The data master

A native of Venezuela, Raul Cordero has mastered English as a second language and assumed a position as a data architect and integrations lead at $927 million asset Tropical Financial Credit Union in Miramar, Fla.

In this position, he has mastered another language: data.

“We do a lot with data,” Cordero says. “My job is to manage every facet of the data lifecycle, the road data takes from the source systems to a central repository where it can be aggregated and analyzed, and then finally represented or used for different purposes.”

His understanding of how to manipulate data makes life much easier for the rest of Tropical Financial’s staff. For instance, he recently spearheaded a marketing automation project that saves employees hours of labor in entering member data into the credit union’s core system.

“We created an automated process that synchronizes our marketing system database with the information we have in our core system,” Cordero says. “It’s bidirectional. The two systems talk to each other.”

Manipulating systems and data “to talk to each other” is a trick of the trade for Cordero. He makes sure the data flows correctly to support credit union operations while at the same time adding value, he says.

“The goal is to obtain actionable information that allows us to make the right decisions at the right time and offer our members better financial tools,” Cordero says.

One of Cordero’s greatest gifts is his eagerness to make work more rewarding and meaningful for his Tropical Financial teammates.

“Raul has a superpower of being a selfless teammate,” says Kara Yaquinta, marketing manager. “He always puts the team first whether that’s taking a moment to ask questions, to understand, or to jump in and help. 

“He always leads with ‘yes’ and is focused on learning things that go beyond his wheelhouse,” she continues. “He adds value to every conversation and, more importantly, every idea Tropical implements.”

That may be the most meaningful part of Cordero’s job. 

“Being a good teammate and leader is fundamental for IT people because technology supports every aspect of the organization,” he says. “It’s critical that my internal members, as I like to say, see me as part of their team. We’re all in the same boat. We share the same goals.”