Speaker Biography (Partial List - Alphabetical Order)
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Abdul Kadir Gaya SVP-Head of Centralized Procurement Mashreq Bank UAE |
Gaya pioneered Centralization of Procurement functions within Mashreqbank in UAE and piloted a few select spend categories, delivering significant amount of bankable savings during the first six months of 2011. Expanding on his experience as a professional banker with 35 years of diversified experience, last two decades largely managing projects of strategic significance, involving procurement as a key component and cost reduction as the ultimate objective. Mashreq has now embarked upon transformation of procurement landscape, spearheading a strategic sourcing project that would deliver recurrent cost reduction over the coming years. The primary objectives relate to strategic sourcing, procurement transformation, procurement process and organization.
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Art Brunton Managing Director Supply Synergies UAE |
Art has 15 years of practitioner and consulting experience in procurement and supply chain leadership in business sectors such as pharmaceutical and bio-tech, financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, specialty chemicals and manufacturing sectors. He is currently the owner of Supply Synergies in Dubai. Art’s value through strategic sourcing and procurement to his companies and clients has been through process and organization transformation, sustainable training, and value chain improvement. In these areas, he has consistently led both major initiatives and teams to breakthrough results of $250M+ in savings, and significant business risk mitigation. Art is an International trainer in the area of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement. He has trained across North America, Asia, West Indies, and Europe for over a decade. Most recently, Art has developed a comprehensive, robust set of Intellectual property in the area of SRM that is transferrable across all business sectors. Art holds a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University, and an MBA from Rennsalaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
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Azeezat Sunmonu Contracts Management Leader-Middle East Honeywell process Solutions UAE |
Azeezat Sunmonu is the Contracts Management Leader – Middle East, at Honeywell Process Solutions, a Fortune 100 company she’s been with since 2010. She heads the Middle East Contracts Management team and is based in the United Arab Emirates. With over fourteen years experience in the field of contracts / commercial management and legal consultancy, Azeezat has also been a guest speaker at other Middle East professional conferences and workshops and has held (and written) several training programmes for Contracts and Procurement professionals in the region, particularly within the Oil and Gas industry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Law from Oxford Brookes University, UK and an MBA with Columbus University, Massachusetts, USA. Notable past employers include KCA Deutag Drilling Co., Petrofac International, Oceaneering International, Citizens’ Advise Bureau (UK) and Thales Defence; where she has worked in a variety of contracts and commercial management roles. She is a member of several contracts and commercial professional bodies, including the National Contracts Management Association (NCMA); Institute of Commercial Management; International Association for Contracts and Commercial Management (IACCM). Azeezat’s passion for contracting excellence is well-known, especially her interest in collaborating with other professionals, on “contracting excellence” projects.
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Carl Jansma Director - Global Strategic Procurement DP World UAE |
Carl is an highly experienced international & domestic Procurement & Supply Chain Director with five (5) years Middle East experience who has previously led, managed, educated and coached organisations’ to sustainable performance improvement through ‘transitioning’ to best practice strategic sourcing & supply chain management. Carl has held previous senior procurement and logistic management appointments and advisory positions in leading edge organisations including Govt, Mining and Energy Industries, thus has continued extensive exposure to innovative best practice procurement for over 15 years. Carl also has a considerable logistical background through his time within the Australian Defence Force. As DP World's Director Global Strategic Procurement, Carl leads the implementation and management of its Global Strategic Procurement Programme. Carl is ‘Six Sigma’ certified which further compliments a systematic implementation to DP World’s Strategic Procurement Program as a ‘whole of business’ initiative. Carl holds FCIPS certification with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, is a Graded Commercial Arbitrator and accredited Mediator with the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators (Australia). Carl is also a Member of the Association for Strategic Alliance Professionals (ASAP).
