A Day in the Life... Nicholas Donnan

Nicholas joined the corporate finance team in October 2013, following an initial placement within Air Operations, and is currently based at our UK headquarters in Weybridge, Surrey.

The GradMail team asked Nicholas to give an idea of his typical working day. “One of the primary reasons I joined Thales is that the Graduate Development Programme (GDP) equips its employees with a rounded knowledge of finance at operational, management and strategic levels. My placement in Weybridge is heavily focused on the latter two perspectives, which has proved incredibly fitting as I am about to embark on my final CIMA exams.

“I typically sit four exams a year, covering a range of topics from group consolidation accounting to investment strategy and pricing decisions. Studying can be tremendously demanding - lectures alone account for up to 12 full weekends annually. Notwithstanding the weekend commitments, during busy exam periods I usually finish an eight hour working day, spend an hour in the gym then head home to revise.

“As a direct consequence of the inherently cyclical nature of finance, a large proportion of the daily work we undertake within corporate is determined by Group HQ timetables and initiatives. However, I am lucky that my role is extremely diverse due to the fact I report directly to a number of the UK Financial Directors, namely the UK Reporting & Planning Director and the UK Finance Transformation Director.

Thales, like many other leading technology companies, operates in a truly dynamic environment and so the need to transform and evolve is paramount.

"The Finance function is of course not exempt and in fact plays an integral part in shaping the business and reporting on change. Last year, Thales announced its Ambition 10 programme with a view to achieving significant growth and competitiveness improvements over the next 10 years. I am responsible for consolidating the five Country Business Unit (CBU) Project Efficiency Dashboards and UK Cost of Non-Quality reports. These encompass a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the Group performance plan, Ambition Boost, by which the Group measure efficiency and effectiveness of key programmes and business operations.

“It was not until I began working in corporate on a day to day basis that I realised the sheer scale of Thales, not only within the UK but also at a global level. Across the monthly timetable we produce several reports on over 25 business units, representing broadly 20 different business lines with annual revenue exceeding £1.2 billion. As a result, reporting and analysis can be incredibly complex and so a meticulous attention to detail is required at all times.

“The opportunity to travel was another significant attraction to the GDP. Despite being assigned two specific placement locations, I have been lucky enough to work on six different sites across the UK and recently was seconded to Underwater Systems to support their rate submission process to the Ministry Of Defence (MoD). The chance to travel and interact with senior business leaders and to be granted a large degree of autonomy in my role has facilitated a steep learning curve in terms of both my professional confidence and technical finance skill set.”