Mark Williams Email & Phone Number

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Lead the Finance team in delivering Reporting, Analysis and Governance for the organisation in addition to driving transformational change across all Finance processes and in the development of proactive partnerships with the operational leaders within the organisation. (I might just improve my cycling ability too while I'm there !!!)

Melbourne, Australia

At the time of joining TOLL, the extent of manual and diverse Business and Finance processes were detrimentally affecting the integrity of the Financial and Business outcomes. This was compounded further by the limited people development and leadership within the Finance teams. In this role, I led a team that developed the Global process principles, operating standards and design that will be implemented across the Toll Group. Toll initially engaged the SAP platform to enable the transformation and in 2017 decided to change to the Oracle platform as the system enabler for the transformation. Initially my leadership focused primarily on the core Finance and Reporting processes, however, the breadth of my operational experience allowed me to provide significant input into the Accounts Receivable, Procurement, Accounts Payable and Financial Planning processes. One of the key initiatives that I designed was a simplified Intercompany charge process that removed the need for formal invoicing, automatically processing all sides of the transaction simultaneously which eliminated the need for AP and AR process involvement and improved the financial integrity of the consolidated outcomes. Additionally I worked extensively with the Global Shared Services development team in leading the establishment of the offshore shared services operating model for the Toll Group.The Global Finance process design for TOLL is now in a position to enable improved financial integrity and governance, consistent reporting and more effective and efficient resource usage within the Businesses.

Melbourne, Australia

At the time of my appointment Toll Priority’s Finance business processes were heavily supported by a collection of excel spreadsheets, manual journals and ad hoc or non-existent governance and control processes. People development and empowerment was not widely encouraged or supported with an individual’s main activity being to perform processes as described without challenge or question, whilst the opportunity to grow and develop was limited to roles within the existing team and largely based on tenure.Drawing on my previous leadership experience at BHP I led a considered and committed process to empower the members of the team to make a difference both to the organisational process outcomes and to the individual themselves.Over the next 18 months, the team performance and culture significantly changed which enabled major process improvements and developments to be successfully implemented. These included the establishment of a detailed Budgeting and reporting mechanism for Group Functions within the business. This process did not exist and resulted in Group Functions leaders managing their operations with no financial reference point as a guide. The development of this process also allowed me to empower a high potential team member in the design, development and implementation of the process which enhanced their personal development in a significant manner.Despite the challenging environment that was presented upon commencement when I moved into the Global role the Toll Priority Finance team were respected as active change agents within the Division and significant positive process change had been implemented.

Melbourne, Australia

BHP was moving through a significant process, organisational and system change journey, known as 1SAP , and I was invited to return in a Project Leadership role responsible for leading the review and development of Financial and Management Reporting processes and systems for the Energy Coal Group. Divisional Financial Reporting was characterised by different methods and designs according to the Divisional preferences and my role was to develop of a set of options for Management Reports for Senior Management and the change processes to deliver those reports as well as developing recommendations on Financial Governance frameworks that would be more consistently enabled as part of the Global operating model.Energy Coal was also responsible for the development of its own Budgeting and Forecasting tool set that would feed into the Group processes and it was my responsibility to lead the assessment of alternatives that would enable the reporting of key business drivers for the Division;Additionally the implementation of the new SAP consolidation system in BHP was scheduled for release at the same time as Energy Coal and I was therefore responsible to lead the development and implementation of a change management plan to enable Energy Coal to meet those requirements. At the end of the assignment Energy Coal was considered to be very well placed for the forthcoming SAP implementation and had a clear direction of the Budgeting and forecasting tool set it would take forward.

Melbourne, Australia

The Melbourne based team that provided all the Finance business partnership and commercial support for the Global Group Functions of BHP (Annual Budget $US 900 million) was characterised as a team with a poor operating culture and was not a destination location for Finance professionals within BHP.I led a deep and insightful process to understand the key drivers that had created the team culture and performance and within 12 months had developed and implemented strategies that resulted in the creation of 3 regional offices (30 professional staff) that were providing timely and effective business partnership to the diverse customer base, being Global Group Functions leadership and their teams - including Group Legal, Tax, IT, Procurement, Company Secretariat, and Human Resources.At the same time I initiated and developed a project plan for revised Budgeting, Forecasting and Financial Analysis processes and system for the Group Functions, including strategic reengineering of the $US 500 million internal recharging process which required a deep understanding of the key drivers, international tax jurisdiction impacts and multiple stakeholder input and sign off. During 2009 the BHP Group decided to move a large number of Group Functions out of the Johannesburg office. As a result the Group Functions Finance team needed to be closed down and I led a process to transfer the work to my London team whilst also successfully transitioning every team member to another role in the organisation.Despite this being a period of constant change and challenge for the broader BHP Group the vastly reshaped performance and culture of the Group Functions Finance team placed it in a position in parallel with other Divisional Finance teams in BHP. The team became regarded as a positive place for a developing Finance professional to spend time in their career journey and the relationships with all stakeholders created a platform for positive business partnerships.

