Our people
“Every day is a learning experience at Macquarie,” says Rupali Rastogi, who leads Macquarie’s Gurugram-based Risk Calculation team. With 14 years’ financial services experience, Rupali has experienced rapid career progression, working across three different technology roles since joining Macquarie in 2017.
Rupali Rastogi leads the Risk Calculation team, part of Macquarie’s wider Gurugram-based Technology team. Since joining the organisation in 2017 as a Manager, she has progressed rapidly with two promotions during this time to Assistant Vice President and Vice President.
Before starting at Macquarie, Rupali had accumulated 14 years’ experience working for international financial services organisations. She says that while she enjoyed the work, she was stuck in her comfort zone and needed a change. She also wanted the opportunity to balance her career with her young family.
“A friend referred me to Macquarie, and spoke highly of the inclusive culture, flexibility and career growth on offer,” Rupali says.
Five years into her journey with Macquarie, Rupali says she still gets to explore new opportunities.
“Every day is a learning experience at Macquarie,” Rupali says. “And while the organisation is invested in my career, it’s up to me to grasp the opportunities”.
Rupali was recruited for what she describes as an independent contributor role in Macquarie’s Corporate Operations Group, where she worked for Risk Services within Commodities and Global Markets. She quickly became known for her innate ability to understand customer needs by providing valuable service and was offered a broader role after just three months.
“My manager was based in Houston,” Rupali explains. “He sent me an email with the subject line ‘opportunity’ and offered me a project management role, where I would be helping streamline the release process for one of our applications.”
Rupali relished the challenge and continued working on high profile change management automation projects in technology for the Commodities and Global Markets group.
“I was responsible for driving service management projects, and rolling them out for the group’s risk services team,” she explains.
Both her local colleagues and the global leadership team have been supportive of her career aspirations and only a year after joining Macquarie, Rupali was promoted to Assistant Vice President. She was thankful for the strong networks she’d built along the way.
One thing that makes Macquarie unique is that there are no boundaries. If you feel you can contribute, you can raise your hand. This has allowed me to move into different roles, build credibility, feel confident and embrace more changes."
In 2020, Rupali was one of a small group from Macquarie’s Gurugram office handpicked for an externally run women in leadership course.
“It really changed my perspective and helped me identify my career goals, which ultimately facilitated my move to my current business-facing role,” she explains.
In 2021, Rupali was promoted to Vice President, “I am now the Head of the Risk Calculation team in Gurugram,” Rupali explains. “It’s a global team, responsible for generating credit and market risk exposures for Macquarie.”
“Our team supports the risk calculation engine, or platform, that helps traders take positions based on their risk and exposure to counterparties. This enables the business to take calculated risks.”
As well as working across the Commodities and Global Markets group, Rupali’s team collaborates closely with Macquarie’s Risk Management Group, including coordinating daily with senior staff in Sydney.
Rupali says her position involves managing stakeholders to remove roadblocks and create a path for the technical team to deliver.
“I play the role of scrum master for the growing global team of around 14 people, as well as being responsible for mentoring the current team of three based in Gurugram.”
“I like developing relationships within my team and across all those involved in projects,” she reflects.
Rupali says she also tries to empower her team to fulfill their career aspirations, while making them feel valued and rewarded for their work.
“As a leader, to inspire achievement you need to trust your team, be empathetic and create an environment where people can speak openly,” Rupali says. “Luckily, these are all qualities embedded within Macquarie as an organisation.”
Rupali experienced Macquarie’s empathetic culture first-hand after her mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly just two days after she accepted her original offer to join the organisation.
“I was in shock and wondered if I should proceed with the new role because my son was young, I had a long commute and my mother-in-law had played a huge role in my life in looking after my son,” she explains. “My new manager found out and called me to ask if I needed anything. It was reassuring to know that support was available.”
Rupali says she was able to arrange flexible hours which included early starts and finishes, that not only offered her more time with her family to balance caring responsibilities, but also freed up time to join the gym to support her wellbeing.
An aspect of Macquarie that particularly appeals to Rupali is its flat structure and open, inclusive environment.
“I am never afraid to raise my hand to ask for something - a role, support, anything,” she says.
At Macquarie, the senior staff are accessible and this exposure to them helps you learn and grow."
“Your aspirations are advocated and, if you have the drive, you can progress fast.”
“You’re never stuck in a role,” Rupali explains. “And a good work-life balance is encouraged.”
Outside of her day job, Rupali is passionate about fundraising for the Macquarie Group Foundation, a philanthropic initiative that supports community organisations and charities across the globe.
“I feel immensely proud to be working for Macquarie,” she says.
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