We are able to truly impact a customer’s experience with Discover

Name: Sheila Lodhia
Job Title: VP, Application Development

I landed my first position at Discover as a financial internal auditor through Northern Illinois University’s career fair back in 1990. The company, at that time, was Sears Consumer Financial and Discover was one of the subsidiaries. During my years in internal audit, I was exposed to all facets of the organization…finance, operations and technology. In 2001, I took an opportunity as a business analyst allowing me to learn the connection between the business and technology. This position lead me to various roles within Business Technology.

The culture at Discover is very friendly and collaborative. We have strong values based on doing the right thing and challenging the ‘status quo’ resulting in continuous improvements. Every position can participate and influence change and growth, benefiting the company and your own personal development.

I have had nothing but strong management supporting my career throughout the different phases of my life. For example, I was allowed to have a flexible work schedule when one did not exist while my family was young and I was encouraged to take on new management roles as they saw value in my work. As a result, I have become more confident in my abilities and hopefully that has inspired people working around me.

Personally, I love to cook and travel. I have a large extended family and every event centers around cooking and eating. Equally, I love traveling with my family to other countries and learning about their culture. Typically we immerse ourselves in the culture by simply taking in local sights, food and activities.

How has Technology evolved at Discover?
Originally technology would play a support role for the business with a primary focus of delivering the requirements of a specific project. Now technology is a true enabler, by quickly unlocking value to meet both the customer and company’s needs. In fact, with our new value stream structure the majority of our discussions center around technology. These discussions are evolving from how are we using technology resources to how quickly can our technology stack respond to the changing needs of our customers, market and business. Formerly, technology architecture was seen as a ‘technology’s problem’ now it is a strategic investment and true enabler for growth.

With our innovative technology capabilities, Discover is able to impact a customer’s experience by making it more relevant, personal and timely – all characteristics require for us to be leaders in our industry.

Interested in working in Business Technology?