It’s never too late to try something new.
After working in conservation and before that, as a head chef, Josh Muchiri used his transferrable skills as a springboard to launch a new career in financial services.
As a Manager on the Compliance Monitoring & Testing team at RBC, Josh tests business processes and reviews employee conduct to ensure RBC complies with local laws and regulations, as well as our own high ethical and integrity standards.
“I’ve had opportunities to do a little bit of everything relating to risk,” says Josh. “I started out in client due diligence, then moved to an operational risk role, which involved reviewing business controls and creating policies and procedures, where needed. Then I joined compliance, and I’ve never looked back.”
Since joining RBC in 2021, Josh has reviewed many departments of the business.
“A bank the size of RBC offers a variety of roles within your team, and opportunities to pursue many different careers," says Josh. "From facilities to IT and marketing to client-relations roles, there is something for everyone. And with RBC’s significant recent growth, career opportunities will continue to be on the rise.”
Taking on new challenges has been a consistent theme in Josh’s life: he originally moved to Jersey two decades ago, to work in hospitality. After working as a chef at a number of spots – including a Michelin-star restaurant – Josh wanted a career path with standard hours.
“As I became a family man, I wanted a job that allowed me more family time,” says Josh. “That’s how I ended up working in conservation.”
His second act involved working for an international conservation organisation, which trains international biologists on saving endangered wildlife species.
“Conservation is all about solving complex problems with multiple stakeholders, and my roles in banking have all involved the same kind of work – creating sophisticated solutions alongside a variety of colleagues and clients,” Josh explains. “When considering joining the finance industry, people without a financial background tend to have the perception that they have nothing to offer the industry, but I was able to put my transferrable skills to use right away.”
Unsurprisingly, he’s also a proponent of transferrable skills for people who live in Jersey.
“I think Jersey is quite unique. It’s a small island with an international finance industry, and a small population to recruit from,” says Josh. “Financial services companies are looking to recruit people with the right attitudes and behaviours, and are more than willing to train job candidates that are a good culture fit in more technical banking skills, if required.”
RBC is very friendly and welcoming, says Josh, so it’s easy to connect – even when some colleagues may be an ocean away.
“At RBC, I often collaborate with colleagues on the other side of the pond, so new interactions are not between strangers,” says Josh. “Instead, it’s like we’re just waiting to meet each other.”
