What do i do? The simple answer

Jason Blumstein, Senior Manager, Actualize Consulting

My 98-year old grandmother recently asked me what I do for work. She doesn’t know anything about technology or corporate finance, so I had to think about my response carefully and translate it in terms she would understand.  Breaking my job down into a palatable reply, I said, “I’m hired by many companies to help them improve their processes and support them as they learn to adopt these improvements."  

As simple as this answer was, I’m sure she still doesn’t fully understand my job. The truth is, my job can be very complicated, even to those in my network, because it depends on the needs of our clients.  The longer answer is that I work for Actualize Consulting, a financial services consulting firm that has been around for over 17 years and has many specialties in the Mortgage and Fixed Income and Treasury space.  I work in Treasury Management as a part of our Capital Markets team.  Many of my projects have a central theme involving either selection, implementation or enhancement of a Treasury Management System (TMS). 

As a team, we go in and analyze a client’s current operations across departments, and determine a plan to make sure it is best-in-class or establish a plan to get them there.  We set up a plan and timeline that clearly outlines the steps needed to achieve and implement all best practices, setting Treasury departments up for success.  Think of Actualize as an advisor, transforming your finance functions to accommodate the future and keeping you prepared for new advancements down the line.  Lately, we’ve even been developing RPA solutions for clients and internal purposes.

Together, our team experience is our strength to help clients actualize their success story.

More specifically, some of my own accomplishments are:

• Incorporating Payment Factories that streamline AP payment processing and reconciliation

• Establishing In House Banking structures to facilitate optimized tax structures

• Creating documentation for auditors – including UAT test plans, process workflow and security review.

• Implementing new systems for FX trading/settlements

• Enhancing banking structures collaborating with your banking partners and modern technology

But in this reflection on the nature of my position, I realized the answer I gave my grandmother could be broken down even further.  What do I do? I learn.  I learn from the best in the industry, who work beside me at Actualize.  I learn from my clients, who have turned into friends.  I learn from my team, who have taught that innovation can only thrive in a supportive environment, and one willing to attempt to solve tough problems.  I learn from the firm’s leadership, who set the example and intention to always be our best in how we show up each day.

I’d like to extend this reflection to you – either DM me or comment below:

• How do you describe what you do to family members?
• Do you feel like you are getting the most out of your technology at work?
• Do you see room for improvement at work – what can be done to actualize it?