Employee Spotlight: Sanjukta Datta

This week in our “Employee Spotlight” series, Sanjukta Datta, who leads Digital Communications and DX Education across JERA, discusses her career and experiences at JERA.

Don’t forget to like the JERA page for more employee stories and to keep up to date with our latest position openings.

Please tell us a little about you

My name is Sanjukta Datta and I was born and raised in India. I completed my undergraduate degree in Economics in India and then moved to Australia to complete my MBA. After completing my MBA, I was fortunate enough to have worked in multiple countries such as Australia, India, USA and Japan. I started off my career as a financial services professional and eventually moved into the ICT sector as I believed that “Becoming Digital” was where the world was heading to. Over the course of my career, I worked in different areas of ICT such as strategy, application development and infrastructure mainly concentrating in the areas of Business Analysis and Project Management.

?In 2013, I relocated to Japan for family reasons. The first thing that attracted me to Japan was the abundance of natural beauty, a strong customer-oriented service culture and a sense of safety. I fell in love with Japan and have made her my home. I live in Tokyo with my husband and child (who was born here).

?As a family, we enjoy traveling, especially to remote non-touristy areas and trying out local cuisines. Before the pandemic, we traveled internationally often; in the past 2 years, our travel has been restricted to the mountains and seas of Japan. On a personal front, I also enjoy reading and dancing.????????

What is your role at JERA and what do you enjoy the most about your role?

I belong to the ICT Planning and Governance Unit, under the ICT Strategy Group. I oversee Digital Communications and DX Education across JERA HQ and Group companies. My work covers the entire gamut of services from Idea Proposal to Strategy-Roadmap-Planning and ends with idea implementation and KPI management.?

What I like the most about my role is that I get to work on projects that are totally new in JERA and this allows me to leverage my international experience to execute innovative solutions. Further, in my role, I get the opportunity to work with esteemed colleagues across the world which truly enhances the meaning of a “borderless world”.

What attracted you to JERA as a company?

I’ve spent most of my career in the financial services industry so when I got the chance to work at JERA, I jumped at the opportunity as I wanted to learn about the Energy industry, given this sector’s importance in our day to day lives. With the growing issue of climate change and the world’s ongoing transition to a net zero-emission economy, I wanted to work in an industry where one could see the influence of corporate actions on society as a whole. JERA’s mission (to provide cutting edge solutions to the world’s energy issues) and vision (to scale up its clean energy platform of renewables and low greenhouse gas thermal power, sparking sustainable development in Asia and around the world); is something that resonated with me. JERA is also the first utility company in Japan to adopt digital technologies on a large scale and this was only possible under a strong leadership team. Thus, through JERA, I found an opportunity to not only grow my career but also contribute to society in general.

What has been the most transformative experience you had since joining JERA?

JERA is embarking on a journey to become a data driven company and one of the key aspects of such a company is to use data to influence decision-making. Since my work involves “doing something new”, I rely on KPIs to track performance and finetune strategy as needed. It has been very heartening to showcase to ICT executive management the stupendous performance of our initiatives, as we can prove to management that our new initiatives have a positive impact and employee support.

What’s one piece of advice you would share with your younger self?

Don’t put too much of an emphasis on having a fixed plan, you never know what the future holds. The world is changing rapidly, and it is important for us to be flexible and versatile to adapt to changing situations. Calculated risk taking is important as without risk, there is no reward.

What would you tell someone that is interested in joining JERA?

JERA’s mission and vision and the challenges involved in achieving them drive our actions and deliverables. As JERA is a young company (7 years old), there are plenty of opportunities for you to see how your work contributes to society at large. If you are interested in working at JERA, please follow our LinkedIn page and apply to our open positions.

How did you learn Japanese, and when you entered JERA what was your Japanese level like? Have you kept studying while at JERA?

When I relocated to Japan in 2013, I realized that if I’m going to make Japan my home, I needed to learn the language. I started to study Japanese and achieved my JLPT N2 certification in 2014. Japanese language ability is a huge asset and allowed me to reignite my career in Japan. When I joined JERA, I would say I was at an upper N2 level but as JERA operates in the energy sector which is highly technical in nature, a lot of vocabulary/terminologies are still new to me. I continue to learn Japanese unofficially every day.

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?We hope you enjoyed getting to know Sanjukta and learning about her journey at JERA. If you are interested in learning more about #LifeatJERA or you’re looking for a new challenge this year, check out the open positions under “Jobs” and stay connected with us by following the JERA Linkedin page. We’re Hiring, with some position linked below, so check them out!