Manager Financial

SHASHANK AURORA, CPA, FCA https://www.linkedin.com/pub/shashank-aurora/7/857/b59

***** ********* ****** ********.******@*******.***

Clive, IA 50325 Cell: 515-***-****

Chief Financial Officer / Global Strategic Business Partner

Track Record in Driving Outstanding Sales, Profitability, and Cash Flow

Experienced professional with proven record of leading effective long-term strategic plans and annual operating budgets of over $1.5 billion. Led monthly/quarterly forecasts along with risks and opportunities. Co-led capital budgets of over $75 million based on ROI and strategy. Expertise in Financial Planning and Analysis.

Consistently exceeded revenue and profitability goals by managing variables impacting revenue, improving business process and managing fixed costs. Reduced $75MM in working capital and improved profits by $20 MM by improving supply-demand accuracy.

Experience in agriculture, biotech, construction, consumer goods, insurance and engineering industries.

Effective at partnering with management, cross-functional teams and cross-finance teams that lead to increased shareholders value at acceptable levels of risk.

Extensive international experience having worked and lived in India, Egypt, and the U.S and led and trained finance teams from United States in all regions including Asia/China, Africa, Latin America, and Canada. Expertise in

Global Strategic Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Working Capital Management

P&L Ownership & Management Continuous Process Improvement

Budgeting, Forecasting and Ad hoc Analysis Startups & Turnarounds

International Treasury and Accounting Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures

Multi-cultural Talent Selection, Development & Retention Investor Relations

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

BROKERS INTERNATIONAL (www.biltd.com) Des Moines, United States 2017-Present

Chief Financial Officer (One of the largest Insurance Marketing Organizations in US)

•Within 90 days coached management team and led formation of departmental level annual operating budgeting process and then presented to Board of Directors (BOD) which has never been done by the company before.

•Within year 1 leading the establishment of strategic plan for the company, which has never been done by company before. This has led to prioritization and focused approach to investments to achieve the growth.

•Within 6 months educated management team on forecasting process, prepared the forecast and then presented to BOD which has never been done by the company before. Helped eliminate 5% slippage to revenue in 2018.

•Selected and implemented a new cloud based ERP system in 8 months which has improved team productivity by 15%. Closed annual financials 5 months earlier than previous year. 3 direct and 10 indirect reports.

•Within 90 days of joining established financial metrics and a new management information reporting package thereby increasing business focus and driving better results.

•Within six months given additional responsibility of HR team. Hired 44 persons in 2018.

•Presented financials and key analysis to the BOD and led discussions with Audit and Compensation committee.

ORIGIN AGRITECH (http://originseed.investorroom.com/), (Ticker SEED) Des Moines, United States

Global Chief Financial Officer (Nasdaq listed company) 2016-2017

Along with CEO changed the vision, strategy and business model of the Company and approval from the Board of Directors. Along with CEO presented to investors in Non-Deal-Roadshow’s (NDR) and investor day held by UBS.

•Demerged the assets to generate cash to fund the future vision/strategy of the company. Worked with financial advisors (Duff & Phelps) and legal consultants (Davis Polk) and Special Committee of the Board to perform market check, finalize appropriate termination fees and deposit, valuation of assets being sold and finally carve out the business to have a successful spin off. Sold the assets at 150% of the company market cap. Reduced leverage

•Led in the preparation of the proxy statements for SEC filing and working with solicitation agent successfully obtained shareholders’ approval for sale of assets in record time.

•Working with potential investors and Investment Banks raised $2 million to fund the operating needs of newly established US operations without any collateral including filing of Registration Statements.

•Along with CEO led quarterly/annual investor call engaging an external Investor Relations firm increasing investor participation by 40%.

•Led 20F and 6K filings for the company (since it is Foreign Private Issuer) which are comparable to 10Q and 8K.

•Presented to the Board Audit Committee quarterly financials prior to filing with SEC.

E.I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS & CO. (www.dupont.com), Des Moines, IA and Cairo, Egypt. 1992-2016

History of career advancement with the company bringing world-class science to diverse global markets.

Finance Director, Global Services – DuPont Pioneer, United States 2014 – 2016

Newly created position to provide financial strategic direction for in-house start-up disruptive software business (Internet of Things), a new business both for the industry and the company. Implemented service accounting (SaaS) revenue recognition policies. Expertise to evaluate start-up businesses that were to be acquired to achieve the business vision. Partnered with business to establish methodology to capture value from customers.

•Established the Key metrics (KPI) for the business. Utilized them as we valued new start-ups in M&A deals.

•Researched and selected “FinancialForce” a financial system for service industry (IoT) for budgets, actual and outlook. Implemented an efficient financial and operational metrics automated reporting package thereby reducing errors and saving 3-days for the analyst.

Finance Director - Canada AND Latin America – DuPont Pioneer, United States 2011 – 2014

Finance leader of the regional management team with multi-country operations with revenues over $1.5 billion. Co-led strategic business plans, led annual operating and capital budgets, monthly forecasts and free cash flow, product pricing. Utilized strong analytical skills and holistic understanding of the business to prioritize spend between different competing new projects based on ROI. Directed 5 finance managers and 8 indirect reports.

