I joined Ford Motor Company at the end of 2011 and six months ago I moved to Ford Credit IT (FCE). I now work for the Customer Systems IT team and my role mainly includes project management responsibilities. As a result, I need to be frequently in touch with various IT and Business teams of different management levels, as well as with external companies.
My typical day at work includes a variety of tasks: from having meetings with IT people and Business Customers for project updates, to reporting risks and issues and managing programme financials. It is really important to ensure all teams are aligned and engaged towards a common goal, which makes this role quite challenging, but also rewarding!
Through this role, I have had the chance to develop a training plan that will help me strengthen my skills. I have attended some external training courses; the most recent one was about agile project management, which is a relatively new concept at FCE. There are also many opportunities for internal training, whether that be in-class, online courses, or any other learning method that helps me to learn new skills and work more efficiently.
FCE Bank really feels like a different organisation compared to Ford Motor Company. It is a small company and is easy to interact with other IT teams and Business Customers. I was really surprised by how fast things progress; the fact that a team is involved in the whole lifecycle of an IT application (from requirements gathering and application development to production support), enables the team to really feel ownership and also become more agile and reactive. In addition, I enjoy having the opportunity to tailor my role to my interests.
My main responsibilities right now are around project management, however, I do have the chance to be involved in application development tasks, which has been a steep learning curve for me. Finally, I also enjoy the fact that I interact a lot with and deliver reports to senior managers; this has helped me to enhance my leadership skills and become a more responsible and self-confident person.
I would strongly advise anybody to apply for a role within FCE Bank. Working for Ford Credit enables you have the benefits of working for a small company while being part of a strong, global organisation. It is a positive working environment where initiative-taking is welcome and hard work is recognised, which definitely makes it the right place to launch or promote your career!
