Here, you are part of two teams, Finance and the business team you’re supporting

David Xia is a Senior Finance Analyst with our Design & Construction team. David told us that when he researched Scentre Group he read some of our people’s career stories and they inspired him to apply for a role with us. Now David’s telling his story to inspire others.  

David Xia, Senior Finance Analyst

I joined Scentre Group two years ago as a Financial Analyst within the Leasing & Retail Solutions team.

Westfield is an iconic brand in Australia and that immediately attracted me to Scentre Group. After some more research I felt that the Scentre Group DNA matched my values and I thought my skills were also a good match for the company.

When I joined the Scentre Group Leasing team it felt different to my previous job because here, you are a part of two teams, the Finance team and the business team you’re supporting.

Finance has a genuine team spirit. The ultimate goal is team success, but at the same time you are always recognised for your hard work. That excited me to work harder and give my best.

Partnering closely with the business is also important because you need to understand what they’re doing to support them properly. Working with Leasing meant I had the opportunity to visit Westfield Living Centres to see the stores and retail partners. Seeing the layout of the store and its position within the centre puts things into perspective – it’s very different to a square metre figure in a spreadsheet.

Developing my skills and taking parental leave

From the beginning I could see there were opportunities to move across the business. I really appreciated my manager because we had fortnightly catch ups and she purposely told me they were to discuss my career development, not work in progress.

Through those conversations, I identified skills I wanted to improve, we created an action plan together and she created opportunities for me. For example, I needed to improve my presentation skills, so she encouraged me to present the budget and forecast pack to the General and Regional Managers. She helped me get ready for the next level and achieve my goals.

During this time, I also had my first baby and took one month of secondary carers leave. That helped me a lot because we don’t have parents who live in Australia so the parental leave helped me support my wife and overcome that difficult period as new parents. Ongoing, working from home also allows me to help my wife with the baby – which is a real highlight.

Supporting a new team

After 18 months working with Leasing & Retail Solution, I was promoted to Senior Financial Analyst in our Design & Construction team.

Design & Construction is project based, so my role evolves as active projects move through pre-development, design and then construction phases, through to completion. In the current economic environment, there’s a lot of risks and opportunities in the construction industry, so going on to site is really important because it helps us understand what challenges the team are facing and their needs so we can better support them. Every project is different and every day is different, so it’s exciting.

Moving between our internal teams has allowed me to learn about a new industry, develop different skills and interact with new people. It’s another opportunity for me to continue learning all while staying with a company that I believe values me.

I’m very happy with my time spent at Scentre Group.

If you’re interested in joining Scentre Group, explore the current job opportunities we have available: https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing