Marc is a Senior Data Scientist at GIC’s Investment Insights Group, and his role is to build machine learning models to help our investment teams discover novel insights from high volumes and noisy data.
Marc has also recently started work on his own open-source project which approaches Topic Modelling, a branch of Natural Language Processing (NLP), in a novel way.
Why did you decide to join GIC?
I was approached by a recruiter for the data scientist role. Typically, I would tell recruiters that I was not looking for a new job; however, the opportunity to contribute to nation-building in some small way, plus GIC’s stellar reputation, drew me in to meet the team, and I eventually accepted the offer.
After joining, I realised GIC is managed independently from the civil service and things generally move quickly here.
What does your typical workday look like?
I typically wake up around 7:00a.m these days since we’ve started working from home. After spending some time with my cat and doing some meditation, I’ll check and reply to my emails, review the JIRA board, and plan my to-do list.
The rest of my day revolves around coding sessions, meetings with the various teams I work with, and brainstorming new approaches to current projects. I also catch up on research on new data science techniques that could be useful. We usually do lunch as a team, together with our interns. We’ve had several virtual team lunches over Zoom during the pandemic.
What do you like most about working here?
I like the results-oriented attitude at GIC, which gives us employees the freedom to manage our work, leading to better job satisfaction and output quality. I would also say that GIC is serious about the real need for diversity. For example, when evaluating potential new hires for our data science team, we consciously place a premium on candidates with non-standard backgrounds who can bring fresh perspectives and thinking to the table.
How would you describe the learning & development culture at GIC?
I’ve been able to broaden my knowledge of the different asset classes through my work with various investment teams. I’ve also been given opportunities to lead projects and guide my junior colleagues in them. Along with GIC School’s People Manager Program, all these have helped me develop skills beyond those of any individual contributor.
What you should know before joining GIC
One thing that surprised me was just how serious our management takes employee well-being, making GIC one of the best workplaces. I was already impressed when I first joined a few years ago – it just keeps getting better.