Andrei

‘I was born and raised in Bucharest, and unlike many of my NN International colleagues, I don’t have any plans to move to another country. I love living and working here. Two years ago, we welcomed our first child, and we also have an American Staffordshire Terrier. So, for now, my home life is complete and very busy. Still, I try to work out in the mornings before work and I like to work on cars in my spare time.’

Teamwork makes the dream work

‘My role in Information Security is much more diverse than at my previous job. First, because roles were very segregated at my last company. But also because I joined NN Romania at a time when there was a lot to improve. I can feel the impact of my work every day as my team and I raise the standards here. We started from the ground up, so everyone on the team was new. So even though I knew some of my colleagues from previous roles, we started the same journey together and that created a great feeling of teamwork and commitment.

‘I manage five different areas of NN’s Information Security, including user administration and secure identity and access, role-based access, security monitoring, vulnerability management and technical state compliance. I also do parts of penetration testing and security documentation. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, from implementing Salesforce to security monitoring for applications to the automation of role-based access. Our security systems went from zero to hero, thanks to the team’s hard work. Within five months, we also closed a lot of internal and external audit findings that have been open for years. This is how we directly contribute to NN’s aim of being more digital for clients and customers.’

Flexibility to be yourself

‘My favourite thing about working here is the culture. Our team enables people to do things their own way, and there’s not a lot of micro-management. There’s a lot of flexibility and chillness. People work independently and set their own schedules, but we meet every day to discuss our activities and see how we can help each other. It’s a young, dynamic team and everyone is very down-to-earth. It’s almost like each of us is our own boss: as long as you get your work done, it’s all good. And there are opportunities to travel to other NN locations, which is always an exciting addition to the work. We blend together well and support each other whenever that’s needed.’

‘You’re also encouraged to try new things, and there’s a lot of transparency between managers and colleagues, so you always know where you stand. We’re constantly aware of the important role we play here. It’s a big company, there’s lots of money involved, and there’s a huge need to secure people’s private data. So, we feel the impact of our work every time we make systems and applications more secure.’

Positioned to make a difference

I’d encourage people to work in our tech departments because it’s great to have so many people relying on you. All end products and the departments they come from rely on tech services. We build, service, secure and provide these services. So, we get to explore all the many layers of this domain. We’re part of a global team scattered all over the world, and yet we’re all connected to each other. We operate as a cohesive whole, providing the same level of security across all those countries. It feels great to be part of such a large and impactful company, and yet still have the fun and convenience of a small, close team. We have the chance to work with different colleagues across the whole business, and truly drive the change that’s happening in the organisation from an end-to-end perspective.’