Melbourne, Australia

In 2001 BHP merged its mining business with Billiton. Carbon Steel Materials Division incorporated all Iron Ore, Coking Coal and Manganese operations of the former BHP and Billiton organisations and was the largest Business Division having annual revenue of approximately $US 10 billion and Net Assets of US $ 5 billion.As Group Financial Controller I was responsible for building a team, business processes and standards that would ensure the Division was able to meet all risk management, governance,financial reporting and analysis requirements, including managing external audit relationships, and audit committee reporting. I also led the transition of Finance activities from the previous BHP Minerals organisation to the new Businesses created under the merger and developed a consistent Approvals Framework. Additionally I provided functional Finance leadership for the Financial Controller in each of the operating businesses and the support teams in Global Shared Services.I was responsible for establishing and implementing a strategy to ensure our 50% share in the Samarco Iron Ore mine in Brazil could present independent financial reporting, analysis and governance processes up in a similar fashion to the other 100% owned and operated assets. I also led regular process improvement workshops between the Operating Assets, Shared Services and the Divisional teams focussed on achieving the big picture outcomes for the Division and the broader Group. Over the next 6 years, the Division embarked on a significant capital development and growth strategy and the core finance, risk management and Governance frameworks that had been established were the foundation to ensure that financial integrity was upheld and that each month the financial outcomes were of publishable quality. The Carbon Steel Materials Finance team was regarded highly across the BHPBilliton Group as being a desired development pathway for high potential Finance professionals

Melbourne, Australia

In 1999 BHP restructured a number of individual Minerals businesses (Iron Ore , Coal, Diamonds and Copper) under a single BHP Minerals Division, with combined annual revenue of $A 10 billion , being the largest in BHP at the time. Initially a BHP Minerals finance team was created as an amalgam of the existing individual business Finance teams however this proved to be counterproductive and as result performance and team dynamics suffered to the extent that the existing leadership were removed from their roles. I was invited to be the new Group Financial Controller and was also given a clear mandate to refresh the team and establish an improved level of operating performance and team culture. As part of the change management process I led a series of team building workshops and examined the existing business processes in detail with a view to understanding the objective of those processes and the bigger organisational picture within which those processes operated. We made commitments as a team to build effective working relationships with key stakeholders Divisionally and across the Group.During this period I led the team in managing the acquisition of an additional ownership interest in Diamonds and Brazilian Iron Ore (Samarco) and the divestment of Ok Tedi and part of the Coal business. and the resolution of a number of significant audit issues within the global operational businesses. In 2000 the BHP Group embarked on the introduction of a new finance operating model , including the implementation of the Shared Services concept. I was responsible for leading this transition for the Minerals Division including the design and implementation of revised end to end business processes and governance frameworks. During a period of significant change the Minerals Finance team was transformed into the leading Divisional Finance team in the BHP Group with the underlying Finance processes and governance frameworks being a model for other BHP Divisions.

Active member of project teams relating to divestment, merger or acquisition opportunities and the provision of detailed financial analysis on the various project scenarios for submission to the Board steering committee, responsible for the provision of expert accounting and Finance process advice to the various project teams. Worked on the successful A$140 million divestment of the Timor Sea Oil and Gas Assets and the Financial Due Diligence assessment of the proposed Iron Ore merger between Rio and BHP.

Reporting to the Group Financial Controller the Manager BHP Group Management Reporting was responsible for the consolidated BHP group management reporting and analysis processes, including reports for the BHP Board and senior management. This required a working knowledge of all the BHP divisions being Petroleum, Steel , Minerals and Transport (Service Companies) and the interaction between those divisions.

Port Kembla

Finance and Commercial lead for the Slab, Plate and Strip Business Unit of the Port Kembla Steelworks. In this role I was responsible for providing Commercial and Financial guidance and support to the operational management of the business. This included product costing analysis, project evaluation, budgeting and planning, and financial modelling.

Port Kembla

Working in the Steel Division of BHP I worked in a number of Finance Leadership roles in support of the operating business and managed reporting and anlaysis to the BHP Steel head office.

Education record

Commerce, Accounting And Management