What are the most important qualities for a Network and Security Architect?
You should be open to new ideas, able to work on multiple domains at the same time and have a view on all technology available.
What projects are you working on?
Currently, I am working on 2 projects for a European agency that has multiple solutions to create a more secure Europe.
The first project is a biometric processing system which provides services to other European systems. The other project I am working on enables employees and contractors to work on their systems without being physically present on site. This is done by implementing a system that uses small USB-tokens that create a unique password to log in on a remote computer after plugging it in. Both projects have a certain impact on the day-to-day European activities.
The scripts of both projects are very different and that is what makes it interesting: I am learning a lot about different subjects.
What does your team look like?
Depending on the project, I will be working in a team or on my own, but I always work together a lot with our Security team in Luxembourg that includes Analysts, Network Security Experts, and other Experts. Though we do not work on the same projects, we are always open to provide our expertise if needed. I also often collaborate with our Cloud and Technical Services team located in Luxembourg.
Fun fact
If Benjamin could switch jobs for one day, he would like the be the Chief information security officer (CISO), because he thinks it is a job with high stakes and a job that is quite challenging. Benjamin also likes the fact that the CISO is able to meet different teams at Sopra Steria and clients.
What can you say about Sopra Steria’s company culture?
When I think of Sopra Steria, I think of open mindedness, training opportunities, and people who are always willing to learn new stuff and elaborate on new ideas. We have a management that is quite easily available and ready to give people opportunities and more responsibilities if they ask for it. Management gives us the freedom to plan our days however we want to and to be flexible in our schedule, as long as the work is done in the end, and we deliver something qualitative.
We have a rather young team, meaning that we chat and laugh a lot when we are at the office so the atmosphere is really informal. I always say that “homeworking is the more serious part of the job” because there are less opportunities to joke around with colleagues when you work from home but despite a more volatile work-ambiance, we still have to thrive at a certain level of exigence.
Fun fact
If Sopra Steria was an animal, Benjamin thinks it would be a lynx, because Sopra Steria and the lynx are both rather effective creatures, they are agile, adapt to the environment and they both always keep their eyes on the end goal.