Queenette Archibong is an Executive Director in Global Markets at Goldman Sachs and the founder of an NGO, Social Mobility for Women, which helps provide greater opportunities for women in Nigeria. She is currently studying on the Executive MBA course at LBS.
The three words that describe me are driven, ambitious and compassionate.
I love my job and I love working in financial services, but I am also aware that I have had opportunities that many other women with my background have not. The joy for me is also being able to give something back, which is why I am very keen on mentoring at work and why I set up my NGO to help women in Nigeria.
My experience in FinTech was really exciting. It meant hiring a new team and creating a new culture.
We were building a business from scratch. We had all the challenges of a startup, such as finding the right people, building products from the end-customer perspective and reviewing the success of products based on feedback from customers.
Training as a lawyer gave me resilience, tenacity and the ability to assimilate complex information and present it in a coherent way to aid decision-making.
A law degree is a real test of character and a lot of hard work, but it has paid off because I use my legal skills every day. I spent the early years of my career in the legal sector in Nigeria, involved in M&A, PE, real estate and litigation, which gave me a great understanding of financial markets.
My current role is truly global.
I am constantly required to come up with solutions for complex business issues that touch on so many jurisdictions. Creating the right team is so important. It’s about making sure you have the right people in the team who understand and share your vision and the culture of your organisation.