Thomas Kruijver is the Senior Director and Controller EU & Canada at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Amsterdam. He previously spent over ten years at Amgen Europe and seven years at Dell. Thomas earned his CMA qualification through the Institute of Management Accountants.   

What do you see as the biggest challenges for your business and your own role over the next 12 months?

Our ability to deliver much-needed new medicines to patients requires a highly motivated, diverse and inclusive workforce, and we are committed to building an environment where employees are encouraged to achieve their full potential. We want to hire the right people and we want those people to bring their unique differences to work, because our business will grow stronger with original thinking, enabling us to innovate in everything we do. Regardless of what team or function our employees work in, each individual is vital to our core mission to transform many more patients’ lives and to become a top-tier biotech company.

The challenges for my role itself revolve around building out my organisation in Amsterdam over the next 12 months. Last year, the team returned to the office post-COVID, and that has created a very positive momentum. As an organisation, we do an annual culture survey, and the most recent set of results have been very positive across the organisation, and particularly for the Finance team. My challenge is to keep this positive momentum over the next 12 months and beyond

What excites you about working for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals?

I started at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals five years ago as the first employee in the Netherlands. Now, we are nearly 60 employees, so this growth is motivational, not only for me, but for all the employees who have joined within the last five years.

Working for a small, rapidly-growing organisation, where you are able to contribute to building out a larger company, is so inspirational. I think that really makes it very easy every day to come to work at this company. One of our core values at Alnylam is commitment to people, and you feel that every day here.

This focus on our people has made us an employer of choice worldwide. For the last four years running, we have been recognized as one of the world’s leading biopharma employers by Science Magazine in the US, and have been named once again as a Great Place to Work in the Netherlands, along with several of our offices in other countries across Europe, the US and Japan.  

Also, because we are a fast-growing company, we can make career development a reality. We have some great examples of colleagues who joined us in junior roles and whose career development has grown in parallel with our company growth. We also have a number of movers between functions within the company. People often move from medical to commercial or vice versa, and it’s a very interesting place, so that’s something to consider if you work for a company that is in the growth phase.

Since COVID, we have seen an acceleration of some global roles – roles that might have traditionally been based in our US HQ – being located in Europe. This increased flexibility allows us to bring in the very best candidate for each role, regardless of where they are located.

What’s the best or worst interview experience you’ve ever had?

I have two examples. One of the examples is the best interview experience. Once, in my career, I was asked if I was interested in a particular position in a different company and I was initially hesitant, because, at that time in my career, I felt okay where I was. However, I was persuaded to do the interview, so I went along. But, because of certain things, I was late and not super prepared. Normally, if you’re fairly keen for a position, you are on time and you’re super prepared; I did everything that you shouldn’t do.

In the interview, I met my future manager, and he was so inspirational and positive about the company. In the end, my initial thoughts had turned 180 degrees and I joined that company.

As an interviewer, you shouldn’t only focus on the candidate and their strengths and weaknesses, but also consciously promote your own company. You are an ambassador for your company, because - for the candidates who you hire, and for those you don’t hire at this point - you want them to leave that interview with a positive feeling about the company. So, that is what I learned. Sometimes, you have an interview just to explore and better understand what the opportunity is, but this was nearly an hour. By the end, I was hoping that I would be the preferred candidate.

In my worst interview, I was very interested in the job, and I had three interviews. I had a very good connection with the first interviewer, who would be my future manager. After the conversation, I was very keen to get the job. The final stage was to speak with the Head of Finance, who was the manager of my future manager. It was very interesting, because you can imagine it being in a corporate setting, so I was in a meeting room waiting for him; he was based in the UK and only in the Netherlands for one day.  

The interview was scheduled for half-an-hour, but he was making phone calls outside the office for 26 of those minutes; once he called my name, the interview time was only four minutes! Having said that, I was called the following day and made an offer. I worked there for seven years, and it was a really great experience.

How do you see things going in the Dutch economy and how do you see that evolving in the next five years?

The risky thing about working in a particular sector is that you are always in a kind of bubble. I am in this bubble of the pharmaceutical sector, which may be less or more impacted by some economic factors than other sectors, e.g. we do not have a manufacturing site in the Netherlands, therefore, we do not have the enormous energy consumption and costs that some other companies or sectors do.

