Ben Couzens - Project
Manager - Program Manager
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Ben Couzens' Project Management CV in Microsoft Word.doc format
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A Project Manager
and Business Leader
with outstanding success in Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, USA and Middle East in turnaround,
start-up, international business creation, professional services, technical
and IT innovation, offshoring, and building, leading and Project Managing world-class teams. Industries
include Oil and Gas, ERP, IT, Software, Financial Services, Consultancy, Manufacturing
and Civil and Structural Engineering.
In my next position
I would like to utilise a selection of my key strengths: -
Key Strengths: -
-
PRINCE2 Certified Advanced Project Manager
- Project Management - major Civil
projects, major IT projects, oil and gas consultancy, financial services.
- Program Management - complex
international systems implementations
- Professional Services & Consulting - Partner Deloitte,
recruited and trained 100 consultants, Senior Manager Coopers & Lybrand,
freelance consultant
- Strategic Management -
implementing mergers and acquisitions including board strategy, hands-on
implementation of global mergers and monopolies commission.
Led
the integration of several large downstream oil companies (Vietnam,
Indonesia, 3 Australian companies, Papua New Guinea) from the first day
of acquisition
- International Scope
- Excellent local knowledge and empathy with Europe, Eastern Europe,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, India, Asia, UAE, USA.
Click
here for details
- ERP - Enterprise Resource
Planning -
SAP -
Deloitte Partner in Charge SAP ERP in 17 European countries, implemented, supported,
sold $70m fees in 7 years; recruited, trained and directed
team of 100 SAP implementers
NAV
- Puma Global Head of ERP implementing NAV in 260 group companies in 30
countries, particularly Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Angola, also
Tanzania, Estonia, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador
Directed full
project lifecycles including successful go-lives and transition from
deployment to support
- Team Management -
multiple successes in recruiting, building, training, mentoring, project
managing IT teams ranging from a few to a few hundred
- Engagement Management -
Communication - expert in communicating and keeping all
parties fully informed and engaged while managing excess expectation
- Budget Resource Management
- expert in the use of appropriate processes and tools to ensure on-time
on-budget project delivery
- Client Management - 25
years experience of client management with proven success in growing
relationships of trust, generating follow-on business
- Contract Negotiation -
extensive experience in negotiating contracts in all circumstances
ranging from friendly to adversarial
- Presentation -
exceptional written, public speaking and presentation skills
Additional Strengths: -
- Financial Consultant - certified
as Financial Consultant by SAP Berlin, Senior Manager Coopers & Lybrand,
Partner Deloitte
- Financial Services -
Directed development & support global banking software
- Retail Banking Software -
design, develop, implement, support, sell in 400 banks worldwide
- IS - Engineering Information
Systems - finite element software developer, leading-edge 3D graphics
developer, automated design engineering systems
- IS - Business Information
Systems - business systems developer, bespoke software, packaged software, ERP, SAP,
Microsoft Navision NAV
- IT - Information Technology
- 25
years experience ranging from "hands-on" IT, to IT team management, to directing an
IT/IS staff of 300+
- Engineering Design Software -
design, develop, implement, support, sell - won and directed outsourced
software maintenance for Ministry of Transport
- Structural Engineer -
designed military,
transport, bridges, finite element analysis, theatres,48 storey
building, prisons, hospitals, housing, roof structures
- Civil Engineer - project
manager/engineer for the construction of petrochemical
plants, power generation, bridges, railway, motorways, aviation,
military. Chartered Civil Engineer
-
Industrial Technology
– Designed and commissioned automated controls for large industrial
saws. Technical consultancy for Bowater window manufacturing. Design
enhancements for manufacturing of building products. Knowledge of
upstream and midstream oil technologies. Established ITIL support for
downstream industrial fuel delivery systems in APAC
-
Industrial Engineer
– Chartered Civil Engineer. Qualified in general engineering.
Experienced in engineering design and project management of construction, structures, energy, telecom, manufacturing,
automotive, beverage, distribution, oil and gas upstream midstream and
downstream
-
Manufacturing
–
Directed SAP implementation in TRW Automotive Czech. Directed
development of bespoke manufacturing systems for Bowater subsidiary
- Oil and Gas Downstream -
ERP SAP Consultancy to downstream Oil and Gas. NAV 30 country
implementation for refining, storage, distribution and retail.
