with such areas as valuation and bookkeeping of financial instruments, so I work with some of the things I have worked with at the university.

Working in SimCorp was quite different from the way in which I have worked before, and I had a lot to learn. At SimCorp implementation projects are longer than I was used to, and I had to learn how the system functions as well as our clients' business. However, one of the first things I noticed when I started working with SimCorp was the SimCorp spirit - one never feels alone, as there is always someone to ask if in doubt.

How has your career development been?

I started as a business consultant three years ago, a year after I was appointed Senior Business Consultant, and approximately a year after that I got my managerial position. So I have to say my career has developed quite a lot in my three years with SimCorp.

At SimCorp I have found out what I want to do - what I work with today is what I am good at, and it is an area where I would like to continue developing. I really like my role, especially the great combination I have between working ‘hands on’ with the implementation of our system at the client site and the management role. Then there are the colleagues, which is the major reason why I like it at SimCorp. We have a fantastic company spirit.

The very skilled and highly educated people, working together to deliver a top quality product to the customers make SimCorp an attractive workplace. It is very much the people and the skills represented in this company that make SimCorp an attractive workplace.

How is the work-life balance?

When running projects, we tend to experience certain periods where we have to put in an extra effort. But the set-up we have is quite flexible - when you have put in that extra effort, you have the possibility to flex and take time off. We operate with flexibility both ways.

We have several SimCorp social clubs. I am a member of the art club and have won some really great paintings in the first year I took part in the art club draw. I am also in the golf club, where we have golf tournaments every once in a while. I find it is a great way of getting to know people in other departments.

What are your expectations

when hiring talent to your department?

I expect someone with financial knowledge, preferably within the fund area and typically someone with experience. I also expect you to have the right mindset and attitude, someone that can discuss business-related issues with our clients and give the right advice. Assertiveness is an important factor in our part of the business, as is the ability to communicate clearly, as well as listen to the customers' needs.

Depending on the role you start on there is a career path. In our area of the business you usually start as a Business Consultant, move to a Senior Business Consultancy role and then a Chief Consultant role. You can also specialize in project management or be more of a generalist. Then there is the possibility to choose to go the managerial way like myself - the possibilities are really quite vast. There is a lot of information on our intranet that supports my role as manager, and HR provides a lot of different courses and introductions to areas that are helpful to a management role.