In general, I remain positive. We have an open economy in the Netherlands and there is still a lot of external interest in doing business here, especially in the Amsterdam area. This has a spin-off effect, because, if we have these companies, it creates jobs in the supporting industries, so I remain positive. Also, there are a lot of talented individuals who would like to work in the Netherlands, so we do still attract a lot of people.

What advice would you give to someone looking to move from a multi-national business to a start-up environment?

You really have to look in the mirror and consider whether you have an entrepreneurial mindset, which is of far greater importance in a start-up. I come from a family where my parents had a business and customers were always the most important priority.

When you go to a start-up company, where you have external clients and internal clients, it’s a different work environment compared to working in a very large company. You have to keep all the balls in the air and try to hold the staples together. And, because it’s a small, micro-environment, you have many more staples to deal with, but you also have more responsibility to manage the staples.

What risks have you taken throughout your career and how do you think they have helped get you to where you are now?

As a Finance person, we tend to think in terms of balanced risk! I have taken career risks when I feel I am at a certain plateau. What I have always done is make a thorough assessment and, only after that, would I then decide whether I should continue in a particular role. If I couldn’t identify the opportunities for growth I was looking for, I’d look for the next step. I did that a number of times in my career and, ultimately, I have found a company and position that I am comfortable with.

What I find interesting is the famous initial six-month probation period. My advice is to make the most of this period to determine whether the position and company is a good fit for you. Once, in the earlier part of my career, I moved to another company and I didn’t really like the culture. After these six months, I decided, okay, this is not working out, and I went back to my previous company. That didn’t work out very well, because after another three months back there, I was asking myself, why did I leave last time? I realised the reasons I left in the first place were still present, and so - after another six months - I left a second time for a place where I was more comfortable.

Another time, I joined a company where the culture was great and, in my first six months, I implemented a new software system. After this period, I realized there was not much room to develop myself, as the company was in a flat growth phase. I was concerned that I would end up in a role that would not give me an opportunity for continuous learning. This was another moment when I realized I needed to move on after only six months.  

How does a job seeker stand out in the current market?

My advice to anyone is to make the effort to develop a very good CV. It will help in your career if you have really got some very good company names on your CV. As a hiring manager, I consider each candidate as an individual, but because Alnylam is growing fast around the world, I am interested in those who have experience working in larger companies, because then I know that this candidate can excel in a multi-national environment. 

It’s also very important for a job seeker that you provide as much detail as you can within your LinkedIn profile, because hiring managers really do pay attention to the LinkedIn profile; where the candidate worked, what they did, and for how long. Add in all positions, what kind of education, any qualifications you have, and show when and why you took certain education or courses, making sure all details are up to date.

Thinking about the longer term, make sure you consider and ask any prospective employer about the development opportunities offered by any new role you apply for.

Finally, the obvious thing is to be prepared for any interview; as a hiring manager, it’s easy to tell the candidates who have invested ten minutes in preparation from those who have invested more than an hour to get ready for an interview, with challenging questions for me, too.

Thank you to Thomas for speaking to Hannah Mallia, Head of Executive Finance recruitment in our Finance & Accountancy team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Famil Mustafajev is the Finance Director at Nutreco in the Netherlands. Famil shares what gets him out of bed in the morning, the challenges of managing teams across over 50 countries and why Nutreco’s success ultimately rests on welfare in the populations it serves.

What’s the number-one thing that helps you drive your career forward?

As a child, I was always breaking things to find out how they worked – and that curiosity has stayed with me throughout my life. I’m always looking for new challenges; new ways to do things.

Some people say, “How can you call yourself curious and open to new ideas when you’ve worked for the same employer for 19 years?” My answer is simple: my employer’s the only thing that’s remained the same!

With Nutreco, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a hugely diverse career, ongoing training, and opportunities to travel and work all over the world. Things are constantly changing; I’m learning all the time and there’s never a dull moment, which I love. And I believe that, when you love what you do, you don’t need a motivator – passion drives progression, naturally.

What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced during your career?

If I had to pick one thing, it would probably be the timely anticipation of change. Doing the right thing at the right time.

I’ve practised judo for many years, and I always think of it like a move against an opponent. You have to anticipate. If you wait to react, it’s too late – you’re already flat on your back. You have to understand market dynamics and be ready to act before a change take place, no matter what it is.

What’s the biggest myth about your profession that you’d like to debunk?

I’m really happy you asked this question – the myth would definitely be that Finance is boring! Or that it’s a necessary evil, something you wouldn’t do if you had the choice.