Detailed technical and business knowledge of downstream oil
- Oil and Gas Facilities -
Petrochemical plants, oil fired power stations
- Oil and Gas Upstream -
subsurface integrated studies, project management, consultancy sales, resourcing
-
Distribution
–
Directed NAV bespoke development of distribution module
- Gas and Electrical Utilities
- Implementation of
billing systems for national gas and electrical retail utility companies
- Nuclear Power - IT strategy
- Largest Sale - largest
personal sale was USD $23,000,000 consultancy fees
- Sustained
Sales - USD $70,000,000 consultancy fees targeted, sold,
contracted, delivered, invoiced in 7 years with 30%
profitability
- Target Clients
- Engineered Products, Engineering, Consultancy, Oil and Gas,
Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Beverage, Telecom,
Automotive, Manufacturing, National Government
-
Board Positions
– Board
Director MiTek (Bowater), Board Director Misys
- MBA and MA Engineering.
MBA Warwick Business
School Warwick University. MA Engineering Cambridge University.
International work experience building teams and businesses includes
-
Africa:
Angola (½yr), Tanzania
-
America:
Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, USA (½yr)
-
Asia:
India, Indonesia (½yr), Kazakhstan, Oman, Papua New Guinea, Philippines (½yr), Russia, UAE
(1yr), Vietnam (½yr)
-
Australia
(1yr)
-
Central and Eastern Europe:
Croatia (½yr), Czech Republic (9yr), Estonia, Hungary (½yr), Poland
(2yr), Romania (3yr)
-
Europe:
UK (resident), France (2yr), Germany (½yr), Switzerland (½yr), Sweden
2012
February to now
Puma-Energy (Trafigura)
Global Head of ERP
Puma-Energy, a Trafigura subsidiary, is a midstream and downstream oil
company that has expanded by acquisition into 40 countries in 5 continents
mainly since 2010. Midstream activities include storage, marine systems,
supply and refining. Downstream channels include bunkering, retail service
station fuel and shop sales, wholesale, business to business and aviation.
Products include lubricants, fuel oil, diesel, petrol (gasoline), bitumen
and LPG. To support these rapid acquisitions Puma is implementing Navision
Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP throughout their global midstream and downstream
business.
Employed by Trafigura as Global Head of ERP for Puma-Energy Ben has led the
integration and business process realignment of downstream and midstream oil
companies immediately following acquisition. This includes Vietnam,
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and 3 downstream oil companies in Australia.
Reporting to the CIO, Ben is directing the delivery of Microsoft Dynamics
NAV 5 ERP in 30 countries including Angola, Australia, Belize, Caribbean,
Congo, Corpus Christi, DRC, Dubai, El Salvador, Estonia, Geneva, Ghana,
Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Panama,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, US Virgin
Islands and Vietnam.
Ben
has personally directed post acquisition business process change and NAV ERP
delivery in country in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Estonia, Tanzania,
Angola, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Ben’s
responsibilities have included directing Accenture, Logico, Tectura and KCP
and their subcontractors, and local planning and budgeting. Ben recruits,
trains and directs local teams, both contract and permanent.
Ben
has directed the analysis, design, Agile development and deployment of NAV
customization in Australia since 2012 including the development of new NAV
modules for Retail, Fuel Card and POS integration. Since the acquisition
2014-07-01 Ben has been directing the merger of InterOil in Papua New Guinea
and managing the business change of InterOil to global integration with
Puma.
Key Achievements
- Directed the successful merger
of 6 new companies into Puma, from the day of each acquisition
- Halved costs with a radical new
approach to country by country deployment and consultant engagement
- Rigorously enforced identical
global standards in every country
- Created “NAV-in-a-Box” for fast
efficient consistent deployment
- Championed and directed
fundamental redesign and global roll-out of security based on toxic
pairs
- Enriched service offering with
new sales-distribution model, retail, fuel cards, terminal integration
- Personally directed full cycle
NAV implementations onsite in 10 countries
2010 to 2012
sparesFinder Global Head of Channels
sparesFinder provide consultancy and SAP/ERP integrated software for MDM
data cleaning. Clients include: Coca Cola, Glaxo Smith Kline, Heinz, ICI,
Lafarge, Nestle, PepsiCo, Ryvita, Rolls Royce, RS, Staples, Tate & Lyle,
Unilever, British American Tobacco, Gallaher, Philip Morris, BHPP, Newmont,
AGIP, Apache, BG, BP, Britannia, Centrica, Chevron, Conoco, Exxon,
Halliburton, Kerr McGee, KOC, Marathon, Marafiq, Natpet, SABIC, Sahara,
Shell, Talisman, Tasnee, TMK Ipsco, Wilson.
