Our people
30 May 2024
While Sasha Varman, David Farr and Matthew Ellis are all at different stages in their careers, the three have one thing in common – they all started at Macquarie as either technology interns or graduates. Sasha started as a graduate in 2023 and is now a Software Engineer in the Virtual Solutions team. In 2017, David Farr began as a Software Engineer and is now a technology lead on his team, managing three developers. Matthew Ellis took on his first role as a junior developer back in 2003 and is now Macquarie’s Chief Digital Officer.
Sasha joined the Technology team as part of Macquarie’s Graduate Program in 2023, after completing a double degree in Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science.
While studying she interned at a startup and in the public sector, but she was looking to challenge herself in an organisation that aligned with her long-term career aspirations.
“I’d heard great things about the graduate program at Macquarie and wanted to get involved,” says Sasha. “It was clear that Macquarie really invests in graduates for the long-term.”
Sasha says that learning has been a big part of her experience. She’s learnt on the job and through her colleagues.
“As a graduate, I worked with my team to create automation programs,” Sasha explains. “This helped me learn about the different phases involved in project execution, including risk mitigation strategies and how to apply standards and practices.”
The Program also helped Sasha build connections with her peers and leaders.
“Macquarie is big on networking, which is great because I wanted to build strong connections and absorb as much knowledge as possible, and the program offered a structured environment for me to do this.”
Today, Sasha works as a Software Engineer in the Virtual Solutions team within Core and Personal Technology, looking after virtualised infrastructure and securing virtual workloads by developing, maintaining and optimising code.
A highlight of Sasha’s career at Macquarie so far is sharing her own learnings with her team.
“I was encouraged to host workshops to showcase the work I was doing,” she explains. “This experience helped me grow my presentation skills and showed that my team were interested in my work.”
Sasha credits the skills she has now to the learning and development she gained through the Technology Graduate Program.
“As a graduate, I was not only given the tools to develop new technology skills and grow as an engineer, but also supported to excel in a corporate environment with training on things like how to write effective business emails,” Sasha explains.
Right from the start, I was given autonomy to learn and grow while always being supported to speak up and ask questions along the way.”
In 2017, David Farr completed his Bachelor of Engineering with first class honours and had a range of graduate opportunities to explore. He was drawn to Macquarie's reputation as a technology leader in the financial services sector and joined the Macquarie Technology Graduate Program.
“I just had this feeling that Macquarie ticked all the boxes, and that the work would challenge my technical ability and allow for a lot of growth,” says David.
David was excited to join the organisation at such a critical point in time. Macquarie’s retail bank, the Banking and Financial Services Group, was well progressed in its large-scale digitalisation project, which involved migrating its platforms and applications onto the public cloud. As part of the innovation team, he helped facilitate this project by building tools that improved the developer experience and enabled the team to deliver.
Upon completing the Graduate Program, David was hired as a Software Engineer. He cites both self-initiative and managerial support as key factors which contributed to his success.
“My manager was very good at mentoring me,” he says. “He gave me a lot of guidance and showed me where to focus my efforts, which was really helpful.”
With the introduction of new security technologies at Macquarie, David was selected as the next leader to drive the disruption of the complexity of managing credentials, certificates and API tokens. As a product owner, David collaborated to build innovative solutions that reduced the time spent rotating system account passwords every year while improving the Group’s overall security posture.
“It was a very important project and even though I was still relatively early in my career, I had a supportive manager who believed in me.”
Today, David manages a team of developers, and remains hands on as a technology lead, senior architect and product owner. His day includes reviewing code with his team, collaborating on architectural designs, building systems and meeting with key stakeholders.
While David is ambitious in his own career, he also values his team for the work they do and how they deliver.
It’s important to understand your team’s strengths and make sure they feel valued. My main mantra is, ‘If my team wins, I win.”
David now interviews candidates for his team, including graduates.
“I’m looking for a positive attitude over everything.” says David. “A lot of the skills can be taught, but you need to have confidence, passion and the ability to work in a team.”
“We have a really good culture at Macquarie. People have a positive attitude, they really want to be here. And so, we want others who join us to share the same outlook.”
One of the main reasons Matt was attracted to tech was because it was constantly changing and in 2003, he began a Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of Technology Sydney.
Six months in, he was assigned a work placement with Macquarie on the trading floor.
“I hadn’t had any exposure to the financial services industry, so it opened a new door, and I loved it,” Matt says. “Applying the theory behind what I was learning at university to the stock market was very exciting.”
Matt’s first role at Macquarie was hands-on in Java programming, building a trading platform for one of the Equity Markets group’s derivative products. He says the flat structure and Macquarie's commitment to technological innovation drew him to the role.
I felt like I could make an impact, and I wasn’t just a wheel in a big machine. Macquarie is an innovative organisation and I could see there were so many opportunities in technology.”
Matt then progressed to Senior Java Developer for online applications, leading a ten-person development team, digitising customer applications and back-end systems.
Eager to travel and experience different cultures and perspectives, Matt transferred to the London office in 2008. He completed a two-year secondment, before being promoted to Global Head of Arbitrage Technology, which saw him dealing with senior stakeholders and travelling frequently.
By 2014, Matt decided it was time to return home to Sydney. Over the next eight years, Matt held roles as Head of Equity Trading Technology Australia and Head of Architecture for Macquarie Securities, as well as Macquarie Wealth Management. He was then promoted to Head of Engineering for Macquarie’s retail bank, which saw him lead significant structural and organisational changes.
In 2022, Matt’s role expanded, he was appointed Macquarie’s Global Head of Engineering and part of the Technology Leadership Team, bringing together 2,000+ engineers across Macquarie Group.
Then in 2023, Matt accepted the newly created role of Chief Digital Officer, where he now leads the Digital Division in driving Macquarie’s digitalisation efforts across the enterprise as a member of the Corporate Operations Group Leadership Team.
Matt is committed to empowering new digital initiatives, incubating emerging technologies and delivering exceptional experiences for Macquarie’s people and clients.
“Digitalisation exists at the intersection between product, design, engineering, architecture and data and we will harness the combined power of these disciplines to drive transformational change,” Matt says.
“Ultimately this work is helping Macquarie deliver its purpose of empowering people to innovate and invest for a better future.”
Matt says growth and change is one consistent theme at Macquarie.
“I feel like I've had multiple careers,” Matt says. “The variety of work keeps me interested, and the new opportunities that keep arising.”
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