I often quote my old mentor, a Scottish entrepreneur: “We are in business for fun and money – but if there’s no money, there’s no fun!”

Finance is only boring if you don’t understand the depth of it – if the numbers don’t speak to you. It’s the major way we measure the performance of a business. It’s at the heart of every investment made, every job created and every product produced. Where would we be without it?

For me, Finance is a complex, fascinating field that’s central to every business decision. This is why I’ve devoted the best part of my life to my profession, and why I continue to do so today.

You’re currently based in the Netherlands, and work with teams in Africa and Asia. How do you develop innovative, high-performing teams when you’re so geographically diverse?

Obviously, proximity makes all sorts of things easier – but it doesn’t change the essence of what you do. I follow a few simple principles. You need the best teams in place, you need to provide them with the right tools, and give them the framework, guidance and support to allow them to come up with their own ideas and act on them.

My area of responsibility spans more than 50 countries, so it’s not about telling people what to do and how to do it. If you have the right people in place – you account for differences in culture, education levels and skills, and you put the right training opportunities in place – you can confidently trust that your teams will come up with the best ways to develop the business locally.

What sustainability challenges do you face as an organisation?

Perhaps the most obvious challenge is energy, in terms of availability and source. For example, in Africa, it’s almost impossible to secure a reliable power supply and factories are often run on generators. That’s costly for both the environment and Nutreco, especially given the spike in energy prices.

So, under our Sustainability RoadMap 2025, we prioritise improvements in energy efficiency that will help us measurably reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by investing in and promoting initiatives on renewable energy.  I believe increasing the production of green energy is one of the biggest sustainability challenges in the developing world. Demand is rising, climate change is affecting everybody, and getting fossil fuels is becoming more and more expensive, and more and more difficult. The good news is, there are so many ways to scale up in this area – especially in countries like Africa, where the climate affords huge potential to tap into solar energy, for example. While green solutions are scarce right now, I can see investment increasing dramatically over the coming years.

Another huge factor affecting the success of our business is the link between welfare and demand in our markets. Even the slightest change in food prices causes in a drop in demand, which is understandable when you consider how low the average income is for many families in the developing world.

An article in The Economist recently claimed that, even before COVID and the war in Ukraine, more than 60% of the population in Nigeria was living on less than $2.15 per day. When you consider that a kilo of fish is more than a dollar, then just one fish would cost you half your daily income.

On the other end of the spectrum, we know that when income per capita increases, so does protein consumption. Through Nutreco’s purpose of Feeding the Future, we are focused on ensuring there is enough healthy protein available to feed the growing global population in generations to come. We’re also doing all we can to boost prosperity in the populations we serve – creating jobs with steady incomes. But these are worldwide issues, and ones we can’t tackle alone.  

How is the crisis in Ukraine affecting your markets?

In addition to the deplorable human suffering and loss of life, the war has caused enormous disruption across markets in Europe. The company’s most important area of focus was, of course, to help ensure the safety of our Ukrainian colleagues and their families. We also sold our Russian livestock feed operation to its local management in 2022.

The indirect impact has been an increase in raw material prices and scarcity of cereals – especially in North and Eastern Africa. Goods have become more expensive, logistics more complex and more costly. Very few companies – or people – in Europe have been completely unaffected. We have worked hard to ensure continuity in our supply chains, so we can continue providing the nutritional solutions our customers need to keep producing the protein consumers’ demand.

What does your company do to retain high potential employees?

Plenty of my co-workers have been with the company far longer than my 19 years – as long as 35 years, in some cases. I think that’s because Nutreco allows us to grow professionally, to travel internationally and to learn from colleagues all over the world.

They’re also extremely diligent about people’s safety, from the top down. Even the smallest incidents are carefully reported, so we can learn from each other. It feels good to work for an organisation that so clearly cares for the development and welfare of its employees. When people feel cared for, they stay.

How has continuing professional development impacted your career?

Ongoing education is both a necessity and a privilege.

It’s necessary because, as everybody knows, the world is changing. And, if you don’t keep up, you fall behind. But, for me, it’s also a privilege, and there are so many benefits above and beyond the learning itself.

When I first came to work in the Netherlands, I already had a PhD, but I still felt there were gaps in my knowledge, especially regarding specific Dutch reporting requirements and tax rules. I had the opportunity to do an Executive Master of Finance and Control at Nyenrode Business University.