-
Building new channel relationships with major global consultancies
-
Established new market for sparesFinder in UAE
- New
clients include Etisalat telecom and ADMA
2008 to 2010
Knowledge Reservoir Oil and Gas Consultancy
Services and Business Development Europe,
Africa, Middle East
-
Successfully rescued Project
Management of £multi-million field development project which was in
trouble with unhappy client and uncontrolled expenditure
-
Project Managed large integrated
field development studies including Geology, Geophysics, Reservoir
Engineering, Simulation, Modelling
-
Took over accounts and territories
from several departing colleagues
-
Sold and contracted €multi-million
global consultancy agreement with OMV
-
Built relationships with global oil
companies including Afren,
Anadarko, Apache, BG, BHP, Centrica, Chariot, CNR, ENI, Enquest,
Fairfield, Falkland, Firstoil,
GDF, Hess, JKX, Maersk, Marathon, MND, Nippon, OMV, Petro-Canada, Petrom,
Pioneer, Premier, Serica, Shell, Silverstone, Sterling, Talisman,
Venture,
Xcite, Crescent Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, ADNOC, ADCO, ADMA, ZADCO, ADOC, Total, Oxy, Qatar
Petroleum, RAK, KOC, Kuwait Energy
-
Achieved pre-qualification
registration with ADNOC Group.
-
Established UAE market presence
including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar
-
Formal
reference available on
request
2004 to
now
Independent Consultant
-
Consultancy in Prague, Paris and London included interim strategic
consultancy to global leaders of world brand Tobacco Company
BAT
and strategic consultancy to global leaders of
Areva world-leading Nuclear Energy
company, in English and French.
-
Benchmarking IT functions to global
financial best practice standards
- Strategic consultancy including
designing and implementing an exit strategy for a Prague company
- Strategic consultancy including
designing and implementing a successful Prague company start-up
2003 to 2004
Misys International Banking Financial Services Software T/o £1bn
Global Product Services Director and Program Manager
Selected
to Program Manage and Direct 300 staff worldwide developing and supporting financial software
and to
introduce and implement wide ranging change
- Reversed collapsing
global blue-chip Customer Satisfaction rating from “very dissatisfied”
to “very satisfied” within first six months
- Introduced
ITIL IT Service Management
- Initiated, championed
and directed rationalisation of offshore development in Philippines and
India increasing capacity, improving quality and reducing cost
- Instigated and directed
convergence of leading financial software packages building continued
market leadership into the next generation of products
1996 to 2003
Deloitte & Touche Global
Auditing and Consulting T/o $12bn
Partner in charge SAP in 17 countries. Global Program Management
and Project Management
Selected
to develop Consultancy in Czech Republic and Program Manage and Project Manage
Global Projects
- Reviewed staff and
business unit, transforming strategic direction and driving revenue from
$100,000 p.a. to $3m p.a. within 12 months
- Achieved recognition of
global quality, enabling the business unit to join European consultant
sharing policy, generating additional $6m pa fees
- Established Board Level
relationships, personally selling projects up to $23m
- As
Engagement Partner directed Project Management of complex international
systems implementations with lead responsibility for all client interactions
- Directed multiple concurrent
Project Managers of international projects
- Devised and implemented
international recruitment policy, recruiting, training and deploying 100
consultants from 14 nationalities throughout the region
- Commissioned publicity
video in which clients generously praise the quality of the team and
project delivery
- Clients included Telecom, Mobile Telecom,
Automotive, Beverage
- Oil company clients included MOL
Budapest and INA Industrija Nafte Zagreb
- Appointed to devise and
lead strategy to develop and consolidate internal and vendor relationships
throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa
- Championed SAP global
business development strategy during holding company separation, whilst
integrating Andersen Business Consulting teams
- Successfully
implemented these combined strategies, achieving revenue of $11m pa within
15 months, totalling $70m in 7 years at 30% profitability
1995-1996
Coopers & Lybrand
Global Auditing and Consulting T/o $8bn
SAP Consultancy Service Leader and Project
Manager
Invited
to establish SAP Consultancy in Czech Republic
- Performed strategic
review, developed and won approval for business plan, achieving $1m
revenue sold, managed and delivered within 12 months
- Project Managed multiple Management Consulting
engagements
- Initiated Central
European cooperation enabling unified market approach
- Clients included Telecom, Electricity, Gas,
Retail, Automotive, Financial Services
1995
SAP R/3 Academy,
SAP Berlin Germany
Residential training in the SAP R/3 Academy in SAP Berlin Germany. SAP
certified by examinations as SAP Financial Consultant.
