Experience

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  Africa Improved Foods

  • Kigali City, Rwanda

  • Country Manager

    • Apr 2024 - Present
    • Kigali City, Rwanda

    Country Manager for AIF's Rwanda operations covering all East Africa countries excluding Ethiopia, and responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to a team of 500+ employees 60,000+ farmer partners, as well as growing the public-private partnerships within and outside Rwanda, and making available and accessible to families a best-in-class nutrional food to eliminate stunting and wasting in infants and young children in this region.

• 

  Olam Palm & Rubber Gabon

  • Gabon
  • Farming
  • 300 - 400 Employee

  • Vice President International Sales, Procurement & Logistics

    • Apr 2021 - Mar 2024

    Olam’s Gabon crude palm oil (CPO) production is expected to grow to 350KT in the next 4 years. This role is responsible for developing mid-stream and trading opportunities to obtain maximum Mill-gate realisations for this CPO.- Developed B2B relations with end-users as well as traders in Europe; created sustainable flows through structured as well as spot sales, capitalising on RSPO / ISCC certifications of OPG- Ring-fenced OPG’s business share in Cameroon by creating Gabon specific CPO import quotas from Cameroon government - Developed and operationalised the hedging strategy for OPG’s CPO, along with Singapore Trading desk; leading the planning and execution of physical trade and hedging trades while managing inter-market and intra-day risks, managing a hedge book of approx 100 Mln USD- Led chartering, managed post-charter operations, shipping logistics for CPO exports- Developed and managed procurement strategies for key plantation inputs, providing strategic direction to Procurement team

  • Vice President & Business Head, Upstream

    • May 2020 - Mar 2021

    - Improved manpower and equipment productivities through outsourcing of select operations, changes in ops structures- Mentored and developed national successors for expat plantation managers- Managed and resolved various labour and community issues while improving labour productivity, out-turns as well as improving CSR out-reach

  • Vice President & Business Head, Midstream

    • Jun 2016 - May 2020

    - Successfully integrated an acquired defunct Palm Oil Refinery business, as the Profit Centre Head- Provided business leadership to a multi-functional team, driving improvements in branding, distribution, manufacturing, and sourcing operations; improved gross margins, overheads, and volumes; turned around the business in two years.- Created new B2B customer relationships for OPG’s CPO exports in CEMAC region; established OPG as lead supplier for refiners in Cameroon- Created Long Term Midstream strategy for OPG with Pan-African S&D mapping; developed Biofuel project plan for OPG to utilise 150KT CPO- Simultaneously led Olam’s Mozambique Edible Oil business for 6 months as its Profit Centre Head

  • Vice President & Head of Procurement & Logistics

    • Jun 2013 - May 2016

    - Set up procurement team and processes, and implemented procurement strategies for 3 plantation projects of Palm Oil and Rubber with capex procurement spent of over USD 300 million- Since Gabon did not have supplier base, developed vendor relationships with European, US and South Asian companies to establish a supplier base of 150+ companies for reliable services and competitive costs- Leveraged Olam’s collective volumes to create preferential B2B deals with Caterpillar & MAN for group companies in Gabon

• 

  Olam International Limited

  • Kinshasa

  • Vice President & Country Head Congo

    • Feb 2012 - May 2013
    • Kinshasa

    - Planned and implemented the closure and exit of Olam’s import distribution business, ensuring legal, taxation and labour closures- Recovered debt in excess of USD 10 million, without litigations and write-offs

• 

  Aditya Birla Retail Limited

  • India
  • Retail
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Vice President & Head - Supply Chain

    • Jan 2010 - Jan 2012

    - Responsible for delivering the agreed service levels and quality parameters within the distribution chain, while continuously driving the cost of supply chain lower to reach best-in-class benchmarks, as well as strategically managing the planning, production scheduling, distribution, movement and storage of Branded Private Label business and related information flows including the backward integration of the supply chain operations- Improved supply chain reliability and efficiency by selecting and implementing Warehouse Management systems- Integrated Private label supply chain into ABRL’s own supply chain for improved service levels and lower costs