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Gary Gribben eProcurement Project Manager Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) Bahrain |
Gary has over 30 years experience in project development in Banking, Manufacturing, Business Consultancy and Oil & Gas in both Europe and Middle East, and worked for two years as a University lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University UK. He is Project Manager of the BAPCO eProcurement project, currently leading an initiative which includes Government agencies and nine of the largest companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, to implement sustainable procurement solutions and provide opportunities for local SMEs, in support of Bahrain Vision 2030. He is a regular speaker in UK and the Gulf on eProcurement and Project Management, is a PMP Professional, Prince2 Practitioner and was recently awarded an MSc Project Management with Distinction from Aberdeen University, UK, with a focus on cultural diversity.
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Heather Drewery Director Supply Synergies UAE |
Heather is an experienced Procurement and Supply Chain Executive Director who has delivered significant financial and non-financial benefits through major purchasing strategic sourcing initiatives, supply chain and change management programs within many industrial sectors including pharmaceutical, retail, manufacturing, private health, hospitality and logistics. Heather has worked in logistics and supply chain for a number of top FTSE 100 companies including Cadbury Schweppes and Intercontinental Hotels Group and has worked extensively overseas including America and Australia, and is now based in the Middle East. She is currently Global Business Development Director for Supply Synergies a supply chain and change management consultancy designed specifically to meet the supply chain needs of this region. Heather is working with CIPS to enhance professional procurement in the region and is one of the founding members of the CIPS sponsored group “Women in Procurement”. She has a degree and an MBA and is proud to hold the FCIPS qualification.
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Juwad Shashan Regional Procurement Manager (MENA) Oil & Gas NALCO UAE |
Juwad is a Results-oriented, Strategic-directed & Solution provider procurement professional leader with exceptional abilities in building/developing cross functional teams and vendor relationships. Juwad has the track record of reducing costs, improving delivering value and profits, and developing and improving purchasing programs to meet corporate objectives and has capability in building an Effective, Efficient, Reliable, Centralized & Transparent Procurement/ Supply Chain system through Applying Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR). Prior to the current position, he was the Procurement Commodity Manager at Royal Jordanian Airlines and many , having distinctive records of business successful stories in Developing Procurement function, Establishing Policies & Procedures, Reducing cost, Sourcing, Negotiations, Risk Management, Providing alternative solutions, Challenging problems, Managing Engineering Projects, Value Engineering Analysis etc. Juwad has a Master degree in Engineering from Jordan University of Science & Technology.
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Kris Brusselmans Business Development Director Innova Supply Chain UAE |
Kris is a Senior Business Executive and experienced Management Consultant with 22 years of Industrial Knowledge in Supply Management Processes and 12 years of international business development & sales experience. His background includes senior management roels with leading global companies such as pfizer, Price Waterhouse Coopers and DHL and sector experience in FMCG, Hi-Tech, Electronics, Logistics, Pharmaceuticals, Telecoms and International Trade. With a background in Business Management and Logistics, Kris went on to further qualify in both Commercial and Financial Sciences and Project Management. HE has extensive ERP experience and has participated in business transformations and re-structuring programs at board level. Kris has managed client relationships for companies such as Levi Strauss, Arcelor, Barlo Plastics, Avaya-Lucent, Diebold, Campina, BF Goodrich and Alcatel. In his previous roles, Kris has managed global multi-million dollar programs and developed business and relationships in the USA, Asia and Europe in which he has leveraged his world class expertise. His business operation method is consistently above global benchmarks for the industry. Kris has professional affiliations with industry groups such as the Transport Intelligence (Ti), CSCMP, SCLG, CILT, FIT (Flanders Investment & Trade). He is in regular demand as a speaker at Industry Conferences and Training Seminars.
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Lukasz Mazurowski Managing Partner PROFITIA Poland |
Lukasz has 8 years experience in management consulting with a strong focus on procurement function enhancement. He has deep expertise in procurement function build up, development and enhancement. His sourcing focused assignments include 100 million Euro savings during a large restructuring / large scale procurement organization concept development and implementation through lead buyer concept introduction for a major CEE Oil & Gas company based in Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Germany. Moreover, he has undertaken sourcing of selected indirect goods & services and procurement organization build up & redesign projects for CEE Energy, FMCG, Tourism, Utilities and Banking sectors. He is a Visiting Professor at a major CEE business school – Warsaw School of Economics, teaching Souring Strategies & Procurement Process. He also coaches several major CPOs in Poland, and is a supporting partner of PSML – Polish Logistics Managers Association.
