Day in the Life: Armina, Manager IT at Robeco

Name: Armina
Job: Manager IT Corporate & Digital Identity Services

What does a Manager IT Corporate & Digital Identity Services do at Robeco?

As an IT department manager, together with my two sub-teams consisting of approximately 15 people, I am responsible for end-to-end IT delivery including project selection, implementation and maintaining the 25+ IT systems used by both NL as well as our international Robeco offices for our diverse business stakeholder landscape.

Here’s what a day in Armina's life looks like!

8-9 AM:
I work 3 days a week at the office, and today is the day I work from the office with my team. I commute to work by public transport, and since Robeco is located at Rotterdam Central, it’s a brief walk to get there. During these days, I love to connect with my colleagues both inside and outside my team. I am not exactly a morning person, so when I arrive at the office, I like to first grab a cup of coffee and ease slowly into my day, looking at my agenda and preparing for what’s coming. We have some early birds in the team, so by the time I arrive, there is already a nice crowd, and the first laughs and jokes typically start within a few minutes after my arrival.

9-11:30 AM:
Although every day my agenda can be different, on office days, it is usually filled with meetings as the majority of the people are also present at the office, making in-person meetings possible, which I personally prefer. Today, I have a number of 1-to-1 meetings with my team members, where we not only discuss progress on work-related topics, but also take time to discuss their personal development, ambitions, challenges, and next steps. I enjoy these conversations very much as they enable me to act as a people manager. Seeing them grow and being able to assist where I can is one of the best parts of my role.

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM:
As mentioned previously, we have a number of early birds in the team who like to go for lunch exactly at 11:30! During the office days, we have lunch together as a team in the Robeco restaurant. The canteen provides a variety of warm and cold dishes, ranging from hot snacks, soups, and breads to salad and smoothie bars, providing sufficient choice (and sometimes too much choice for me, making it difficult to pick what I want as a lot seems delicious!). The healthy foods are subsidized by Robeco, which sometimes, depending on my mood, makes it easier for me to pick up the salad bowl instead of a burger. A piece of fruit is free to grab, and I always pick this up as a healthy snack for later in the afternoon. After lunch (and a lot of laughter as usual), the majority of the team likes to go for a walk through the city. I stay back at the office and use this as focus time to collect my thoughts, prepare for the afternoon meetings, and answer the emails I received in the morning.

12:30-1 PM:
During this time, it is relatively quiet on the work floor as other people are still having lunch in or outside of Robeco. Today at 1:00 PM, I have an interview scheduled with a candidate for a vacancy within the team. I review the resume once again, note down the questions I would like to ask, and in the meantime, have brief chats with other colleagues who are returning from their lunch just to catch up and share some more laughs.

1-2 PM:
The candidate has arrived at the office for the interview. I go to the reception to pick up this person and take them to the first floor, where we have a barista bar to grab another cup of coffee for myself and whatever the candidate likes to drink (coffee, tea, cold drinks). The office building has an open ambiance with lots of windows allowing natural daylight and sunshine, which visitors always seem to enjoy and compliment. We grab our drinks and head to a meeting room to conduct the interview together, and afterward, I escort the candidate back to reception and say goodbye after giving a complimentary organic bottle of apple juice. I then take the elevator to get to my next meeting.

2-3 PM:
Currently, within Robeco, as part of our Digital Strategy, we are working on our Modern Data Platform (MDP), which will support Robeco in becoming a data-driven organization by onboarding data products in a central and governed place with the possibility to exchange data. This will enable Robeco’s vision: all data can be easily stored, found, interpreted, and used by everyone who has proper authorization. We have a team knowledge-sharing meeting about this topic, where we discuss as a team where we stand, how we can further improve our progress on this journey together, and concrete next steps.

3-3:30 PM:
After the team knowledge-sharing meeting, I have a Steering Committee meeting for a certain law- and regulation-related project being implemented by the PM working for our department. During this meeting, the PM shares the project update with the IT and business stakeholders. This reporting encompasses all aspects: progress, milestones achieved, potential risks or challenges ahead, and financials.

3:30-4 PM:
I return to my desk and have spontaneous interactions with colleagues and team members while looking at my mail and chats to respond where needed. A variety of topics occur: work-related questions from team members, scheduling our next team drinks date, and anecdotes or questions discussed that day.

4-5 PM:
Focus time! I review the new resumes I’ve received from recruiters for the vacancy within my team, have a number of ad-hoc calls and chats with different colleagues, and work on the roadmap and reporting slide deck for my upcoming stakeholder alignment meeting (10+ people), where all business stakeholders for my department are invited to discuss the roadmap, ongoing projects, initiatives, resource capacity, future planning, and of course, accomplishments achieved by the team since the last meeting.

5-6 PM:
Last check on emails, chats, and my to-do list I started the day with. I try to finalize the small items where I can so I can exclude them from my to-do list tomorrow, where possible. I also look at my agenda for tomorrow to see what I need to prepare for then and end the day with some small chit-chat with the team members left at the office before I say goodbye.

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How do you unwind at the end of the day?
It depends on my mood: either I have a few drinks and bites after work with colleagues or friends in the city (given the central location of the office, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from), or I go home to cook dinner together with my boyfriend and afterwards enjoy a relaxing and cozy evening on the couch.

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What do you love about your job and your employer?
I love the diversity and variety in my work and role. It is not just one stakeholder, business domain, application, or responsibility but rather a widespread range, which makes it interesting. Additionally, I love the atmosphere at work and the nice colleagues. There is not a single day where I do not laugh multiple times. The connection, high fun factor, morale, and close collaboration are, in my opinion, very important elements, and I cherish them, as I know this is not something to take for granted. Finally, I enjoy the flexibility and autonomy provided, creating a dynamic work environment where I can continue to grow and learn, both on a professional and personal level.

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