It didn’t just help me learn more for my role, it also gave me an insight into the level of education in the country – so, if anyone were to come to me for a job in future, I’d know what to expect from them.

Since then, I’ve aimed to complete at least one new training course every year – and I encourage all my direct reports to do the same.  

What are your tips for achieving a good work-life balance?

If you enjoy what you do, it can be difficult, but it is important to draw a line. My advice would be to plan your private time as efficiently and carefully as your professional time. We’re all used to using an agenda for our working days, but we tend not to structure our free time – and, as a result, work can very easily eat into it.

So, whether it’s spending time with family, playing sport, reading a book – put it on your to-do list. Those things are just as important.

As you know, EMEA Recruitment is a partner of the charity Operation Smile. We’re curious to know, what’s the last thing that made you smile?

Last week, my daughter had her final Econometrics exam at university in Rotterdam. She came home and said, “That’s it – I’m done!” It was one of those times when I didn’t have to ask how it had gone – I could read everything I needed to know in her face. Seeing her light up like this was one of the happiest moments in my life.

Thank you to Famil for speaking to Michael Bentil, Senior Consultant in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Marco Cobianchi is the Head Global Procurement (CPO) at Schindler Group, Switzerland. He has been with the business for almost 20 years - he was previously Head Global Controlling Supply Chain and CEO at Schindler Electronics. Marco started his career at Bticino in 1996, before joining Mikron.

Before moving to Procurement, you were working in Finance. How would you describe the relationship between Finance and Procurement?

Finance and Procurement need to work closely, as Procurement significantly impact the financials of a company. It is not only a matter of alignment on targets and results, but - most importantly - to achieve transparency and alignment on the impact and timing of Procurement initiatives to the company results.

Working in Finance in the past helped me in building the bridge with the Finance Manager community, get their trust (for example, in the reported savings) and ensure quick alignments.

But, Procurement is much more than savings or payment term optimization; it’s all about supplier relationship management, how to settle and develop relations with our suppliers to enable achievement of company objectives in a sustainable way.  

Procurement in Schindler has recently gone through a huge organizational change. How would you summarize it?

In the past 18 months, we completely reorganized Procurement in Schindler, building a global organization with full responsibility of entire group spend across entities and geography.

We redefined the Procurement operating model, ensuring a strong global category management approach and, at the same time, fulfilling specific regional needs and implementing a Procurement center of excellence to drive best practice sharing, process standardization and harmonization, and provide Procurement analytics.

What do you foresee as your biggest challenges in 2023?

After two years of huge material inflation, in 2023, Procurement is requested to regain cost competitiveness, leveraging the declining trend of raw material prices, mastering the energy price risk and labor inflation above average in almost all markets.

In addition, the supply disruptions driven by the pandemic highlighted the importance of a resilient supply base; a reassess of the supplier risk mapping and implementation of a proper business continuity management is a must.

Sustainability is an absolute priority for Schindler, and Procurement is a key enabler to achieve our net zero emissions target by 2040.

How does Schindler work to retain high-potential employees?

Schindler designed the Schindler Career Development Program (SCDP) to provide challenging and purposeful opportunities for high-potential and high-performing talent that has an international mindset.

After joining the program, the person will be engaged in an international assignment, will take a leadership role, and experience a field operational role. These experiences will fully prepare the talent to assume a senior leadership position and shape our future organization.

How do you approach talent development?

As part of the global Procurement reorganization project, we built up a Procurement academy with development programs tailored for each role profile. This ensures harmony and continuously elevates the competencies and skills of the Procurement community, and develops our talent both on leadership and Procurement competencies.

Furthermore, we regularly review the succession pipeline for our key leadership roles to identify opportunities for our talent early and leverage training plans to ensure their readiness for the role.

What would you say is the most memorable moment in your career?

This year, I’ll celebrate my 20^th anniversary at Schindler. During these years, I had the opportunity to change different roles.

Two of those were the most important moments in my career. The first was in January 2012, when I was promoted to Managing Director of the Schindler plant in Locarno; it was my dream job since my years at university.

The second was in June 2022, when I was promoted to Head Global Procurement. It was not in my plan; I started as Project Director of the global Procurement reorganization, and I ended up leading the new organization.

What are your tips on achieving work-life balance?

Today, it is almost impossible to completely disconnect from work; our mobile devices keep us connected. Also, working from home during the pandemic didn’t help to separate working time from free time.