•Key contributor in growing revenues and profits by over 75% by leading the setup of challenging annual budgets based on macro-economic conditions, competitive analysis, product pipeline and business drivers.

•Led monthly forecasting process using Integrated Business Planning (IBP) which involved working with product management, demand planning and supply teams, evaluated risks and opportunities and improved its reliability. Proactively initiated corrective actions to mitigate slippage if any to the budget.

•Presented budgets and strategic plans to senior management that effectively communicates financial and business analysis to facilitate effective decision making.

•Reduced fixed costs as percentage of sales by 6%.

•Saved $20M by co-leading business improvement initiatives with a cross functional team.

•Successfully revitalized and repriced products that had begun to fail due to loss in its efficacy in Brazil by interacting with a cross functional team by repositioning the product increasing profitability by $25 million.

Finance Director - Latin America AND Africa – DuPont Pioneer, United States 2011

Key member of the Latin America and Africa regional leadership team leading multi-country operations, representing ~$750 Million in revenues and ~$250 Million in profits. Led strategic planning and annual operating budget for the region. Managed a team of 9 direct reports and 50 indirect reports.

•Initiated financial integration of newly acquired multi-country business within Africa to align accounting policies/procedures and to capture cost and revenue synergies.

Sr. Finance Manager - Global Treasury, Intl. Accounting / Reporting AND China – DuPont, US 2007 – 2010

Managed finance operations in China which is a very unique and complex market. Provided financial management for three separate Joint Ventures (JV’s). Ensured internal control policies, SOX controls and FCPA were implemented properly. Led efforts on increasing volumes, prices, and managing costs thereby increasing revenues from ~$60MM to ~$250MM and profits from ~$30MM to ~$120MM. Managed fixed costs differentially since it was a growth market.

•Strengthened quality and timeliness of financials by selecting and implementing new local ERP system, “Kingdee” as SAP was not planned for the next 4 years, in less than six months thereby improving productivity of staff and reducing monthly close time from 15 to 4 days. Team had more time for value-added analysis.

Finance Manager - Global Treasury AND International Accounting / Reporting – DuPont, US 2006 – 2007

Coached analysts in multi-currency and highly inflationary accounting consolidations of financial statements, in accordance with US GAAP for 50+ countries.

Led team of analysts in flux analysis of Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss on a quarterly basis for entire international operations with external auditors. Ensured SOX controls were in place in all the entities.

•Established dashboard to track timely and accurate submission of financial statements for international operations. Shared best practices among different country controllers, improving quality and timeliness of financials. Reduced errors by 25% over 2 year period.

Global Treasury Manager – DuPont, United States 2003 – 2005

Managed cash globally for 50+ countries. Interacted with businesses globally to fund their short-term and long-term cash needs in a timely and tax effective manner with minimal external interest expense. Set up guidelines and procedures for treasury activities. Participated in financial due diligence process leading to 5 successful mergers and acquisitions both internationally and in the United States.

•Established capital structure of international entities to support company’s working capital requirements. Co-leading with tax developed/implemented global dividend policies.

•Repatriated $0.5B of cash in tax efficient manner with minimal cost under Americans Job Creation Act.

•Key contributor in Request For Proposal (RFP) for change in corporate banking relationship and co-led with Information Management (IM), automation of payroll, Accounts Payable, Automated Clearing House (ACH), Lockbox, and cash application in SAP reducing annual bank fees by $0.4 million.

Financial Controller – Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. Egypt 1992 – 2003

Successful turnaround and transformation of finance and business for Pioneer (acquired by DuPont in 2001). Turned the business from generating a loss of $5 million to profits of $7 million. After turnaround asked to take over a R&D business, HR, information management, procurement and admin. functions. Led monthly closure of books, ensured US GAAP policies were applied correctly and led discussions with external auditors for year-end accounts. Selected to serve as the regional management finance lead providing support to S. Asia & N. Africa. Led the evaluation and divestiture of businesses in 3 countries of Africa.

•Developed and implemented new financial policies and procedures both for plant and commercial which was leveraged globally.

•Reduced days to close from 45 to 4 days by streamlining, standardizing, and automating financial systems which improved productivity and reduced staff by 33%.

•Managed fixed cost by setting up processes that resulted in cumulative growth of less than inflation rate.

EARLY EXPERIENCE: INDIA

NESTLE (Consumer goods food and beverage Company) – Finance Executive

OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, subsidiary of UTC (Engineering Co.) – Accounting Manager

LARSEN & TOUBRO LIMITED (Construction, manufacturing & engineering Company) – Financial Accountant

A.F. FERGUSON & CO (Audit Firm, member of PricewaterhouseCoopers)

EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS

•Certified Public Accountant (CPA) – Active American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

•Merger & Acquisitions (M&A) Northwestern - Kellogg’s School of Management

•Fundamentals of Investor Relations National Investor Relations Institute, Boston MA

•Chartered Accountant (FCA) - Active The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

•Bachelor of Life Sciences (BS) Nizam College (Osmania University), India

AFFILIATIONS / RECOGNITIONS

•Led panel in a local community college (DMACC) as an expert on “Doing Business in Brazil”

•Panelist in VentureNet Iowa to advise entrepreneurs on creating successful business and jobs

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