Other side of the table

“Very different, but remarkably fun and educational. That is how I feel about working at DNB for 1,5 years now. I’ve spent 16 years at a large bank, in various roles. The last couple of years, I was an operational risk management team manager. That position involved a lot of interaction with DNB. Now, I find myself at the other side of the table.

To give you an example of how my role has changed: in my old job, I used to advise management on operational risk prevention and mitigation. In my new position, you deliberately keep your advice to yourself. As a supervisor, you identify potential risks at a financial institution and open it up for discussion. It is then up to the institution itself to find a detailed solution.

A look behind the scenes

I work for the expertise centre that investigates insurers’ and pension funds’ operational and IT risks. Because I’m not committed to a single account, I get a unique look behind the scenes at a lot of institutions. This makes my job versatile while giving DNB the opportunity to keep tabs on the financial sector as a whole

Investigate

My department has a relatively large amount of freedom to determine what research we conduct over the year. It usually involves themed studies into developments that touch the entire sector. In addition, we go on-site: performing research into a specific subject at an insurer or pension fund together with several colleagues. Conducting interviews, getting into the nuts and bolts of their systems, executing data analyses and writing a research report at the end.

Sharp as a razor

The fact that I’ve been working in the financial sector for a long time, helps me in my job. My practical experience allows me to get to the bottom of things and ask the right follow-up questions. In short: do a good job. For DNB, it remains of great importance to recruit people from the sector. And to an increasing extent, they do. Experience can outweigh having the right papers.

I really appreciate the fact that the people at DNB are all about substance. You are forced to be sharp as a razor. When writing reports, for instance. Colleagues challenge each other: what does that really mean? Isn’t there another way to interpret it? This is a good thing: financial institutions rely on what we have to say. The culture here is open and the organisation flat. As long as you’ve got a clear and substantive story to tell, everyone will listen to you.”