Employees at SIX

After his IT studies at ETH Zürich, Norwin joined SIX as a Cloud Software Engineer. In parallel to his work, he actively supports the Powercoders Program, a coding academy for migrants, as a teacher.

What does your job involve?

As a Cloud Software Engineer, I bridge the gap between cutting-edge technologies and the requirements of running an application securely in a highly regulated environment.
Together with my teammates, I manage and operate multiple development environments in the form of platforms as a service (PaaS) in both private and public cloud. We provide a stable and highly scalable infrastructure to run our applications and to provide our services.
I also advise application development teams on how to develop and run a new service in the cloud.

What do you like best about your job?

I love to creatively solve complex problems with the use of technology. The technical requirements for operating the Swiss financial market infrastructure are very interesting and exciting. It fulfills me to build a part of this infrastructure. Additionally, I like the innovational spirit as well as the freedoms at SIX. It is the perfect setting to develop my skills further and apply the theoretical concept that I learned during my studies.

What makes you proud?

I taught migrants and refugees the fundamentals of cloud computing for the Swiss organization Powercoders. It was very gratifying to make a positive impact on people’s lives. I am proud that SIX backed this amazing project and supported me in preparing and teaching this workshop. The knowledge that I have shared in this workshop I acquired at SIX over the past years.

What advice do you give someone considering joining SIX?

If you are passionate about innovation and developing sophisticated applications, then simply join this amazing journey to push SIX and yourself to the next level.

What are the three words that illustrate your experience within SIX?

Grow, inspire, share.

Martin Eberle, Head Content Intelligence in the Financial Information business unit of SIX, is also a happy artist: in his job he rocks financial data for clients, and after work he rocks the stage with his drum solos (he has played with well known musicians!) and with his performances in a theater group in Zurich.


What does your job involve?

I work very closely with clients and take deep dives into their business workflows. Together with them, I find out which data from SIX could help them improve their competitive advantage. My 35 years of experience in the financial industry and my active participation on international data committees are the basis of this exciting role.

Focusing on customers is one of our core values. How do you embody it?  

To me, focusing on customers is a mindset. I place it at the heart of my work. I always concentrate on doing things that create added value for our clients by listening carefully to them in meetings, workshops, and during visits. I make sure that I completely understand their needs first before I take any action.
There are a lot of similarities between my job and playing the drums or acting on stage. When I stand in front of a large audience, I do my very best to show the people a good time and make sure that they leave the place happy. Listening, interacting, and responding to what they want is essential to me in all these situations.

You could have decided to retire in summer 2021. Why will you continue to work at SIX afterwards?

First of all, I love my job and I like working for SIX. The company is a role model in many areas. It promotes equality by offering opportunities to employees regardless of their age, and SIX also values the know-how of experienced professionals like me.
Even though I can retire this year, I still have lots of enthusiasm and energy for my job. At the moment, I’m helping to bring the new business strategy to life. Being a part of this exciting project is really rewarding.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

There are so many things I can say. From my personal experience, I know that when you are open-minded and willing to learn, the sky is the limit to your career. At SIX, you have so many possibilities to learn and take your knowledge to the next level, be it through internal trainings or learning on the job. 
The culture at SIX is open and honest. I have always worked in teams with a great team spirit.

What are the three words that encapsulate your experience at SIX?

A company that trusts its employees, open communication, and great support even in a personally difficult situation – I know this from my own experience.

After completing his studies in international economics at Lund University, Lauro started as a graduate at SIX. He not only is gaining work experience at SIX, but also examines diamonds under a microscope. Find out more about how Lauro sparkles outside his job at SIX.

What are your current responsibilities at SIX?

As part of the graduate program, I work in the Primary Markets team, which supports IPOs and maintains relationships with around 250 companies listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange. As a graduate, I am in close contact with stock issuers and help to improve existing solutions for them. New listings and existing issuers are the starting point for all subsequent services from SIX, like trading and post-trading. It is very exciting to be able to deepen my knowledge in this area of my job because I have been fascinated by the stock exchange business ever since I bought my first Swiss stock during my banking apprenticeship.