  • Asst Vice President & Head - Supply Chain Operations

    • May 2007 - Jan 2010

    - Successfully built the supply chain team across 16 Distribution Centres (DCs) with 135 own employees, 1400+ contract employees to support the ABRL Supermarket stores rollout plans. This involved identifying key skills and competencies required, designing the organisation structure, and recruiting teams and building these skill sets.- Led the national distribution operations catering to 600+ stores, implementing initiatives to improve Customer Service, Cost, Quality and Service in these DCs.- As a part of the start-up organisation, this also involved the development & deployment of effective supply chain processes in DCs to improve inventory integrity, maximise manpower & assets productivity and minimise supply chain losses- Implemented Infor WMS implementation to improve manpower and equipment productivities by >60%

• 

  Unilever Plc

  • Global Skin Supply Chain Manager

    • Nov 2004 - May 2007

    Responsible for driving the Global Supply Chain strategy for Unilever's Toilet Soaps business with focus on Lux Brand, and ensuring flawless supplychain delivery of global innovation projects within Lux brand.- Led supply chain delivery of Lux brand’s global innovation projects, including project planning, supply chain work-streams delivery for these projects.- Managed global supply chain strategy within Unilever’s Toilet Soaps supply chain spanning more than 30 factories, across various brands. This involved developing supply chain designs to support various brand innovations and interfacing with Brand Development, Product Development and Regional SC teams.- Developed a product portfolio complexity analysis model, to support speedier product innovation rollouts. - Developed a global sourcing strategy for toilet soaps, based on cost drivers and strategic fit with brand plans

  • Commercial Operations Manager

    • Mar 2003 - Nov 2004

    - Managed the supply chain operational planning & execution, managing material flows and stocks, optimising the supply chain against distribution constraints, tariff, and fiscal conditions, anticipating and addressing short term supply chain risks- Led the business planning along with Brand teams, evaluating business decisions, measuring & assessing business performance for successful turnaround of hair wash category

  • Senior Buyer

    • Oct 2002 - Feb 2003

    - Managed the sourcing of veg oils for HLL’s toilet soaps business, monitoring global markets prices, Indian S&D, forecasting internal requirements, negotiating forward contracts, and executing oil blend optimisations for all toilet soap factories

  • Commercial Manager

    • Aug 2000 - Sep 2002

    Responsible for the Accounting & Commercial functions in one of the leading backward intergrated Detergents Factory of Hindustan Lever Ltd, with a turnover of 70 Mln USD and employing 340 people- Managed Commercial & accounting functions for a large backward integrated detergents Factory in Chhindwara MP, encompassing accounting, audits, statutory compliances, inbound and outbound supply chains to deliver cost and working capital targets- Achieved negative working capital through implementation of JIT supplies for major raw materials- Improved support fnction efficiencies through TPM implementation in the stores and office

  • Distribution Manager

    • Jun 1999 - Aug 2000

    Responsible for the production planning at 18 Personal Wash Factories across the country, despatch planning for these products to 45 C&FAs ensuring stock availability, stock targeting & control

  • Logistics Manager

    • Aug 1995 - May 1999

    Responsible for operation of the Company’s logistics network of 14 C&FAs in North India and the operational management of the facilities to ensure desired customer service levels to the 1200 Redistribution Stockists in the most cost effective method.- Designed and implemented the first multi-tier distribution system within the company to improve product availability in the C&FAs- Redesigned the compensation system from value-based to volume-based compensation across all product categories effectively saving 40% on C&FA compensations

  • Management Trainee

    • May 1994 - Jul 1995

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  Steel Authority of India Limited

  • Bhilai, India

  • Junior Manager - Mechanical

    • Jun 1989 - May 1992
    • Bhilai, India