My passions are my way to disconnect from my work, to free up my mind and regain energy. I never give up in dedicating time to my hobbies; to play sports in the evening and during weekends, and dedicate time and energy to my family.

Thank you to Marco for speaking to Sasha Gill, Consultant in our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment division in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.

Jens Krüger is a Zurich-based Supply Chain leader covering the EMEA market. He started his career in Germany in Logistics and moved to Switzerland in 2005 to work for large Logistics service providers, such as Kuehne + Nagel and DHL, before joining the manufacturing/retailing industry with companies like Estée Lauder and Migros.

As a Supply Chain leader, what are your key challenges when it comes to transforming Supply Chain Management organizations?

According to my experience, the challenges around Supply Chain transformations can be clustered into the human factor and technological limitations. These two aspects are linked by their common challenge: how to estimate the potential success and, later, to measure the success of a Supply Chain transformation.

Supply Chain Management is still a relatively young discipline and has constantly evolved over the last 25 years. Hence, systems and technology are not always up to par with the requirements of businesses and their Supply Chain functions.

Scattered systems - sometimes only linked by manual processes - can still be found in larger companies. This limits the ability to analyse meaningful performance indicators, let alone execute a system-supported process simulation.

When talking about the human factor, there is sometimes a sentiment that people’s dislike of change is the biggest challenge; but I don’t think this is the case, as I have rarely come across people who are resistant to change by nature.

If we leave aside that a lack of knowledge could be the reason for the resistance, I think it is critical how the need for change is being explained and what data is available to support that argument.

Supply Chain professionals are mostly down to earth; presenting them with a new concept, which is purely based on a fluffy vision, without supporting data, might simply not satisfy them and ensure their honest buy-in. Hence, time needs to be invested for building a compelling business case and an alignment on assumptions to deal with data gaps. This will also help with achieving stakeholder alignment or receiving funds for such initiatives.

Thus, starting off a transformation journey with an honest assessment of the company’s Supply Chain capabilities - despite incomplete data - and getting to an understanding that the company can and will benefit from an elevation of the Supply Chain capabilities is perhaps the biggest challenge of the journey.

How can leaders create diverse teams?

Many things have already been said about creating diverse teams. However, the motivation that working in a diverse team can create a competitive advantage is not so often talked about. Therefore, diversity is sometimes perceived as a soft HR topic, and not as something that can create economic benefits for the company and for individuals. We live in a complex world and, even if no one likes to admit it, we often look for solutions inside our own box.

Within a diverse team, different backgrounds, mindsets and experiences can be brought to the table, and better solutions can be found. For example, Supply Chain Management has typically international, if not global, touchpoints. Having team members with roots in different areas of the world allows better interaction with business partners around the globe, and factors in the particularities of other regions when designing solutions.

Having diverse teams can certainly create challenges. These challenges need to be addressed through careful management and a set of rules. One of the most prominent challenges is that misunderstandings are more likely occurring within a diverse team. Hence, I keep encouraging my teams to prevent misunderstandings by asking questions.

Diversity shall not create insecurity; constantly thinking about avoiding mistakes will hamper interaction and kill creativity. At the same time, we should strengthen everyone’s self-esteem so that an unfortunate miscommunication blunder does not mean the end of the world.

I think, if we created a relaxed atmosphere that allows mistakes in interactions and talked more often about the benefits of diversity, it would be easier to sell the concept, and people would adopt that idea more rapidly.

Is Switzerland a good place to live and why?

Switzerland is certainly a good place to live, and my personal history is strong evidence for that. When I moved to Switzerland, it was originally intended to be just a stopover for two years. After living in Switzerland now for 15 years and acquiring Swiss citizenship, I can without doubt call Switzerland my home.

Switzerland is located in the heart of Europe and has a diverse culture, due to the country’s history. This diversity is enriched by people who come from all over the world to work and live in Switzerland.

On top of that, the beautiful nature, plenty of cultural events and civil liberties, the extremely well-functioning administration and infrastructure makes life here pleasant.

As a collective, what have you learnt from your previous managers? What good methods have you taken from them and, adversely, what negative approaches do you ensure you avoid?

I’m privileged that I have had several exceptional managers in my professional career so far.
 
One of the commonalities of all these great leaders has been that they all gave me challenges that were way outside my comfort zone at the respective stage of my career. They explained what needs to be achieved and fostered my self-confidence, so that I could succeed. Investing into employees’ skills was also high on their agenda. Confidence and the right skillset should go hand in hand, or - as one of those leaders used to say - “confidence without competence leads to disaster”.

