Experience

Quay Asia Ltd

• Bangladesh
• International Trade and Development
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Director

  • Mar 2015 - Present

  Phillip Choudhury and Shaila Rahman started Quay Asia in 2015. It's a growing business working for economic empowerment of poorer people in Asia's emerging economies. Phillip looks at private sector initiatives in workforce development and women's participation in the labour force. Informed by a fundamental analysis of labour markets Quay Asia’s work is economically sound, financially sustainable and uses innovative training technologies. The company is currently looking for partners to work on these initiatives. Show less



WYG Group

• United Kingdom
• Business Consulting and Services
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Interim Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader, Security Justice and Defence Programme

  • May 2014 - Apr 2015

  The start up and subsequent evacuation of the UK Security Justice and Defence Programme was complex and included training for Libya’s security institutions. As Interim Team Leader for the £30 million supplier contract, Phillip managed handover from the Stabilisation Unit. He supervised a team of 20 international experts and set up offices in Tripoli. Establishing communications with the British Embassy he prepared reports for Whitehall departments. During this period of stability in Tripoli, Phillip delivered a stakeholder analysis, theory of change, logframe, and monitoring and evaluation strategy. With security in Libya becoming increasingly volatile, Phillip worked with the Team Leader in Malta to deliver the inception report and maintain business continuity during the evacuation from Tripoli. Under direction from senior corporate executives in UK and with the advice of his security manager in Libya, Phillip evacuated his team across the Tunisian border. Show less



Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

• Germany
• International Trade and Development
• 700 & Above Employee

• Team Leader, Regional Capacity Development Fund

  • Jan 2014 - May 2014

  Phillip managed this German Government €50 million fund for small infrastructure projects in Northern Afghanistan. Phillip developed the programme and aligned the fund with emerging national policy and wider international aid commitments while maintaining the very significant Afghan support for current implementation arrangements. He adopted a consultative approach inclusive of the central Afghan ministries, local government entities and German Cooperation stakeholders. Phillip promoted a more coherent approach to capacity development for provincial financial administration and increased citizen engagement with local government. He also created an evidence based policy advisory service to central government. Show less



International Relief and Development (IRD)

• Civil Engineering
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief of Party (Facility Director), Development Assistance Facility for Afghanistan

  • Sep 2012 - Sep 2013

  As the Facility manager of DFAT’s Development Assistance Facility for Afghanistan Phillip oversaw the first year of operation of this multi-faceted A$70 million program. The end of the preceding second phase had seen a number of significant problems and inception of the third phase had to restore Australia’s high standards for the management of its largest program of bilateral assistance to Afghanistan. By the end of the first year Phillip had initiated an A$8 million public financial management program, tactfully guided the Australia Awards program through a period of suspension, and overseen an independent evaluation of the Malaysia Australia Education Project for Afghanistan. Show less



UNDP

• United States
• International Affairs
• 700 & Above Employee

• Advisor, Making Budget and Aid Work

  • Dec 2011 - Jun 2012

  As one of 22 National Priority Programs conceived in the Kabul Conference of 2010, the "Labour Program" was designed to provide employment opportunities to Afghans through Technical and Vocational Education and Training. The draft program design, however, had been criticised by key donors - World Bank, DFID, USAID and EU - as having over ambitious targets given Government capacity. By challenging the two key ministries - Labour and Social Affairs, and Education - to make tough decisions about priorities, Phillip facilitated the development of an achievable programme with a clear governance structure for managing implementation of the $250 million budget. Show less



Palladium: Make It Possible

• Australia
• Business Consulting and Services
• 700 & Above Employee

• Team Leader, Civil Service Reform Project (World Bank)

  • Dec 2008 - Jul 2011

  Phillip managed the largest component of the World Bank Civil Service Reform Project totaling $7 million in technical assistance to the Afghanistan Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission. Replacing the original Team Leader soon after inception, Phillip tackled poor project performance, Government skepticism, and incoherent activities across five key ministries. Developing a bespoke result based management system he was soon able to report on project progress. Activities in the client ministries were aligned by communicating expected results, and through a custom designed capacity building model. Phillip won Government confidence with carefully designed training programs for civil servants, and by presenting clear but detailed quarterly reports. The Government considered this initiative to be the most consistently successful of the three Civil Service Reform components. On completion, the component had achieved all major objectives representing a significant achievement for a governance sector project in Afghanistan. Show less



Asian Development Bank

• Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Team Leader, Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation Project

  • Aug 2007 - Jul 2009

  Phillip led the development of a five-year strategic plan for the Bangladesh Ministry of Planning to deliver a results based approach to project implementation. The Ministry is responsible for monitoring an annual development plan of $3billion constituted of over 1000 projects but did not report on development results. Through a participatory process involving key ministries, agencies, private sector stakeholders and donor organizations Phillip produced a plan to transform the Government from monitoring financial expenditure to measuring development results. The plan was endorsed by the Finance and Planning Minister. Show less



