Robina Akhtar joined the Domainex team just under five months ago, bringing extensive experience in the optimisation of financial processes to deliver efficient financial management. Robina is a Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA) with over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries where she has held appointments as Financial Controller, Finance Director and most recently as CEO.

For International Women’s Day we spoke to Robina about the challenges she’s faced throughout her career and how the industry is changing for women.

How did you get into a career in finance?

"Having studied Cell Biology at university I went onto train as an accountant. I have always enjoyed finance and problem solving and have a natural attention to detail. In truth I’m a bit of a perfectionist! I fully appreciate how important having the right data insights at the right time is for a company, and financials are at the heart of this when building a successful, sustainable business. I had children fairly young so when I was looking to pick up my career again, I was interested in opportunities locally which offered flexible working – the school drop was an important part of the day. Fortunately, Cambridge is a thriving hub for biotech and forward-looking companies, so the opportunity arose to join a local biotech as an Assistant Accountant."

What are your goals for your career?

"These of course change over time, but I have always liked a challenge and being able to instigate change where needed to help deliver growth and efficiency has always been a goal of mine. For me, it’s also important to do this through building successful teams; people and culture are at the heart of any successful company and creating this environment in the workplace has always been important to me as a senior change leader.

"Domainex is going through an exciting period of growth and with that sometimes it is hard for companies to keep up. I’m therefore looking forward to ensuring that our processes are fit to grow. By that I mean, helping to lay a foundation to make the business more efficient to support further growth."

What are your favourite parts of working at Domainex?

"Whilst I’m still relatively new to the role, the passion and energy of those in the company, together with the future ambition is why I joined. I really value and enjoy being able to contribute on this journey and fully appreciate the autonomy I’ve already been given to get things done. All the management and team members are really supportive of making changes to help improve the business. I have spent some time investigating the way the company works and have been able to implement changes very quickly. Working in a company where you’re empowered and your input is valued is highly motivating and I look forward to working together to build even more success in the future."

What challenges have you faced in your career, particularly as a woman in business?

"Everyone faces challenges and I will never know if mine have been due to being a woman or just generally life’s challenges. I always wanted to be able to balance my career with being there for my children, but it was often difficult to combine the two. At the beginning of my career, I often felt I had to work longer hours and overcompensate for my working patterns, not wanting to feel like I was getting special treatment. This has taught me to be compassionate and not to judge other people, everyone is managing their own challenges. With the rise in flexible, hybrid working in recent years, acceptability of this is definitely improving, and I think this is beneficial for everyone. Supporting your colleagues to work in the best ways for them helps everyone’s productivity, and the business to succeed. I also think having positive female role models in the business helps attract and retain diverse talent."

Have you observed any changes over the course of your career?

"Awareness is improving, especially with the growing drivers for increased diversity and inclusion in business. Businesses are making positive policy changes to ensure companies reflect our diverse society. However, it is important that along with new rules, overall attitudes also change. I think unconscious bias still exists and can be difficult to change as in many cases it is ingrained, but we all need to challenge ourselves to overcome this."

Who inspires you?

"My parents are very hard workers and as first-generation immigrants they always instilled a strong work ethic in me. Having daughters meant I want to be that inspiration for them. Even though I have faced challenges in my career, I want them to see that I was driven to overcome these and that they can too."

Thank you to Robina for sharing her experiences. Creating a supportive, inclusive culture is vital to the success of a company and we hope sharing stories like this will help inspire others to pursue their career goals. We’re always looking for motivated individuals to join our team. If you’re interested you can view our current vacancies on the website.