Shobana Rocque

Drawn to engineering by her appetite for solving problems and finding solutions, Shobana first joined MSCI as an Analytics Quality Engineering team manager nine years ago. Today, she is Head of Quality Center of Excellence, and her continued success has been fueled her ability to collaborate across the organization, build strong relationships and deliver results.

“Through building relationships and making critical connections I was able to advance my career. To get a project across the finish line, I would reach out to anyone I needed to across the business. I wasn’t seeking progression, but my openness, and my focus on the solution, made people really trust and value me: they knew we had a shared goal. And that was my path to success.”

As recognition for Shobana’s skills and expertise grew, and as she listened to and absorbed advice from engineering leaders, her role evolved from managing functional testing to ultimately being responsible for leading Enterprise Quality. She now manages a team of 150 people across MSCI defining and implementing consistent quality standards for our platform and services. She also manages team who is responsible for production support for ESG and Climate, Data Tech and Technical Client Services.

“When your talent is recognized, you’ll have many opportunities to grow, and a big part of that is feedback and mentoring. Without the feedback I received, both positive and constructive, I wouldn’t have become the leader I am today. It really molded me to become a leader, because it gave me exposure and helped me learn about strategy and communication.”

When she had children, Shobana learned to make time for professional development alongside the responsibilities of work and family. As she tackled these challenges and made time for her own ambitions, Shobana also challenged her own and industry assumptions about leadership.

“I used to believe that being an extrovert was a prerequisite for leadership, but I'm actually quite shy. I'm meticulous and straightforward. Despite these traits, I embraced my introversion and still became a leader. By challenging those preconceived notions. I achieved success, and now I'm sharing how I did it.”

Shobana was determined to create a space in which women could confidently share their ideas and grow their skills, which is why she founded the groundbreaking Women in Innovation (WiiN) program four years ago.

“The program takes business challenges from our senior leaders and helps women in technology to find solutions to them. We work in groups to build a complete solution so that each person learns something new. And finally, we demo it with senior leaders. If all goes well, it’s rolled out. So, I really feel like I’m helping not just two or three women on my team; I’m actually having an impact on the wider women in technology community at MSCI.”