What do you like most about your job?

As a graduate, you learn a lot on and off the job, get your own areas of responsibility, and can contribute a new perspective on many topics. Over the past 18 months, I have been able to work in four departments in different business areas and gain interesting insights. Besides all of the projects I have worked on during the graduate program, expanding my personal network has certainly been one of the most valuable benefits for my further career development. After the program, I will start as a project manager in post-trading with a workload of 80%.

What prompted you to reduce your workload?

Many of my ancestors were involved in watchmaking and diamond trading. “For thousands of years, men have been trying to spark a fire with stones” — my father has put this slogan into practice very successfully over the past decades. The aura of diamonds is contagious and fascinating. This has motivated me to dedicate part of my time to trading with Mother Earth's hardest and most beautiful material and to take a closer look at this family tradition.

How do your two passions complement each other?

Trading on the Swiss Stock Exchange is known for its outstanding order book quality. Within a very short time, a transaction is executed in accordance with clear rules. In diamond trading, every gemstone is unique and requires precise examination. Emotions play an important role. Finding the right diamond for each customer is a complex process and requires a lot of experience. Being professionally active in both trading models is very exciting for me. I am grateful to SIX that such a work model is possible.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering joining SIX?

There are many job opportunities at SIX for those interested in finance and IT. Anyone who can identify with the values of SIX and wants to feel the pulse of the Swiss financial center is certainly in the right place.

What three words encapsulate your experience at SIX?

Flexibility, growth, and trust

 

 

María Calvo, a person, a woman, a wife, the mother of three kids, a daughter, a sister, and a deputy head lawyer in the legal department in Spain (at BME, a SIX company), where she has been working for almost 18 years.
 

How would you describe your current responsibilities?

Challenging and exciting. As a member of the legal team, continually adapting to the constantly changing regulatory and legal landscape is key in delivering our legal advice and cementing our position as the best business partner. As a deputy, I view my responsibilities as an opportunity to support the team in any aspect where I can contribute to fostering a better working environment, creating opportunities for professional growth and development, and facilitating daily legal tasks.

What are the most important things you have learned while progressing both professionally and privately?

The most important wisdom learned (or rather, my core belief) is that we are human beings above all, immense in significance and dignity, and equal even though each of us holds different roles or positions. We need to practice self-awareness of our virtues and weaknesses in the ongoing search for the best version of ourselves as people. We are not just professionals in a working environment. We all have our own personal dreams, interests, goals, families, hobbies, and skills. We all need to achieve our purpose and to attain fulfillment both professionally and personally. Respect, consideration, gratitude, generosity, and empathy are needed. A work-life balance is essential as well.

How does the company help you maintain your work-life balance?

Our company offers a good set of helpful measures such as the possibility to cut back working hours, employment flexibility, and a strong commitment with a culture rooted in values such as “customer focus,” “collaboration,” “ownership,” and “trust.” However, when your responsibilities and your professional commitment increase, how you attain a sustainable work-life balance depends very much on your personal limits, priorities, and organization. Combining all of your different roles in a satisfactory way sometimes becomes almost a heroic undertaking. I pay homage to all those people, particularly women, who have succeeded in this challenge.

There’s still a lot to be done, and all of us should be part of it. Raising awareness of the need to protect a work-life balance becomes imperative because motivated, personally fulfilled, and well-balanced people have proven to be the best professionals.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

Take the job, join us. A job at SIX can offer you a solid horizon for growth and development. I nonetheless would also tell someone who is considering joining SIX that we need to be able to count on you and on what you can offer us as a team, your approach to solutions, your views, your energy, your enthusiasm, and your commitment. New joiners need to partake in the opportunities we offer, but we all need to learn from them and to benefit from their fresh contributions, and to then follow our common journey for growth together. This is a win-win arrangement!

What three words encapsulate your experience at SIX?

Commitment, opportunities, and an exciting future! 