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Mark Trowbridge Principal Strategic Procurement Solutions LLC USA |
Mark has 26 years experience in procurement, which includes supply management leadership positions in the Services, Financial, & Manufacturing sectors, eventually as Director of Strategic Sourcing & Contracting Management for Bank of America, a global financial services company…where he achieved $250 Million in savings through sourcing and key negotiations of traditional and non-traditional acquisitions. Mark has also experienced great success in procurement consulting, exceeding targeted savings objectives on large sourcing projects in the Services, Telecommunications, Governmental, Technology, Health Care, Banking, Manufacturing & Insurance sectors. During his consulting tenure, Mark has assisted clients in capturing hundreds of millions in cost reductions. Mark holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. He earned his Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) designation from the Institute for Supply Management (I.S.M.) in 1993, and Lifetime Certification in 2003. He also is a Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM). Mark is currently an active member of both the I.S.M. and the National Contract Management Association. Mark is an invited guest speaker for supply management groups, including numerous seminars for global clients and professional associations.
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Oliver Kirchner Senior Legal Counsel Nokia Siemens Networks UAE |
Oliver Kirchner is a Senior Legal Counsel and in charge for Nokia Siemens Networks’ Global Services business. He is acting in a Global role negotiating and reviewing major Managed Services and outsourcing transactions as well as supporting senior management on general legal matters related to the Services business. Before joining Nokia Siemens Networks in January 2009 he was working more than seven years for IBM where he was handling major outsourcing deals not only from a legal and contractual point of view but also taking care of a wide range of commercial issues - both during the negotiation phase and post-signature. He was also practicing law in a law firm in Germany. Oliver is a truly global lawyer: Before relocating to Dubai he has been living in Dallas, Texas. In addition to the US he has worked in Brazil, spent more than two years in the Netherlands and has worked on projects in several European countries, of course including his home country Germany. Since May 2010 his geographical focus is the Middle East and Africa. He has a vast experience in the outsourcing business and in conducting negotiations, in particular in IT and telecommunications. His strength is to structure complicated topics and simplify complex commercial, legal and technical interdependencies to enable focus on the matters relevant for the business. In his early years Oliver was an elected member of the City Council of his hometown Stuttgart and working for a member of parliament. He studied Law at the University of Tuebingen in Germany and at the University of London (International Programme) and is a member of the German bar. He is an active member in the German Association of IT Lawyers (DGRI).
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Paul Grimes Managing Director 4 Corner General Trading LLC UAE |
Paul Grimes is a hands on Business Consultant with deep expertise in both designing and delivering world class logistics and supply chain excellence internationally. He makes a real difference by working on site and in partnership with the local management team and workforce and is respected for his cross cultural management skills in leading innovation and change in support of cost effective delivery of product and services. His background includes a Group Directorship in a FTSE100 company where he also built and ran subsidiary company. In the past, he has setup consultancy & immediately invited to position the Group in the UAE, ME, Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, SA & Kazakhstan for long term sustainable growth, which surpassed an additional $5m cost base reduction within 09-10 financial year. He has introduced new purchasing & delivery strategy to meet changing consumer habits, & reduced overhead cost base by consolidating supplier contracts and maximised group purchasing power & shareholder value, & achieved purchasing volumes of £1b for 3rd party clients.
