Manager of two teams with titles which are incomprehensible to most outsiders, Poļina is passionate about IT and helping her colleagues grow as professionals: “I feel like a proud mama-bear when I hear positive feedback about my team members from our stakeholders,” says Poļina.
How long are you with SEB?
I joined two and a half years ago to lead the team which supports different IT systems in Risk & Compliance area. After a while I was given the opportunity to lead also the Reconciliation & Investigation team as well. Now I am responsible for two teams and 19 employees.
Before joining SEB I spent 12 years in another Nordic bank. Initially I started as a credit specialist, then I worked a short while in HR area, and after that I spent nearly 10 years in project management where I dealt with projects focussed on introducing new regulatory requirements in areas such as data protection, financial markets and anti-money laundering.
Poļina Ribakova
Title: Manager of Operational Risk and Compliance team and AML Post-Transaction Monitoring team, as well as Riga Tech site manager at SEB Group business services centre in Riga
Education: Master of Business Administration, University of Latvia and Steinbeis University Berlin
Personal interests: Taking walks by the sea and child development
Your teams have such complex titles. Can you explain in simple terms what their responsibilities are?
Basically, we are IT experts, and our job is to maintain and develop a range of IT systems in different areas of the bank. For instance, AML Post-transaction monitoring team is responsible for supporting and developing our IT systems which ensure the process of AML monitoring in other organizations within SEB group across the globe.
Operational Risk, Regulatory Compliance and Reconciliation team also maintains multiple IT systems, provides user support and develops new functionalities.
What do you like best about your job?
I like working with people and I like to help them develop and grow. I am really proud to see how far many of my colleagues have gone in broadening their knowledge and competencies, and consistently exceeding expectations. It gives me a lot of joy to support them in this journey.
What are the things that give you motivation in your job?
For me, it is very important that the values of my employer match with my own.
I am a firm believer that people are at the heart of everything we do. We have to support them and help them to develop, create an environment which encourages learning, and appreciate their achievements.
I like the opportunities for growth and education that are available to us through Coursera, Campus and other platforms at SEB. Transparent decision-making is also important, and work-life balance matters to me as I have a small child.
I also appreciate the fact that I have very supportive managers in Sweden with whom I can openly discuss all issues and find solutions.
In which areas would you like to develop?
I would like to be more involved in strategic planning of SEB Technology division. I have no doubt that we can expand our services in Latvia and do more, and I can contribute towards making it happen.
In SEB’s Technology division we are doing exciting things and working with interesting projects, and I want to help in building our image as a tech company, not just a bank. I also want to do more to encourage girls to go into IT.
What do like to do outside work?
I like to take walks by the sea because it restores my energy. I may appear as an extrovert on the surface, but I am actually a secret introvert. I need my time alone, I need silence and piece.
If I can’t be near sea, I go for walks in the forest, which is convenient because I live next to a beautiful forest. My passion is child development, which became sort of a hobby after my child was born. I could even give classes on development of baby’s small motor skills, Montessori methodology and many other subjects related to early development of the child.