Alina joined SIX in April 2020 and works as a product manager for the Connectivity ecosystem in the business unit Banking Services. Together with her team, she develops new solutions such as the open finance platform bLink for standardized interfaces that is open to banks, Fintechs and software providers.
She not only loves the adrenaline kick on the job but also outside of work when driving rallies. Staying focused, acting quickly, and enhancing her skills are the things that matter to her.

 

What is the best thing about being a product manager at SIX?

To me it’s actually two things: the dynamic environment and the great culture. Our leaders are young and open-minded, incredibly smart, and – most of all – kind. It’s this combination that attracts and motivates great talents.
I work in the Connectivity ecosystem, where innovative technology meets the traditional banking business. I love how we product managers continuously advance our knowledge about technology while closely collaborating not only with financial institutions, but also with leading and rising software companies in Switzerland and worldwide.

The world of finance is changing at a fast pace. How do you cope with that? 

The finance business is evolving very rapidly. The environment is becoming more competitive with rising cost pressures, making rapid action and responses essential. I personally love change combined with speed and actively seek it. I believe it makes us smarter and more adaptable in the future, when changes are inevitable.
I experience it every day professionally and also personally because I am a rally driver. No matter if the ground is dry, wet, or snowy, I need to stay focused and act quickly. When moving at full speed, anticipation and adaptation are the keys to success.

How does SIX empower you to advance your skills?  

The inspiring company culture, my network at work, and the internal training opportunities help me to grow. Having worked for different multinationals with strong cultures, I feel that SIX takes fostering and living a strong company culture very seriously.
The company gives me a lot of latitude in choosing what skills I want to advance and how. I and my managers live the company values of trust and collaboration. My managers know my skills, and we jointly define how I can broaden and enhance them. There are many opportunities like 1:1 trainings with different experts and online classes such as Udemy courses, and then I always learn on the job as well. There is also the option of attending interesting events and exchanging knowledge with the external companies I work with. The sky is the limit! ;-)

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

Be ready for a fast-paced market in the midst of a lasting transformation. Be ready to learn a great deal and to grow. Bring a curious and hungry (open!) mind, and you’ll be good to go. If you are looking to play a meaningful part at the intersection of technology and the financial business, then SIX is definitely the place to be!
Other than that, be clear about where you want to go, how you want to contribute, and what skills you want to develop. The SIX leadership and colleagues will make sure to embed your skills to a fit. 

Your experience at SIX in 3 words.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, dynamic, driven.

 

After he had left SIX and accepted jobs at other companies, Mark joined SIX again in 2020 and is currently Head of Infrastructure and Production at SIX Digital Exchange, the company that is building the world’s first regulated digital market infrastructure.

 

What is your career path at SIX?

After working as a civil engineer for ten years, I applied for a position as a product manager at SIX. For this role, I moved from Dublin to Zurich at the beginning of 2011. My supervisor at the time encouraged me to take this step and was very supportive. While at SIX, I gained further experience as a project manager; in 2018, I decided to pursue my interests in the burgeoning blockchain tech industry and therefore left SIX. In 2020, I started working at SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), thus bringing me back to SIX.

What inspires you in every day?

Genuinely the working culture at SDX is one of the best working cultures I have worked within. It fits well with my personality and the way I like to work. This creates very unique challenges and circumstances. Uncertainty, for example, is extremely high. But SDX gives employees the right tools to deal with uncertainties and perform on the job.

How did you first get interested in technology and especially in digital finance infrastructure?

I first heard about blockchain technology in 2013. A former colleague was leading a project at the time that looked at the potential impact of this technology on finance. Immediately, I took notice of Bitcoin - and dismissed Bitcoin as a fad in the years to come. Then in 2015 I was leading a software development project and was working alongside engineers where we got into conversations about technology circumventing the need for a bricks and mortar type bank account. This led me to deep-dive, in my free time, into Bitcoin and the digitalization of finance and what the implications of this technology meant for the future of finance. The topic still consumes much of my free time today outside of my role in SDX.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

SIX itself is a very good employer, with good working conditions for employees. In my opinion, attitude is everything. It even trumps knowledge. SIX will give you the opportunity to go any direction you want, regardless of background, within the company and learn anything you like but in return you must bring the right attitude. My own career within SIX is proof of this. But as the saying goes nothing worth having comes easy. Such is life itself.