Maxwell Stamp

• United Kingdom
• International Trade and Development
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Program Design Advisor, Chars Livelihoods Program (DFID)

  • May 2007 - Mar 2008

  The Chars Livelihoods Progamme (phase 1), in Northwest Bangladesh, was a £50 million intervention to bring a quarter of million people out of extreme poverty. The primary strategy was to provide capital for investment (often in livestock). But at the time the Programme also aimed to address unmet community needs around health and primary education. These improvements required a significant investment in programme analysis and design. Building on his knowledge of best practice in health, education, and business development services, Phillip quickly drafted project outlines relevant to the geographic and social context. Longstanding relationships with leading national organizations in the fields of health and primary education facilitated single source procurement and the rapid negotiation of service agreements. Within six months of his involvement, projects in primary health care, non-formal primary education, and a voucher scheme to enable private sector veterinary services had started. Show less



WSP Group

• United Kingdom
• Capital Markets

• Institutional Development Advisor, Transport Sector Management Reform (DFID)

  • Nov 2004 - May 2007

  From 2004 to 2007 Phillip was part of a consultant team that established a government body to coordinate transport policy and planning in Bangladesh. The National Land Transport Policy mandated a Transport Sector Coordination Wing in the Planning Commission but coordination was a complex problem spanning four ministries. Phillip took the Government’s vision for the wing and developed it into a coherent work plan recruiting technical specialists and training government officers in the process. After just over one year of operation UK DFID was convinced of the central importance of the wing to support a further three years of technical assistance. Under DFID’s new Transport Sector Management Reform project Phillip enabled the Transport Sector Coordination Wing to become a fully functional policy development and support body within Government. All ministries and donors endorsed this and significantly Phillip’s approach was cited as model of consultants and government officials working together to achieve strategic national objectives. Show less

• Change Management Specialist, Institutional Development Component (DFID)

  • Sep 2001 - Dec 2002

  Phillip coordinated the development of a personnel management database for the 14,000 employees of the Roads and Highways Department of Bangladesh. Prior to this the department had very poor personnel records and could not identify "ghost workers." After winning the support of labour unions fearing the database was part of redundancy initiative, Phillip coordinated with the ICT team and organised a data collection team to verify the details of every employee. The Personnel Database was then used by government to process all transfers and promotions and to verify retirement of all employees. Show less



Concern Worldwide

• Ireland
• Non-profit Organizations
• 700 & Above Employee

• Team Leader, Organization Development Unit

  • May 1998 - Sep 2000

  Concern hired Phillip to lead the development of a new strategic plan for Concern's operations in Bangladesh. This plan was to transform Concern Bangladesh from an organization with its own field operations to one delivering its programs through local partners. Concern was possibly one of the last international NGOs to make this transition and the challenge was to preserve Concern's unique identity while adopting the approaches of other organisations. Phillip held meetings and facilitated discussions with small groups working on specific strategic themes formulating their ideas into a single coherent document for presentation to senior managers. With agreement on the Country Strategy Plan from head office in Dublin, Phillip set up and managed an organization development unit to support program teams in the implementation of the strategy. By 2000 Concern had adopted an approach to partnership markedly different and in many ways more sustainable than other organizations. Rather than working exclusively with local NGOs, Concern designed projects in conjunction with local government to deliver more effective public services. Show less



Pact

• United States
• Law Practice

• Institutional Development Specialist, Private Rural Initiatives Program (USAID)

  • Mar 1996 - Mar 1998

  In 1997 Phillip led a team to win a $4million grant for technical assistance to the Bangladesh NGO sector. By 1996 USAID had delivered $11 million in small grants and technical assistance to the NGO sector in Bangladesh through its flagship Private Rural Initiatives Program. As an exit strategy after 8 successful years of implementation USAID sought to transfer the project to a local management team. A project design had been proposed but was not fully endorsed by the local management team. The design was ambitious with no single donor willing to take on the associated risks. Phillip got the team together to write a new project proposal. When a consortium of three bilateral donors came forward, Phillip supported the local management team to pitch the new proposal to the strategic interests of each donor. By the beginning of 1998 CIDA and SDC agreed to support the newly formed PRIP Trust for 3 years with a grant of more than $4million. Show less


National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
• Taiwan
• Research Services
• 700 & Above Employee
• Instructor

  • Sep 1990 - Jul 1993

Siam City Cement
• Thailand
• Building Materials
• 700 & Above Employee
• Trainer

  • Apr 1989 - Aug 1990

Rayner Essex
• United Kingdom
• Accounting
• Accounts Clerk

  • Mar 1988 - Jan 1989