A Day in the Life of Rogerio de Linica dos Santos at The Ned in London

In this week’s 'Day in the Life of...' interview, Rogerio de Linica dos Santos shares more about his role as Finance Assistant at The Ned in London.

Hi Rogerio, can you tell us a bit about your role and your career journey to date?

As finance assistant, I am responsible for posting invoices on our system and making sure they are accurate. I also run our payments through weekly via BACS and manual payments, as well as deal with international and urgent finance queries.

I started at The Ned working in the main cellar, preparing the outlet requisitions, and raising requisitions for replacement of the stocks. When a position in finance became available I thought I couldn’t apply for it, as I missed the training for it and had no finance experience in the UK. In an informal conversation with my manager, who was the Head of Purchasing, I mentioned I didn’t apply for it, despite my interest in pursuing a career in finance. She told me that I should have applied as it was an entry position and they were looking more for soft skills and I would have been trained for the role. She encouraged me to keep an eye open for new opportunities, and that she would let me know if something else came up. So, when the next position became available, I applied for it and to my surprise, the head of finance and the area manager interviewed me. They told me I was overqualified but that a more adequate role was coming up shortly, and they would call me to see if I was still interested once it became available. Less than two months later, I was called in for an interview with the finance director and the talent acquisition manager for the role of finance assistant, and I was recruited into the role.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My typical day starts with downloading bank statements, requesting approval for payments, booking invoices and dealing with suppliers via email, as well as phone calls to reconcile statements and plan payments.

What part of your role do you enjoy the most?

What I like in this role the most is the opportunity to deal with colleagues and suppliers and constantly search for ways to do things better and faster with accuracy.

Which top three skills are vital for this role and why?

I think the three vital skills are:

Self-organization: We deal with different scenarios, process a huge volume of emails with many deadlines. So it’s easy to lose focus and get lost in the middle of lots of different information, if you don’t have good organization skills.

Attention to detail: Finance has overall defined processes with lots of numbers – so they must be accurate.

Sense of urgency: There are non-negotiable deadlines and requests can come up at the last minute. We need to be able to identify them or ask for advice to keep things keeping running smoothly.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your role?

The most challenging aspect of the role is the volume of emails and invoices. Most of them are straightforward, but some require more attention and further actions, like requesting confirmation, approvals, credits and amendments.

How do you help others feel like they belong in your team/promote inclusion?

I try to do my work thinking not only about my part in it, but also how it affects others, so I maintain good communication with them so we can work well together.

Which podcast/YouTube series would you recommend to someone interested in pursuing a career in this area to help develop their skills/prepare them for the role?

I don’t follow any specific YouTuber/podcast for finance. I do, however, listen to those about the English language and history as they help me to develop a better understanding of local and diverse cultures.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

It’s hard to answer that when the world is changing at such a fast pace, but I will do my best to keep on top of the changes that AI and technology are bringing to my work life and career.