Meet a Software Development Team Lead

Hometown: Solapur, India

What led you to join SIG?

I've always wanted to be in finance. After my first job, I found my way to larger financial firms in New York. I liked the hustle of finance, but found that since they were such large organizations, it took a long time and multiple layers of approvals to get anything done. We also didn't have access to production databases, or to the traders who were using our systems, and without that transparency, I felt like I wasn't able to have the impact I wanted to have.

I decided to start looking for new opportunities, focusing on finding a firm with less bureaucracy, where I could continue to solve complex financial problems and actively collaborate with my peers and managers. When I interviewed at SIG, I found the direct access I was looking for; from my first day to the role I'm in now, I've sat on the trade floor and have been able to interact with the traders, desk heads, and both business and technical teams directly.

What is unique about your current role?

I would say it's the breadth of my role and the far reaching exposure across the organization that I've had. I've been able to learn so much in the roles I've held and that's helped me to understand the full scope of our business. When I get requests or questions, I am able to assess them from multiple perspectives and design solutions that encompass all of them. I think that adds so much value to the firm.

How have your responsibilities changed as your career grew?

When I started, the relationship I had with the trading desks I supported was more task driven - the head of the desk would ask for something and my team would deliver it. It feels like so much more of a partnership now; we really work hand-in-hand. Anyone - Traders, Operations, Compliance, even the head of the desk could come to me with an idea and ask for my feedback or I can bring something forward that I think is missing. We'll discuss the request, ideas that we have and create a solution together.

You became a Team Lead fairly early on in your time at SIG. Tell us about that transition. Did you pursue that, was it presented to you, or both?

I raised my hand and actively pursued it; that's been a theme for me throughout my career. I tell my daughter (and anyone who'll listen!) that roles won't always present themselves but if you raise your hand, opportunities will be there. SIG has always trusted me in these pursuits and I've always valued that.

What is the coolest thing you've been able to do at SIG?

There have been several projects that I've seen from concept to completion. We've been placing more of a focus on our Fixed Income business recently, and as a result, we have many things going into production. We're already seeing the impact of what we're implementing as well, which is very cool.

We've created systems that allow our traders to look at and act upon data sources to make decisions about their activity in the markets every day. We've also been able to introduce a lot of automation to improve processes as we have. There have been such massive changes in technology in the past several years. It's amazing to have the chance to implement innovative ideas and directly see the impact those efforts make on the desk.

In your opinion, what is the best perk we offer?

The free lunch is amazing. I also love having the nurse practitioner here; it was extremely helpful during my pregnancy because I could take care of bloodwork here, which made my life so much easier.