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Quentin Lowcay Managing Partner Kensington Swan UAE |
Quentin Lowcay is the senior Outsourcing and Procurement partner at Kensington Swan, the New Zealand based international law firm, with local offices in Abu Dhabi. Quentin was a former IBM New Zealand general counsel, has been seconded to Fujitsu and Unisys, and was the principal outsourcing adviser to EDS UK and Accenture UK whilst at Allen & Overy in London. He has been the lead Asia-Pacific adviser to the global outsourcer HCL Technologies (based in India). Quentin specialises in complex strategic sourcings for customers, suppliers and Governments in Australasia, Asia-Pacific, India and Dubai. He has been working in the Gulf Region for over 6 years. Quentin is a Tier-1 specialist, and ranked internationally as a leading adviser in his field by Chambers Global and Asia-Pacific Legal 500. Quentin is a prominent commentator and author on the topics of outsourcing and related strategic procurement issues, being the lead author of the book “Mallesons on Outsourcing”.
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Dr. Richard Russill International Speaker, Author & Consultant R C Russill & Company UK |
Dr Richard Russill operates internationally as a presenter, writer and hands-on resource helping companies to improve their business performance, profitability and competitiveness through high-impact sustainable procurement. Widely experienced in company leadership roles and in consulting, he is described as “an unconventional practitioner, wise coach and visionary who transforms business performance and profitability using procurement as the catalyst.” Dr Russill has published widely and writes feature articles as well as the Executive Coach column for the quarterly business magazine CPO Agenda. His book ‘Purchasing Power’ is acclaimed as “one of the most useful, insightful and thoughtful books that a sourcing professional will encounter.” His latest book, ‘A Short Guide to Procurement Risk’, was published in mid 2010. He created the Centre-Led Action Network organisational concept ('CLAN’) and was honoured to receive the prestigious Swinbank Award from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) for “his outstanding contribution to the profession and for carrying its message into the business community at large.” In partnership with CIPS, Dr Russill created the popular “Evening With…” interview event in the course of which he has had the pleasure of meeting and working with a number of notable public figures including Charles Handy, Sir Anthony Jolliffe; Sir John Harvey-Jones; Willie Walsh and Rene Carayol.
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Simon Steele CEO PMMS Consulting Group UK |
Simon is the Chief Executive of PMMS Consulting Group, a provider of consulting and skills development solutions which is dedicated to equipping and enabling procurement and supply chain talent. Simon leads a team of around 100 professionals located across four continents. Simon has held positions in procurement and supply chain management within the airline industry, a global pharmaceutical business and a leading provider of news and financial information, where he led strategic sourcing in the Asia-Pacific region. Simon joined PMMS in 2003 and has since led and participated in Procurement transformation programs across many industry sectors embedding strategic sourcing and category management practice as part of a wider change in procurement capability. He has worked with organisations across all sectors of the economy and all five continents of the globe working on a wide-range of procurement initiatives. During this time he has also been responsible for areas such as Sales and Business development, Change management, Operations and Finance.Simon holds a degree in Combined Science from Lancaster University and is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
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Vanessa Zambas CEO procurementPlus UAE |
Vanessa Zambas is a seasoned professional with specific expertise in organizational commerce, change management, global supply chain management, international contract negotiations and people:establishing top performing leadership teams and operational excellence many timesin many sectors. She combines over 38 years of technical and commercial background gained within both public and private sectors in the UK, USA, China and the Middle East marketsincluding manufacturing, financial services, media, government and sport including recently for Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM), operators of the Yas Marina F1 circuit. Prior to her move to the UAE in 2007, Vanessa was Director Strategic Procurement for the British Council responsible for£500 million spend covering 240 offices in 110 different countries. As the founder and CEO of procurementPlus, Vanessa creates and delivers tailored procurement learning and development programs and provides consultancy services for GCC clients. Recognising the need for strong communication and personal skills within this discipline the subject range offered focuses on procurement and also includes communication strategy, stress management, managing conflict, personal effectiveness and customer service. Vanessa has also been responsible for developing and delivering CIPS accredited procurement training programs in the UAE, provides individual executive procurement coaching and mentoring support andhas recently been elected to the position of Secretary for the UAE CIPS Dubai and Northern Territories Branch Committee.