Each month, we ask Senior Technical Women to share their stories and what they have learned. This Senior Technical Woman Profile features Jane Moran, Global CIO, Thomson Reuters.
1. How did you decide to pursue a career in technology?
I got my start in technology when I worked at a venture capital firm, and a mentor and company president at the time encouraged and supported me taking additional technology classes including programming. I was known as the “technology guru” in the office, having fed this passion from early on when I spent time as a child in my father’s math lab at Ohio State. My father, a math professor, and the president of the venture capital firm definitely played a part in my choosing to earn an undergraduate degree in math and history and subsequently an MBA in finance and technology.
2. Based on your own experience, what skill(s) or characteristic(s) do you think are most important for technical women to succeed?
While being technical is important, the two skills that are key for women in technology is 1) having the ability to collaborate and partner with the business to translate their business requirements into technology solutions and 2) be proactive in seeking a mentor and asking for help, whether it’s about your career path or for advice on projects you’re working on.
3. What is your biggest challenge?
Work life balance is the proverbial challenge. First, Thomson Reuters is a great company who understands that especially at the executive level we travel quite a bit, and helps us manage work balance effectively. Second, it’s important to have a strong support network at home whether it’s a spouse, family member, or nanny. Lastly, I schedule in dedicated time that is a no work zone including tucking in kids at bedtime at least twice a week when I’m home, getting kids off to school in the mornings and spending EVERY weekend with the family.
4. What advice would you give to women in high tech who want to advance on the management track specifically? I tell women to promote themselves, and with an optimistic, glass half full attitude. Don’t negate yourself before you even presented an idea with “you might not like it, but I have an idea.” Take ownership and be excited about your ideas! Also remember to make sure you promote your achievements by including others on your note to the boss about a job well done!
5. How do you stay current in your technical field?
I spend a lot of time talking to my peers such as CIOs at other Fortune 500 companies and vendors to get the outside perspective and reading material online including the CIO Executive Council, Gartner, and other research organizations. I’m also associated with universities such as Dartmouth, where in partnership with Thomson Reuters, we share ideas via a technical roundtable on digital strategies. I also sit on the CIO Council for salesforce.com, Workday, and Oracle.
6. In your opinion, what (if any) are the remaining barriers faced by women in technology?
Geography and culture can sometimes play a role. In India, women are still challenged with barriers in rising to leadership positions. Some women just can’t work 80 hours at week and shouldn’t, but are capable of meeting business needs while still taking care of family commitments. We have a ways to go to attract and retain women at senior levels and creating networking groups is one way that will help progress our efforts.
Biography
As Global CIO for Thomson Reuters, Jane Moran brings over 25 years of financial services and information technology expertise to the organization. In this role, Jane manages a centralized global staff of 1,200 supporting sales, order-to-cash, financial and reporting business systems.
She is responsible for ensuring that this world class MIS organization meets the growing needs of global customers through standardization and harmonization of processes, culture and information to support business objectives.
Jane previously served as CIO for the Thomson Reuters Markets division, where she drove the strategy, implementation and support for the internal business platforms that support prospect-to-cash, financials, sales management and global reporting. During her career, Jane has held a number of senior leadership roles including CIO of Thomson Financial and, previously, of CCBN. She has also consulted on large-scale ERP and CRM system implementations and provided IT portfolio management expertise to financial institutions.
Jane actively participates in the Thomson Reuters Women’s Network, Women in Technology International (WITI), the Anita Borg Institute and the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT).
Jane earned an MBA from Boston University and a BA degree from Brown University where she’s currently a member of the Advisory Council on Computing and Information Technology.
Jane works and lives in London with her husband and two sons.