It needs to be stressed that all of that was done with a clear business target in mind and not to facilitate personal fulfilment. All these leaders set ambitious goals; good was rarely good enough. They all showed a high commitment to their targets and were prepared to lead the team through stormy weather themselves.

I can’t think of any particularly negative leadership approach, but I would say that it would require you to keep the two elements mentioned above in balance. Strongly prioritizing one over the other is either not producing the results the company needs or is burning out their employees.

I had mentioned before that I appreciated it when leaders stepped out of their comfort zone for me. Unfortunately, I have experienced what I would call the imbalance of loyalty. This is when bosses were requesting loyalty, but being loyal to their team only as long as there was smooth sailing.

I think that this is one of the true leadership tests - to stay on course and keep agreements intact, even if outside conditions have changed. Having said that, I appreciate we live in a rapidly changing world and that it can sometimes become impossible to live up to these principles. Being transparent about the situation, acknowledging their own failure and looking jointly for ways to remediate it is a form of loyalty that a leader owes the team.

What does the future hold for Supply Chain and Operations?

Sustainability and social responsibility are already high on the agenda and will continue to be so. I believe that actions to accelerate reaching net zero carbon emissions and achieving other ESG targets will go in parallel to Supply Chain Management, facilitating new business models around the circular economy.

As mentioned earlier in our conversation, Supply Chain and Operations still need to catch up when it comes to applying technology. I expect that AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (internet of things) will together allow amazing solutions that are just starting to be discussed today. Technological advancements will also allow better process integration and collaboration along the linear and, soon, circular value chains.

This will improve Supply Chain’s ability to give the business a competitive edge by satisfying the customer’s specific demands at lower cost in an agile and responsive way.

Thank you to Jens for speaking to Neil Cope, Associate Director in our Procurement & Supply Chain recruitment division in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.

Mandy Morgan is the Chief Financial Officer for Seenons in Amsterdam, a scale-up business on a mission for a waste-free world. Originally from South Africa, Mandy started her career as an Audit Manager at KPMG, before working at several businesses across South Africa and also setting up her own company.

What excites you about working for Seenons?

It's a company that is disrupting an established industry, and it's also a company on a mission.

Whenever you've got a good story, a mission-driven company, it adds a whole different dimension to the level of excitement when it comes to work, because you're not only striving for profitability - yet profitability is very important.

You're also trying to change the world and changing it into a better place for future generations. That's what excites me, and, because of that, it attracts people who are excited about what they're doing.

That's what makes Seenons special. We're about 83 employees now, and it is a company almost bubbling with enthusiasm in terms of changing the world for the better.

How would you describe the company culture at Seenons and how that compares to some of your previous employments?

Large, established companies always have great, solid structures; they have great training programmes, they've got a good network, they've got all those sorts of things, so there's huge value in that.

But I think that Seenons is excitement wrapped up in a bubble. We have a people-first philosophy, where we place high importance on people and their happiness within the organisation.

We have a very dynamic, young culture. I’m not saying that all staff are young, but I think it's the vibe that you feel within the organisation in terms of, we move quickly, we make a difference, and we do it as a team - there's no I in Seenons.

What are the challenges that await your business and how do you hope to overcome them? As a scale-up, there must be some interesting challenges.

Absolutely. In this economic climate, I think every business is under more pressure than they previously would be. I think investment and valuations have dropped significantly over the last six to 12 months.

Having said that, I think they are regaining some ground, and it’s fundamental that we are able to raise capital in order to grow, but we are doing well in that area.

Also, finding good people and keeping them is high on our agenda in terms of growth. I think your company is only as good as the people that you employ, and the passion that they have to make a difference and execute on the dream. That is generally what a scale-up is.

Also, in order to be successful, we need to automate as much as possible and make it scalable. Seenons is going through the stage where we've gone from start-up to now scale-up, and that drive for automation is essential, but is not an easy step.

What are three to five key drivers to success in Seenons that you see the most?

We look at our cash burn rate very closely, because that determines how long we've got with whatever funds we've raised. That goes without saying.

One we look at a lot is revenue per FTE is used in CV screening.

You need to get enough on your CV to make sure that you have enough to get to the interview. Then, I think it's the interview stage where you sell yourself.

