My Working Day: Bryon Linnehan

Bryon Linnehan works in the surveillance team in Barclays’ Global Compliance Services in New York – a role he took after serving in the US military. He tells us about working with “talented, driven” colleagues, his advice for veterans moving into a new field – and his fascination with the bank’s “distinguished” history.

I’m an early riser… so I usually wake up between four and five in the morning. I’ll make my lunch and check emails for anything important before heading into work. If I’m driving in I like to listen to classical music – it really mellows me out and prepares me for a busy day.

My typical morning… is rarely ‘typical’. I work at several different sites so there is a lot of variety. I am part of the Compliance Special Situations Surveillance Team, which means I am responsible for mitigating risks across different Barclays products and regions. I’ll then work with other teams around the business to solve problems, and ensure that we have a good framework to deal with them in the future.

Before working at Barclays… I served in the US military. I started off as a military policeman and then transitioned to the intelligence side. I’ve served all over the world in Korea, Iraq and Kuwait, among other places. I’m still part of the National Guard – which I participate in outside work – so this will be my 17th year of service. I am also part of the leadership team in the Barclays Military Services Network where I work as the Chief Operating Officer of the Americas. Our main goal is to help veterans both inside and outside Barclays who are making the transition into new and different working environments.

My advice… for ex-service personnel looking to join Barclays is to do extensive research and make sure you are well informed. They should also get in contact with the Veterans on Wall Street Initiative – there is a lot of help out there for those who need it.

Barclays and the military… have so many similarities. My role here is all about identifying patterns, and anticipating the likelihood of future events occurring. These are all skills I was trained in during my time in the armed forces and it’s nice to put them into action here at Barclays.

The thing I enjoy most about my job… is working with great people every single day. I have so many talented, driven colleagues that I love working with.

I also enjoy working for a company that has such a distinguished history. It’s important to know where the business is heading, but also to understand where it has come from. Whenever I have a spare minute I enjoy reading the Barclays archive pieces so I can gain a better understanding of the business.

The most difficult thing about my job is… what we would describe in the military as ‘having to take an appetite suppressant’. There are so many amazing opportunities within the business and it’s simply impossible to take part in them all.

Outside of work… I like to keep fit – I exercise a lot. I also love to go hiking whenever I have the time – we are really lucky that we have lots of great spots around New York and New Jersey.