Photo of Kashaf Jaffer, Alexion.

Kashaf Jaffer is a finance professional with almost eight years’ experience in treasury who started his career at Mondelez India Foods Limited as a Finance Trainee. He is well-qualified and his achievements include a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification. He is currently responsible for managing critical areas like FX hedging, cash management, bank administration and international remittances besides transformation of processes. Kashaf lists his skills as people management, communication, accountability, negotiation, collaboration and is always keen to learn. A well deserved winner of the 2016 award.

A future star

He has achieved the following qualifications and certificates:

• Master’s in Management Studies (Finance).
• Advanced Diploma in Management Accounting from CIMA, London.
• Bachelor’s in Management Studies.
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification – recognised by ASCB (Europe).

Kashaf was nominated in the A Rising Star category by Anand Kalani, Senior Manager – Treasury at Alexion Business Services Pvt. Ltd. India (ABS) who said, “Kashaf demonstrates extensive financial knowledge, leadership competencies and technical skills in treasury. He has consistently exceeded expectations on his deliverables. He demonstrates a high level of accountability and ownership and goes a step beyond the ordinary besides having a strong drive for results. Kashaf uses a mixture of analysis and judgement in operational decision-making and he is sound in his approach.”

Seizing the opportunity

Alexion gave Kashaf an opportunity to be a part of the Global Treasury group, thereby allowing him to manage and supervise the India treasury function and expand his scope to various diverse geographies rather than a single region. He is currently responsible for managing significant areas such as FX hedging, cash management, bank administration and international remittances besides process transformation.

“I have always had an aspiration to accomplish an extraordinary things in my career and this award clearly has been my most significant one to date. I am truly honored and humbled to receive this prestigious award which clearly is a benchmark in the field of treasury.”

Kashaf Jaffer, Manager, Treasury, Alexion

Career Achievements:

• Successfully established the treasury function at ABS and led the same for more than two years.
• Consistent promotions for maintaining an impeccable track record in terms of significant contributions at both Alexion and Mondelēz.
• Successful implementation of the treasury management system (TMS) within Alexion which resulted in automation of core treasury processes globally.
• Recognised twice with an ‘Appreciation Award’; part of the Rewards and Recognition programme at ABS, for demonstrating accountability and ownership amongst other core competencies.
• Managing cash and investments at Mondelēz for optimum utilisation of idle cash and generating worthy returns.
• Treasury Lead for Project Catalyst at Mondelēz – a cross-functional project aimed at consolidating SAP requirements and ensuring uniform system implementation across all entities globally.
• Awarded ‘Indispensable Business Partner’ at Mondelēz for successful completion of a request for proposal (RFP) for on-boarding a new banking relationship.

Anand Kalani also outlined the following principles which Kashaf rigorously practices:

• Work hard in silence; let your success be the noise.
• Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.
• Believes in honesty, integrity and transparency in whatever he does.

Testimonials

“He has the intellectual agility to deal with evolving challenges which arise in the journey of treasury as it grows as a function within Alexion. Communication, this is one of his core strengths and he uses it most appropriately besides having excellent interpersonal skills and a strong desire to continually improve his knowledge kit.” Prasanna Thombre, Vice President, Treasury – Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

“Kashaf always acts maturely and consistently and shows sound judgement. His ‘out of the box’ and unconventional thinking, along with passion for innovation has helped the organisation solve practical issues in the most efficient way possible. I would highly recommend Kashaf for the Rising Star award as I personally believe he is a model member of our team who consistently exceeds expectations and is definitely a budding future CFO.” Gautam Thakker, Director, Head of Finance – Alexion Business Services Pvt. Ltd.

Key skills

• People management – including global stakeholder management.
• Communication – including presentations to senior management.
• Accountability – completely owns what is assigned to him and delivers ahead of time.
• Negotiation – with banks on interest and currency rates, service requests and other business requirements.
• Collaboration – with cross-functional stakeholders to resolve complex issues.
• Keen to learn – exploring new avenues to expand his knowledge both in terms of new activities as well as academic courses/workshops.