I don't have the time to wade through pages and pages of CVs. So, I think something that's short, concise, catches my eye, has a few highlights shows me that the person has structure - and I'm talking from a Finance perspective – that, to me, is good.

Then, the interview - it's showing passion, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and ownership. This is because, often, people don't want to own their growth or own the process, but are happy to go for the ride; that makes a big difference in the people that I look for.

What advice would you give someone starting their career in Finance and Accounting?

You need to be adaptable to change, because the role of the Finance professional is going to change significantly.

Where we used to be responsible for crunching numbers, in the very near future, that's going to be taken over by technology. So, being adaptable to change and to be able to think out-of-the-box, to learn and understand and interpret things differentiates you from a tool.

If you can ask enough questions and you can challenge yourself to grow your knowledge continuously - along with being able to reason and explain processes - then I think the role of the financial is secured.

If you just rely on your ability to crunch numbers, then I think you your career prospects may become quite limited.

How is the growing focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) changing the function and how does it relate to your role?

Very nicely, because we are a mission-driven company from a social and environmental perspective. We are seeing it a lot more in investment rounds; it has become a big focus from investors, as well.

From that perspective, it's great that we already tick a lot of those boxes and we are a people-focused company that values diversity. Ethics and trust are fundamental when it comes to your governance component, as well.

You can break trust in a second, but it takes years to build it up. I think a focus on that is good for the global economy, regardless. If every business focused on their governance and ethics, became a trusted organisation, I think the world would be a better place. To me, all three of those are a win.

Who's the most inspiring person in business for you and why?

I think the CEO of Tutuka Software (now Paymentology), Rowan Brewer.

He inspires me, because I worked for the company for quite a long time, and he was always emphatic about ensuring that it was for the best of the company and for the right reasons.

He was the one who promoted the Changing Lives programme within the company, because he believed his success needed to be shared with all those around him.

He believed he was successful because he had opportunities that a lot of other people didn't, so his focus on that was incredible. He's made an incredibly huge success of his company, but he was always approachable, friendly and caring.

He always thought about problems differently, and he always made sure that he did things for the right reason - I think that's an inspiration. If anyone was to compare me or put me in a similar category to Rowan, I would feel hugely honoured, because he really is an inspiration.

Thank you to Mandy for speaking to Georgia Wright, Associate Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Jan-Paul Drost is the Head of Commercial FP&A at AkzoNobel in Amsterdam. He has worked in the business in various roles for over 20 years and achieved his Certified Management Accountant qualification from Institute of Management Accountants.

What excites you about working for AkzoNobel?

What really excites me is it’s a very diverse and evolving company. With diversity, I mean the people who work there, the different cultures and the different backgrounds, etc.; it creates an enormous sense of a melting pot - in a positive way. But I also mean it as a business and a company itself.

The company has evolved from a holding structure company with multiple industries into a paints and coatings company. But, even within that painting and coatings company, we have all kinds of different business types. We have retail business, wholesalers, B2B business, ecommerce business, so it’s not one thing.

You work with different cultures from all over the world and you learn things from all these people. One moment, you’re busy with a business case and retail, the next moment you’re talking about something on a B2B level, which makes it very interesting. It’s never a dull moment in that sense.

I’ve been here for over 20 years and I’m even surprised myself on how long it’s been. I’ve always received the opportunities to grow and develop myself in a role, and I’ve always said: “I’m not married to AkzoNobel, I’m married to my wife, very happily.”  

I have talked with outside parties on different options, but then - in the same period - AkzoNobel came up with a better opportunity within the company and then I went for that.

So, the diversity, the constant transitioning, and the chances the company has given me to grow and develop myself.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of your current role?

I think there are two elements. One is helping the business with improvements, with strategy and to really get the most out of it, from the role as a financial, but also as FP&A.

I really believe that FP&A should be a supporting function, which adds value, and also makes reports and supporting documents, which help the business come to the right conclusions; we should not just make PowerPoint analysis for management.

The second thing, which I think is almost even more rewarding, is developing people. You’re only as good as your whole team, and I feel enormously proud when I see people I’ve worked with over the years - who have been in my team, or who I’ve coached as a mentor to grow in their roles - make the next steps in their career and develop into mature financials. I think that is sometimes even more rewarding than supporting the business in growing.

What would you say are the current recruitment challenges that you face, if any?

