Charles Kessler Email and Phone Number

Back Office Operations Director providing operational support for all worldwide finance back-office, direct report to CFO.- Global Closing & Finance Processes (month & year-end); inventory valuation reports, gross/direct margin analysis, overhead capitalization & worldwide inventory analysis for 48 stores across regions to accurately state the inventory on the financial statements- Created, developed and executed the worldwide finance back-office compliance program- Key business partner to regional Retail Operations Managers for execution of policies & procedures * Audit Director managing instrumental audit procedures to ensure compliance with regulating bodies: - Compliance Officer on Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC) Audit, a self-regulating audit process that provided Harry Winston with a 3-year submission and registration with the RJC- Successful completion of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) audit (US Patriot Act), which provided Harry Winston with a 3-year audit exemption with the IRS with regard to AML* SOX Act Compliance Officer for Harry Winston and all subsidiaries worldwide:- Successfully completed 8 SOX audits- Trained worldwide staff on the process for internal control documentation over financial statements, internal testing & remediation of internal controls process and review quarterly SOX test results- Coordinate with external auditors’ documentation and prepared final internal control audit- Presentation of SOX related results to Chief Financial Officer* Key Business Partner & Tech Lead on the Navision 365 Microsoft Inventory Management system (“Gem”)- Inventory Control Director for the review of all month-end, quarter-end and year-end closing and financial reports accuracy- Director of Supply Chain for all system customizations and upgrades, collaborating with the business and IT on requirements for all company-wide systems (ERP – Back-end Finance, Procurement, POS/Retail, CRM/customer interfaces)

SOX Manager in charge of SOX Act compliance process for Harry Winston and all subsidiaries worldwide.- Formulated test scripts, ran internal testing and remediation of internal controls; prepared all documentation required for financial statement preparation- Compiled year-end and quarterly SOX test results* Finance Manager close monthly and year-end inventory financial reporting process & documentation.

* Finance Liaison - Provided financial documentation and worldwide inventory appraisal for Aber Diamond Corp.’s investment of funding and eventual acquisition of Harry Winston- Analyzed LIFO inventory costing, specific identification inventory costing and average cost inventory- Prepared the closing of sales, purchases and inventory systems in coordination with the accounting department- Analyzed gross margin and overhead application* Inventory Management - Supervised inventory control department staff of associates- Controlled costing, pricing and processing of all Harry Winston jewelry shop and vendor merchandise work orders- Managed month-end and year-end worldwide physical inventories and prepared closing- Analyzed all customs, duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) charges- In Charge of writing, implementing, training and support of the Harry Winston retail inventory tracking system- Implemented new inventory report processes to streamline month-end inventory report process* Procurement / Fulfillment- Managed sales and purchase invoice processing- In Charge of all worldwide shipping of merchandise with Harry Winston shipping department, customs broker, U.S. Customs and armored courier service companies; including imports, exports, carnets and temporary import bond shipments

Planned, performed and issued audited financial reports for private and public corporations in advertising, marketing, manufacturing and broker/dealers on the NYSE.