Voice of Experience: Sarah Walker, Executive Director, Enterprise Data & Services, Global Head IT & Data Operations; Securities Reference Data, Morgan Stanley

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Throughout her life, Australia-born Sarah Walker, Executive Director of the Enterprise Data & Services Group at Morgan Stanley, has demonstrated a devotion to solving problems and efficiency. Energetic and direct, she described how she entered the world of IT after becoming frustrated with the indirect pace of her university education.

She entered university intending to study journalism. “I wanted to be a writer,” she explained. “But I quickly decided I hated university! I thought I could pick up a book and learn anything they were going to teach me on my own. So I convinced my parents to say yes to me dropping out if I could find a job.”

“I think they only said yes because they thought I would never find one!” she said with a laugh. But, she continued, she did find work. “It was the early ‘90s and I got a job doing operations reconciliation work at Citigroup in Sydney. I had a big computer sitting on my desk, yet everything was still being done manually. I thought, ‘why are we doing this with a calculator and pencil and paper?’”

Walker turned her computer on, and worked out a way to turn the 8-hour ordeal into a 1-hour process. “From then on, I’ve been hooked. My career has been about making processes more efficient and solving problems.”

Career Path in Technology

From her job at Citi, Walker moved to ING as a business analyst, and then, still in Sydney, she realized she wanted the opportunity to travel, so she took a job at Bloomberg. “There was so much opportunity there, and they treated their employees really well. I absolutely adored it, and when my desk was disbanded they asked where I wanted to go next. So I chose Tokyo.”

After working in sales, Walker moved to Bloomberg’s Electronic Trading Support desk for Asia, working with global clients. “I got to understand the different nuances between companies around the world, and got exposure to so many people and cultures.”

When she was offered a job at Morgan Stanley in the listed derivatives technology area, Walker jumped at the opportunity, excited about running a global team. The new job meant a move to London too. Two years later, she moved to a role in European market data, and then took a job as a Production Support Manager in the Enterprise Data & Services group. “Now I’m responsible for IT & Data Operations for Securities Reference Data globally,” she explained.

“My most recent role was to build out our level 2 application support group for our global securities reference data division,” she said, adding that she focused on refining processes to make them more efficient. “I got to come up with a vision for how that should look, choose the people to make it successful, define the strategy to make it successful, and execute our vision and see it work.”

Currently, Walker is excited to dive into her new role in data operations. “Every time you step into a new role as a manager of a new group, you have the opportunity to take the lessons you’ve learned and apply them to your new team,” she explained. “This new team, data operations, is an area I haven’t worked in before. It’s a global team and we have the opportunity to make the business model more efficient. I get the opportunity to solve particular challenges, and that’s what excites me.”

She continued, “One of the big issues I’m thinking about is off-shoring and near-shoring. How do we give our managers the right training to manage vendors remotely, and motivate our vendors so they share the same Morgan Stanley values and truly do their best work?”

Women in Finance IT

Walker said she feels one of the key challenges in the IT side of finance is that there aren’t many women at the top. “There are not a lot of role models,” she explained. “For some people, when they don’t necessarily see someone like themselves at the top, they don’t necessarily see that they can be successful.”

She said she also believes that women should take more pride in their achievements. “Take more credit for your own successes. Particularly as women, it seems that for some reason we’re built to think we’re successful because we were in the right place at the right time, or because someone helped us out,” she said. “My advice is to trust your own abilities. They’re the prime reason for your successes, and I wish I had realized that sooner.”

Her advice to young people entering the industry is to build relationships with others. “It’s all about making connections and finding that person who can get you the knowledge that you need to be successful.”

“The other thing perhaps is to find what it is you are going to be passionate about,” she continued, pointing out that making more money or getting a more high ranking title aren’t what ultimately make you successful. “If you do a job you’re passionate about, then you will be successful.”

She encouraged senior women to serve as role models for those looking up to them. “It’s quite easy to take that for granted,” she explained. “It’s easy to focus on the next level, but it’s important to give back.”

Diversity at Morgan Stanley

Walker said she is very proud of her work as part of the firm’s LGB network to bring Morgan Stanley back to Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 100. The firm had been on the list in the past, but had fallen off in recent years. “I felt passionately that Morgan Stanley was a good place to work, and it upset me that it wasn’t benchmarked,” she explained. So she led the charge to bring it back to the list. “We made it back to be number 45,” she said proudly.

She pointed out that the firm was also recently listed in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women in the UK, and offers a number of leadership development programs for women. One program, Project Impact, works to develop high potential women VPs. Morgan Stanley also offers an extensive mentoring and career development initiative, in which Walker has participated as a mentor. “It was a really valuable experience to meet people across the firm I wouldn’t normally meet,” she explained. She has also enjoyed attending the firm’s career development lectures, which have provided valuable networking opportunities.

Walker is especially also proud of the firm’s school outreach program to encourage young women in year 12 or 13 of school to consider careers in finance or technology. “If we don’t get female resumes coming into graduate programs, we can’t increase the numbers of women in the industry. The more we can get to them in high school, the more we can get them interested in the field.”

She continued, “We want them to know it’s not just something you go into after getting a maths degree – it’s about solving problems. We want to demonstrate it’s not a ‘male’ field.”

In Her Personal Time

Walker said she started doing yoga and meditation this year. “For the first time in many years, I’ve found something that actually gives me energy,” she said.

“I really enjoy the daily meditation – it really does make a massive difference just in terms of who you bring into work every day and how you feel.”