Supriya

I grew up all over India, learning many languages and experiencing various cultures. After I qualified as an accountant, I landed my first accounting role with a Swiss company in Bengaluru. Then I joined Goldman Sachs as a controller in 2006. Five years in, I took some time off to follow my husband on an assignment to Zurich and for maternity break. When I saw that Goldman Sachs had an opening in Zurich in 2016, imagined it to be a great opportunity to gather international work experience and to raise my family abroad.

For five years, I helped build the firm’s Legal Entity Controlling team in Bengaluru. When I started in 2006, the Bengaluru office had recently opened, so I was part of an exciting growth trajectory. Back then, controllers in the Bengaluru office were a team of about 50. Now, we’ve grown to roughly 700. My team built new business and migrated functions from other Goldman Sachs offices. This gave me the opportunity to work with many teams across the firm and travel to our offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York.

In my current role in Zurich, I continue to work as a controller—and more. Since we have a smaller team here, we are spread out in other areas beyond controlling, including financial & regulatory reporting, taxes, credit and risk. Each day is different. One day, I might focus on financial reporting because there’s a deadline. The next day, there could be a report due to a regulator. My team flexes to handle new priorities. 

Working in Zurich gives you the best of many worlds. Not only is the scenery stunning, it’s also a lovely place to raise a family. Children are a focus here, with a world-class public education system. It’s also a diverse culture, with people from all over the globe. I enjoy living here because I get the best of many worlds: an amazing role in a small office but on an exciting growth path, nature at my doorstep, and space to focus on my family.

The firm gives me the flexibility to balance work and home. If I had to describe Goldman Sachs in one word, it would be flexible. There’s always plenty of work to get through in a day, and you’re often counting down to a deadline. But you also have the flexibility to meet the needs of your family. As an example, I make it a priority to pick up my son from school. As long as I manage my own deadlines and get the work done, there’s no hard and fast rule about when I can do it.

The firm has a strong culture of mentoring. I’ve always had mentors here, both officially assigned and other people I’ve connected with over time. In your day-to-day work, you get the chance to interact with many people, and you start getting a sense for whom to engage with on a certain topic. People are definitely on hand and willing to answer questions.

For eight years, I’ve taken part in the firm’s Community TeamWorks. Recently, the Zurich office participated in an outing organized by Chernobyl Children International. They help children from the Chernobyl region go beyond routine and experience the world outside. It gives me great joy to give back to the community in this way. 

I’m passionate about traveling and learning languages. So far, I speak English, German, and half a dozen Indian languages, which I picked up while living all over India. As a natural extension of this, I also like to plan and take trips, which lets me immerse myself in different cultures. Most recently, we focused on seeing the sights in Switzerland.