Like all of us, we always struggle to find and to keep the right level of skilled staff. I am a firm believer of internal recruitment and I also believe that, especially for internal recruitment, the way you are and the way you operate as a manager is very important.

For me, that’s the principle of trust to engage and empower your team. I’m not the type of manager who will, for example, follow up on progress on a project on a daily basis. However, if there’s a problem or someone gets stuck on something, I do expect the person not to wait with rage until the next project meeting, but to come forward openly.

So far, especially in my current role, I have been relatively lucky that, when I have had vacancies, some candidates stepped forward to say: “I really want to join your team.” The way you are as a manager plays a very important role for internal recruitment.

In terms of external recruitment, we struggle with all the same things as everyone else. A job advert just about explains, as clear as possible, what the job is, how interesting it is and what the chances are to develop yourself within AkzoNobel - and then you are hoping to encounter the right person.

You’ve had a nice variety of roles during your career at AkzoNobel. How do you look back at this?

20 years is a long time. My original background is in both Legal and Finance, and I’ve been lucky enough to work in many different fields of the Finance function. I really believe that makes you an all-round financial, who can add value to the business.

I started in Internal Audit. That was a very solid basis of learning the basic processes throughout the company. If you look back at all the projects I’ve done over the years, that has really helped me as a manager, and helped me in the field of motivating and influencing people. But, also, doing multiple things at the same time and ensuring that you have good time management.

As an Accounting Manager, I really learnt the details of the financial systems, especially going through multiple European implementations. As Finance Director for different businesses, I enjoyed working with the business to create and execute the right strategy. I believe that, as a Finance Director, you cannot just do your job behind your desk; you need to also know your customers and your suppliers.

My Legal background also helped me with working on contracts and discussing disputes. Also, the Integrated Business Planning trainings I did have, over the years, allowed me to actively link Finance to the Supply function.

Now, I’m a firm believer that we, as Finance professionals and FP&A especially special - as I’ve already said - should do more than just analyse and make nice PowerPoints; it’s vital that FP&A really understands the business. The reports we make should be useful, not only for the Finance community, but for all managers in the communities.

Also, advice should be based on the full knowledge base, and aligned and discussed with the business Finance Directors; it should not be in a separate silo based purely on spreadsheets. It’s a combination of those things, which help to evolve you as a manager.

What would you say is the secret to building a strong network?

It sounds very stupid, but it’s simple: talk with people, be nice, be open, be welcoming and helpful to others. It’s all about people relations.

A good network has similarities to a friendship. You could say there are business friends; it’s almost like business friendship and business friends.

How will digital transformation change the role of Finance, in your opinion?

I am a firm believer in the big advantages of the use of digital information. Digitalisation will allow us to make faster, more in-depth analysis. We currently see that already with the use of Power BI and SAP Analytical Cloud for things like margin management.

It allows us to go deeper, and it could do more detailed analysis on the customer and product levels. It does highlight, however, the importance of correct master data. I still believe that the human element in these analyses still needs to play a very important role.

Digitalisation and AI (artificial intelligence) can absolutely help in preparing and taking away lots of work, but - in the end - there are always other factors that need to be taken into account to make the picture complete - and the financial still comes into play to leave the final added value.

I really believe in digitalisation; it makes this function much more powerful, and we can help the business with even more information - but I don’t see it as a replacement of the financials in the organisation.

Why would you say the Netherlands is a good place to live and why?

I think having had the chance to live in different countries, I can honestly say that the Netherlands is a great place to live. First of all, general quality of life. The social system is well organised, and, on the people side, people are generally open for newcomers. And the level of English in the Netherlands is, of course, very high.

Often, in the office, the Dutch speak or write in English amongst themselves - because they’re just used to talking English the whole day in meetings - without noticing they were talking English to each other, so that makes it a very easy place for someone outside to join and get started.

What is the best compliment that you’ve ever received?

Apart from what we discussed on people wanting to join your team, a compliment I got not that long ago, which really stuck in my mind, was from an HR Director, who said to me: “Jan-Paul, you are the type of Finance Director most Sales people fear, because you know their customers and their business just as well as they do.” I found that very nice, because it fits into my belief that, as a Finance Director of a business, you do need to understand the business you’re running.

As I said before, you can’t be a Finance Director just off a spreadsheet, so that compliment actually confirmed to me that I did that job in the way I believe it should be done.

Thank you to Jan-Paul for speaking to our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands, led by Hannah Mallia and David Harper.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.