My name is Roohi Jaffer and I have been in love with technology most of my life. I grew up in Tanzania, East Africa and completed high school there as well as a few years of technical classes, focused on IT foundational concepts and programming. I moved to the US (Florida) when I was 19 and have lived here since then. Moving to the US allowed me access to a college education so I jumped at the opportunity to do that even though I was a new mom and my daughter was just 6 months old at the time. After college, I got selected for an internship with a small technology company that dealt with web and kiosk airline check-in applications called Kinetics. This was how I came to NCR because Kinetics was later acquired by NCR.

My career journey spans a little less than 2 decades and I have been an avid learner during all of that time. I started my journey as a testing intern and slowly grew to lead the PS Quality Engineering team for the Travel line of business. From there, I was given various opportunities that gave me experience in multiple industries such as Travel, Entertainment, Retail, and Hospitality. About 10 years ago, I started branching into Project and Program Management, which I discovered was a natural progression from QA, given my experience and my areas of strength. I completed several certifications and training classes along my journey, which helped me immensely on various projects and programs I was leading.

Currently, I am a Senior PS Partner leading the Application Managed Services practice in Hospitality. What I love most about my role is the opportunity to be an inspirational leader, the challenge to refine processes to make our practice more successful, and getting to be a positive change agent. I know from experience that change is a constant, and I am always challenging myself to embrace change, and to use change as an opportunity to personally and professionally excel.

I love that the IDEAS council starts with the I for inclusion which reflects our individual identities because even though we are all generally grouped by gender, race, ethnicity, religion, orientation and more, we are all individual people with our own unique backgrounds, history, spirituality, strengths, and passions. I really am excited to see the calendar of events that is recognized by NCR to be more inclusive, specifically for people of all faiths as well as see more diversity in the representation of all the groups in the council.

I am a big NCR Advocate. I have learned so much during my tenure at NCR and I received so many training, travel, and growth opportunities. Of course, nothing happens without putting in the sweat equity and I have invested my share of late nights, customer presentations, and hot seat discussions. What makes me stay first is the knowledge that my work means something and I understand how “I” fit into the big picture. I don’t feel like a nameless face on an organization chart, which is a big motivational factor for me. The culture of NCR is truly very welcoming and very inclusive. As a leader of one of the practices within PS Hospitality, I get to see that culture both as an employee as well as a manager who is tasked with making sure our teams are fully supported and set up for success.

All of them do but for me personally, Respect is the value that resonates most. I don’t want myself to be associated with anyone who doesn’t respect me or my contributions and of course, our customers want to feel respected as well. Respect is more than just a value. In my opinion, it’s a mindset that needs to be cultivated into our DNA. We can't just ask for respect or suddenly be deserving of the same. Respect encompasses keeping our promises, acceptance, patience, understanding, and forgiveness. We start from a position of mutual respect and then grow every internal or external relationship from there.

I love spending time with my family and I am a big foodie so on weekends, you will find me having brunch with my family at our favorite restaurant, or walking at the many parks near my home in FL. I love traveling, too, so I am always either planning our next getaway or counting down the days to an upcoming break. I work very hard so I really look forward to and appreciate my downtime with my family on these annual trips.

I would say “Welcome to NCR!”. What’s not to love about a global corporation that serves as many customers as we do, operates in as many industries as we do, and has always brought innovative solutions to the market? Come experience the culture for yourself, and you will see why we have so many people who started their careers with NCR and stayed through their retirement.