bloom: Silvia Núñez Patiño
Finding strong mentors, working in diverse teams, and daring to jump!Company: Telenet, IT
Job title: service experience manager
Support from the right person at the right time can put you on a new path and completely change your future - something that Silvia Núñez Patiño knows all about. Silvia came to Belgium from her native Spain for a short, 5-month traineeship. 15 years later, she's still enjoying life in the heart of Europe at Telenet.
Finding strong role models at pivotal times
How important have role models been in your journey?
Incredibly important and inspirational. I remember visiting Madrid with my mother when I was around 14. We went to see Laura Lechuga Gomez who was doing her PhD at the Spanish National Research Council, the biggest research center in Spain. She took the time to give us a private tour, showing me the most expensive laser equipment in Spain and more. That visit really made a strong impression on me - and even my mom still remembers it!
What I found inspiring was that Laura went to the same school as me in Cadiz and she later became one of the most important female researchers in Spain and a global specialist in biosensors. One of her many accomplishments was when she was awarded two very important research prizes, the Juan de la Cierva and the Rey Jaime I, in 2020. I still occasionally meet up with Laura when I am back in Spain or when she comes to Brussels for research projects with the European Commission.
In addition to Laura's early influence on me, I've been fortunate to have had some interesting mentors. At Telenet, where I'm working now, I met my mentor, Anna Khomyakova. She has always believed in my skills and abilities, which gives me the confidence to leave my comfort zone and try working in new areas.
Failure is relative, it is important to learn from problems or failures.
I also learned a lot from Bruno Lejeune, my team manager at the European Parliament, where I started as a trainee. He told me: "Now that Belgium has discovered you, you have to stay". I appreciated hearing that, as well as everything I learned from him. For example, I remember him telling me a story about how you perceive failures. He was leading a team at the European Space Agency in Guyana when they launched a rocket which exploded. The French guys were all upset by this, but the Belgians were all clapping as they had built the rocket's self-destruction system. When I think about this, it reminds me that there are different ways of looking at failure. For the French, the project was a complete failure. But for the Belgian, their system worked, so it was a success. Failure is relative, it is important to learn from problems or failures.
Daring to jump into the unknown
How did you come to move to Belgium?
I applied for a traineeship in the European Parliament purely because I thought it'd be fun to apply for a job in English. I wrote a good motivation letter on the spot and was surprised when they called me back. I had a couple of interviews before they offered me the job in the Infrastructure and Logistics department. Even though working in the Building Service of the European Parliament in Brussels wasn't a perfect fit for my background, I decided to think of it as an adventure. At that time, I thought I'd be back in Spain at the end of the 5-month placement.
That traineeship literally changed my life. I felt warmly welcomed into a stable team that knew each other inside out, their huge strengths and tiny weaknesses. At the time, the team was implementing a new security center in the European Parliament, and I was assigned to follow the project up. I ended up attending most of the project meetings, which was good for my French. It also gave me a good taste of project management. I wasn't aware of all the things that needed to be done or how they fitted together. I found it fascinating to see how the project evolved, how topics were negotiated, and how to manage disagreements. My 5 months there passed in the blink of an eye.
My trajectory over the last five years is a good proof that I like to challenge myself!
Why did you decide to stay in Belgium?
During my traineeship I applied for jobs in both Belgium and Spain. Even though Spain was going through an economic crisis, I was invited for interviews, but I didn't feel comfortable with the way I was treated. Additionally, I thought if I returned to Spain, I would lose more than I would gain, so I decided to stay in Belgium.
How did you end up at Telenet after all of that?
After my second traineeship I wanted something more stable and better paid so I decided to apply to all the telco operators. I joined the Core Network team at Base, responsible for billing gateway, provisioning gateway and lawful intercept, even though I didn't have experience in that domain. One of my first meetings at Base was with the Federal Police related to legal intercepts.
At Base I learnt by doing which meant I had to be open to learning new things and be confident in my position, yet be ready to ask for help when needed. It didn't happen overnight, but being responsible for those systems gave me the opportunity to understand how a telco operator works from network to IT, from start to finish.
Five years after joining Base, the company was acquired by Telenet and my team was one of the first to be merged. As usual in this type of situation, there were debates about which systems to keep, and I could see that the systems I worked on would be replaced. This made me feel somewhat demotivated and in need of a change. Luckily, that was when I crossed paths with Anna Khomyakova, one of my mentors. She was leading a team of project managers and was assigned to projects where I was the system owner. She later encouraged me to join her team as a project manager.
Working as a project manager was a new challenge for me, it was really out of my comfort zone. I had a technical background, where I knew my domain and stakeholders, but this was something new. As a technical project manager, I was managing projects that deployed new technologies or implemented changes in the mobile network.
After jumping into the unknown with these roles, did you then start to play it safe? Or do you like challenging yourself?
My trajectory over the last five years is a good proof that I like to challenge myself! Working as a project manager turned out to be really good training for my later work in the new team that Anna set up: Operational Readiness. This team was in charge of onboarding projects (or initiatives in Agile terms) that had previously been rolled out on a small scale.
And the challenges didn't stop there. A year after I joined the team, the Quality of Service team lead suddenly decided to leave the company. I felt I could do something to improve that small team, and that was my trigger to apply for the role of team leader.
Working in diverse teams that bring people together
Can you tell us about a project that you've worked on that you're proud of?
I am proud of the technical delivery of VoLTE and VoWifi for the Telenet and Base brands. It was difficult handling a project team with so many different nationalities (Chinese, European, and Indian) and different companies' interests. I had to ensure that all these interests converged in a good project delivery that was a win-win situation for all stakeholders. It was during this project that I discovered that I liked working in such a diverse group and they appreciated me too.
Finding common ground among everyone takes patience, clarity, and structure. It's not always easy, but it is possible.
You have an international background and frequently work with people from different countries. What do you think is important for this European or global mindset?
When working with people from different countries, it's vital to be respectful and give people the time to explain themselves and their point of view. As a project manager, I found it important to bring everybody to the same level so that everyone contributes their best. It also helps to overcome language difficulties. Basically, everyone needs to be invested in trying to understand the perspective of all stakeholders and finding common ground amongst everyone. It takes patience, clarity, and structure. It's not always easy, but it is possible.
But some things haven't changed, I'm still a fanatic Real Madrid supporter. You might change many things in your life, but you can't change football team!
Silvia, to close our interview, besides technology and engineering, what else do you enjoy spending your time on?
Although I studied engineering, my brothers studied music and work as musicians now. I also started to play the piano when I was young. Even though I don't play now, I still enjoy going to concerts and arts in general, especially at the Bozar in Brussels. I've taken up drawing again for the first time in years.
While my family is back in Spain, I have a good group of friends of a variety of nationalities here. It's one of the great things about Brussels, all these nationalities coming together in different ways. But some things haven't changed, I'm still a fanatic Real Madrid supporter. You might change many things in your life, but you can't change football team!
Inspired by Silvia's story? Continue reading here!
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