1993-1995
PE International
Consulting T/o $300m
Project Director. Program Manager.
Project Manager
- Developed
and presented bid, winning and delivering $2m+ project to create National
Market Information System in Romania
- Recruited and directed team of 20 consultants, and
created local office and company presence in Bucharest
- Selected and contracted local software companies
and established post-project system longevity
- Project Managed own team while Program Managing
multiple inter-related outsourced projects
- Collaborated with
telecom and data services to connect 200 markets
1992
– 1993 Warwick
University. MBA Master of Business
Administration
1986 – 1992 Bowater
Global Manufacturing T/o $3bn
European Development Director
MiTek Inc T/o $150m
Approached to turnaround the company
- Reviewed strategic
position, proposed business transformation, piloting new technology and
winning board approval for fast track implementation
- Successfully returned
the company to premier international competitive position, initiating and
implementing fundamental changes in 300 customers
- Designed and commissioned hardware accelerators
used by 300 customers, providing them with a tenfold increase in
productivity
- Designed and commissioned innovative time license
hardware to lock proprietary software
- Designed and implemented automated machine tool
control systems
- Designed and implemented radical software
innovation providing significant competitive advantages
- Directed pan-European
teams of software and manufacturing technology developers, achieving sales
of $45m pa sales within 2 years
- Program Managed and Project Managed multiple
international IT and Engineering projects
- Implemented
acquisitions in Europe and the USA, including integrating operations of
$150m pa global competitor
1985 – 1986 Skanska
Engineering Company T/o $17bn
Technology Director DATECH
Approached to create new IT software
company
- Built new business
achieving profit with £1m sales within first 12 months, building
foundations for £10m sales in subsequent years
- Specialising in highly technical software such as
Chemical Engineering, Petrochemicals, Finite Element Analysis, CAD
1982 – 1985 M H Anderson Consultants
$500m Technical Consultancy
Head of IT & Software
Development
- Promoted to lead a team
of 20+ analyst programmers developing engineering and financial software.
- Sold and Project Managed outsourcing contracts for the Department of
Transport, including a helpdesk and nationwide support.
- Project Managed multiple concurrent IT projects
- Designed, coded, implemented and supported
advanced finite element analysis software and 3D graphics
- Designed, coded, implemented and supported
innovative new engineering design software
- Managed the design, development, implementation
and management of business systems, timesheet systems, billing systems
1981 – 1982 Harris & Sutherland Consultants
$70m Engineering Consultancy
Senior Engineer
(also seconded ‘78–‘79)
- Project Managed design teams for
military and civil projects,
bridges, finite element analysis, theatres,48 storey building, prisons,
hospitals, housing, roof structures
- Designed programmed and implemented
software for seismic building design
1975 – 1981 John Laing
($1bn Engineering
Company)
Project Engineer (UK and
Poland)
- Project Managed projects in petrochemical
plants, power generation and transportation, including engineer in charge
motorway bridges M63 and M25.
1975 British
Antarctic Survey
-
Selected and employed as geophysical
surveyor by British Antarctic Survey.
Polar expedition 18 months at South Pole cancelled by Government funding
cuts
1974 Geoscience
Consulting
-
Gravimetric field survey for hydrocarbon exploration
1973
Taylor Woodrow - Brighton Marina
-
Project Engineer managing
construction of road cliff tunnel and harbour breakwaters
1972
Metal Box Portslade
1968-1971
Marks & Spencer
Qualifications
1971-1975 MA Engineering
Cambridge University
1992-1993 MBA Master of
Business Administration
Warwick University
1980 Chartered
European Engineer. Chartered Civil Engineer
Special Commendation for
Excellence from Institution of Civil Engineers
1990 Chartered
IT Professional
1996 Certified
Financial Consultant
SAP Academy Berlin
2006 PRINCE2
Certified Advanced Project Manager
2007 Non-Executive
Director
Cranfield University
(Residential Training)
Languages
French
- business, Polish, Romanian, Czech - useful
Personal
British. Married,
3 children. Willing to relocate.
Currently location provides
easy travel to Heathrow and London by train and motorway.
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here for 
I enjoy
my family, socialising, sailing,
cycling, rambling, opera, travelling and experiencing new national cultures.
I am a violinist in Reading Symphony
Orchestra, I am the
Cambridge
University and Daily Telegraph expat
mentor for Prague