What are the three words that encapsulate your experience at SIX?

Life lasting memories.

 

 

Alessandra is a system engineer in the IT department "Digital Workplace" for SIX Corporate Services. IT has always been her passion.

 

How would you describe your current job?

My role is very interesting at the moment because we support the implementation of cloud technology. This means that whether employees work from home, abroad or in the office, cloud technology allows them to work exactly as they are used to in their IT environment in the office. IT changes so fast, so there's never a dull moment. Learning new technologies and keeping up with the pace is necessary and great fun. You never stand still. "Learn to learn" is my motto.

Why are you passionate about IT?

My first steps in IT were in a maintenance and repair center. I was able to discover everything about computers and a lot about IT. Over time, I developed my skills and a strong IT expertise at the corporate service desk. It was important for me to get to know SIX and the different requirements of the departments. Today, I work on the topics that inspire and motivate me.

What is your take on the fact that there are not many women in IT?

I've often wondered why so few women get excited about the world of computers. I can't think of any good reasons. IT has become a male domain. What many people don't know, though is that the first programmers were women.
It's a fact: IT is changing the world. Both men and women should be part of it! As women, we can always bring in new views and look at challenges from a different angle.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

I would like to emphasize two points. Firstly, SIX is an excellent employer with a good work life balance. Secondly, SIX supports you in your further development so that you can flourish in the working world. Be proactive and take advantage of all opportunities to grow!

What are the three words that illustrate your experience at SIX?

Teamwork beyond your own team, respect, feeling at home. 

Adam is the Head of Equity Sales Europe at the Swiss Stock Exchange. Drawn-in by the outdoor-lifestyle (and chocolate) Switzerland offers, he has recently relocated from London to Zurich to start his second stint with SIX.

 

What does your typical day as Senior Sales Manager look like right now?

One of the most enjoyable parts of my role is that within the relatively narrow world of secondary market equity trading, it is filled with a variety of responsibility. From meetings with existing and potential trading members on new and active products, to working with our SIX colleagues at Bolsa de Madrid on exchange integration and a lot in between. The core of my role is to work collaboratively with our client community to bring more business to the SIX equity markets. These broad goalposts mean there is always room for creative thinking.

What have you learnt from working with customers in both the UK and Switzerland?

I have had the pleasure of working for the sales team of the Swiss Stock Exchange in London, as well as for another Stock Exchange in the UK before taking on my role as Head of Equity Sales Europe at SIX in Switzerland. I see huge value in getting to know the customer base from these different vantage points as each role exposes you to a different perspective and way of thinking about our product offering. This perspective has taught me the importance of collaborating as a business with all different types of client, from the largest global Investment Banks to smaller retail or local brokers. Working with all clients creates the best trading ecosystem and puts SIX in a great competitive position amongst its peers.

How did you experience moving to Switzerland while working remotely?

I believe that the COVID-driven move to remote working has seen our financial services industry jump decades ahead of the natural progression we were on towards flexible working arrangements. Without this move to remote working I do not believe I would have relocated to Switzerland. This was not because it made the move particularly easier, but because it changed my mindset to ‘I can work anywhere, therefore where geographically would I like to be?’. Unfortunately the drawback of remote working when you are a new-joiner at an organization is that it requires more effort to get to know colleagues and integrate into the team. My manager and colleagues have done an excellent job of helping overcome this hurdle so the difference was barely felt.

What advice would you give someone who is considering joining SIX? 

I see SIX as a rare example of a company that is both an established cornerstone of the financial markets, that still has the appetite to invest, evolve and disrupt to drive the business forwards in partnership with their clients.

Regardless of which stage of your career you are at, I believe SIX offers potential employees the opportunity to grow, see a new perspective of the industry and enjoy your role whilst doing it.

What are the three words that encapsulate your experience at SIX?

Friendly, professional and motivated.