Francis Potter

Responsibilities

I work in the Technical Operations team responsible for the DMA Platform. This team coordinates and controls projects and other teams working in and around the platform. We are responsible for driving the technical improvements to the platform and maintaining stability. We keep a close eye on the day-to-day running of the platform and are involved in processes such as incident and change management, whilst also performing regular checks and deep dives into areas of improvement.

Daily life

My role is mainly project based and the projects I manage often involve client migrations and latency improvements. At times I help with some of the more complex support issues. As my role is client facing, I will often hop on a call with clients to discuss any issues they might be experiencing or talk through new features launched on the platform.

My day starts each morning with a ready for business (RFB) call with the APAC office in Manila, so we know the status and health of the platform for the upcoming trading day. In the afternoon I attend a change advisory board which reviews any previous and upcoming changes to the platform.

Working environment

The breadth and scope of my role keeps things interesting as one day I could be investigating a support issue and the next I might be planning a data centre roll out. I have always enjoyed solving problems, making things go faster and better, and of course, helping clients achieve their trading goals so that they get the most benefit out of the services we provide to them. I like to think that this desire to ensure our clients get the best service possible has enabled me to build long-lasting client relationships. I especially enjoy meeting up with clients face-to-face and look forward to doing this again soon! I have travelled to our other offices in Belfast and Manila to collaborate with my colleagues and also to destinations like Tel Aviv to meet with clients and industry professionals. Without this opportunity I probably would never have gone to Manila or Tel Aviv. I am very grateful that Vela has enabled me to travel to new places.

One of the things I enjoy most about working at Vela is the people. There is a very active social scene, and Vela regularly organises a variety of social events. Obviously this has been a challenge during the lockdown, but we have still been able to join for virtual drinks, played online poker for charity to keep up morale and encourage a sense of camaraderie, even though we’re not able to be in the office.