Women Leaders at Nium: A Chat with Dee Clarke (HR Director)

Welcome to our second interview as a part of our month-long series honoring International Women’s Day, Women’s History Month, and our partnership with ICC as the first official fintech infrastructure partner of the Women’s Cricket World Cup.  

At Nium, we believe in our core value being #SimplyBetterTogether; the women leadership at our organization inspires and powers our mission across all domains from engineering, technology, human resources, marketing to sales. Today, we’re sitting down with our HR/TA Director Dee Clarke; a true powerhouse, transformation champion, and brilliant success driver.  

Let’s hear her advice, career highlights, and thoughts on the growing role of women in fintech, leadership, and innovation. 

1) What does doing meaningful work mean for you in your career? 

Meaningful work holds several different meanings for me! Firstly, it means creating value and positive outcomes for clients and stakeholders no matter how small that outcome is. Secondly, learning through iteration – even if that means making mistakes. I love the Nium value: “Make it better“. Work has its purpose in constant improvement; being open to getting it wrong sometimes, even if it means experiencing discomfort, listening to others and driving improvement. This is an essential process to making an impact. 

Also, meaningful work is about the trust and relationships I build. I thrive in an environment where there is respect even if opinions are different; friction leads to good outcomes but needs to be managed with empathy and listening. Lastly, it’s important to have variety in my work. My current role is HR and Recruitment which is broad; this translates to managing multiple functions while simultaneously providing unparalleled learning opportunities for me to grow on both personal and professional levels.  

2) How do you think working at a fintech supports innovation and women’s leadership?   

Fintech is disrupting boundaries and traditions, meanwhile creating an exciting path for women and career growth! Careers are less linear; things move fast, and ideas are implemented at scale so you can build impact quickly.  

At Nium we give employees a huge amount of ownership from day one – to carve out their roles by adding value to clients. There are no limits. This provides a great platform to grow, learn and expand your career. By working across borders, we’re able to empower women with access to international careers that they may not be able to otherwise access in larger corporations. There is also a broader role definition and exposure to senior management; the synergy is what helps women cultivate and reach their full potential.  

Innovation runs through the DNA of the fintech industry; the real winners will be players innovating and embracing change the fastest to get, and stay, ahead of the curve. As money movement becomes more fluid and simpler, innovation will speed up and create more opportunities and ecosystems. This makes it even more exciting to work for a company that is at the forefront of this changing payments landscape!   

3. What are you most proud of from your work at Nium?  

In the last 5 months, I have been able to have such a broad portfolio of work and wear so many hats. One of my pivotal milestones has been changing the US parental leave in my first week to support primary caregivers. Also, hiring 60% female talent has been an achievement I’m quite happy with! 

4) What is the best advice you can share to inspire the upcoming generation of female leaders? 

Based on my experience, I have multiple learnings that I’d like to share with the emerging generation of female leaders. Firstly, I encourage you to lean into discomfort, say yes to things that may scare you; it’s a good sign and will accelerate your learning! Embrace making mistakes, it helps you to grow.  

Always try to ask more questions; don’t simply assume that everyone knows what they are doing. Look for ways to have a voice, share your opinions, and find unique perspectives to add value.  

Lastly, on the journey to progress, remember to help others along the way. Actively try to serve as a mentor or coach and give feedback. Pay it forward, and help others to be successful!