Niraj Pau Fcpa, Gaicd Email & Phone Number

Melbourne, Vic, Au

Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is the Australian Government's primary authority on radiation protection and nuclear safety. ARPANSA regulates Commonwealth entities with the objective of protecting people and the environment from the harmful effect of radiation. ARPANSA undertakes research, provides services, and promotes national uniformity and the implementation of international best practice across all jurisdictions.My role as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Office Head covering all the enabling services including Finance, Digital Technologies, Cyber Security, Human Resources and Facilities and Engineering, forms a critical part of the Executive Management Team, leading and mentoring a multi-disciplinary team of professionals. I am responsible for providing advice on the financial/commercial aspects of strategic decisions made in relation to all Agency activities and the overall management of the Agency’s operation and capital budget including financial planning, sustainability analysis and management reporting and analysis. As a member of both the Executive Group and the Strategic Management Committee, my role provides financial advice and support to the CEO and senior managers at all levels. The position is involved in the development of the future strategic directions of the Agency and maintaining cost recovery arrangements through the use of appropriate and robust costing and pricing models. I also work closely with internal and external stakeholders to ARPANSA for strategy implementation, risk and compliance management, strategic workforce planning, high level operational and business management reviews improving the overall performance, sustainability, capacity and strength of the Agency.

Victorian Inspectorate provides independent assurance to Parliament and the people of Victoria that 14 integrity bodies, including IBAC and the Victorian Ombudsman, act lawfully, properly, and with integrity.As a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Victorian Inspectorate, my role involves providing independent oversight and guidance to ensure effective governance, risk management, and internal control processes. I contribute to monitoring the Inspectorate's financial reporting, compliance with regulatory requirements, and management of strategic and operational risks. By offering insights and recommendations, I help support transparency, accountability, and the integrity of the Inspectorate's operations.

Australia

Haven Home Safe (HHS) is a forward-thinking affordable housing association in Victoria, providing comprehensive solutions for homelessness and housing needs. As a rapidly growing and fully integrated organisation in Australia, we have built a reputation for excellence, offering innovative support programs and property/tenancy management services to vulnerable individuals across Victoria. Our portfolio currently encompasses nearly 2,500 owned and managed properties, offering housing stability to many, while reaching and supporting approximately 20,000 individuals to access homeless services and enhance community well-being.As a dedicated Board Director, I have the privilege of being at the forefront of driving impactful solutions in these crucial areas. In my role, I actively contribute to the organisation's strategic direction and governance through unwavering commitment, expertise, and a risk-based approach to informed decision-making.My focus is on ensuring that HHS maintains strong governance, efficient management, and financial viability, which is essential to ensure the organisation's long-term sustainability and effectiveness in fulfilling its mission.

Victoria, Australia

Central Gippsland Health is the major provider of health and aged care services. With three large hospitals in Maffra, Sale and Heyfield, a number of aged care facilities and a large number of other community services, the organisation has been serving the Gippsland community for more than 150 years. As an audit and risk committee member for the Central Gippsland Health Services (CGHS), a not-for-profit health service provider, my duties involve:- Ensuring financial integrity, transparency, and compliance.- Identifying and managing risks to protect the organisation.- Monitoring internal and external audits for effectiveness and control.- Promoting good governance and ethical practices.- Reporting to the board on audit and risk-related matters.My role plays a pivotal part in safeguarding the organisation's financial stability, compliance, and effective risk management.

Victoria, Australia

As a non-executive director of Verracorp, a boutique consulting and business advisory firm specialising in Management Systems, Calibration. and Engineering, I've significantly developed and grown revenue and project pipeline through strategic business transformation and impactful marketing. By aligning the company capabilities with market trends, developing innovative product and service offerings, and optimising operations, we achieved remarkable growth and profitability. Through targeted marketing campaigns and strategic partnerships, we've successfully raised the company's profile, increased brand awareness, and attracted new clients including some well-known names such as Thales, Hyzon Motors, Total Tools, National Measurement Institute, Trellis Data and Phoenix Tapware. My role has been instrumental in driving business growth and ensuring the company's competitiveness in a rapidly evolving industry. During my time, Verracorp grew significantly surpassing our shareholders’ and stakeholders’ expectations. A number of innovative, IP67 rated and artificial intelligence enabled hardware products were designed and manufactured with a variety of use cases and industry applications. I also managed to secure a number of Research and Development grants as well as innovation funding for various projects.

Melbourne, Australia

As part of the Senior Executive group, I managed the delivery of regulation and compliance function of the division with a specific focus on building the financial capacity of the portfolio entities and ensuring long term financial viability of the sector. Played a lead role in establishing financial viability framework for the Victoria's regulatory system which later on was adopted by the National Regulatory System. - Acted as a senior executive within the department and provided support to the senior executives;- Leading, managing and coaching a multi-disciplinary team of finance, policy and academic staff;- Managing regulation, financial appraisal and sector performance reporting for the entire group;- Performing financial and business analysis on entities’ performance and identify areas of improvement;- Manage IT, Budget, Communication, Procurement and other corporate services for the unit.

Department of Treasury and Finance is a Victorian Government's central agency providing economic, financial and resource management advice to help the government deliver its policies. As a senior manager within the Commercial Division which provides advises and reports on the State’s financial assets and liabilities and associated financial risks, including the State’s investments, debts, superannuation and insurance claims liabilities, I was responsible for ensuring the 40 portfolio entities under my supervision are well governed, well managed and financially viable. Some of the responsibilities included; - Ensuring financial viability by performing high quality periodical reviews on financial health of the entities;- Perform high quality financial assessment including assessment of key ratios, revenue and cost drivers, segment level performance analysis, sensitivity testing, scenario based analysis and assessment of sector capacity to grow further and meet debt repayment obligations;- Manage data analysis and consolidation, business intelligence and user friendly dashboards for the management and the board;- Identify and investigate issues threatening viability, intervene when required and suggest improvement areas to ensure compliance;- Ensure the sector has organisational, financial and technical capacity to grow further;- Provide constructive feedback to the regulated entities on their performance and agree a plan of action;- Preparation of training materials and conduct internal/external training sessions to educate staff to continuously strengthen their capacity.

Melbourne, Australia

- Managing a portfolio of a number of not-for-profit entities and conducting financially focused performance reviews;- Preparation of robust financial models including financial performance report, forecasting tools and project viability assessment methodologies and tools;- Build and maintain effective communication with CFOs and CEOs of the entities and ensure constructive feedback is embedded in all the engagements;- Design and implement financial appraisal methodology and reporting framework;Some notable accomplishments/achievements- Successfully integrated the financial performance reporting to Business Objects platform thereby saving significant time and efforts in manual data consolidation. It also provided the team with flexibility in data manipulation and analysis;- Carried out a capacity assessment study of the housing sector which was later appraised by the management and the sector for its sophistication and logical outputs;

Melbourne, Australia

Racing Victoria Limited, as the governing principal racing authority, has responsibilities to develop, encourage, promote and manage the conduct of Thoroughbred horse racing in the State of Victoria, Australia. As a senior auditor within the Risk, Finance and Compliance area of the organisation, my role was to ensure the industry's internal audit plans are designed in line with the risks, audits are concluded as per the plan and reports and recommendations are provided to the senior executives of the organisation and respecting racing authority/clubs.- Carry out on-site internal audit of various racing clubs in accordance with audit plans & procedures;- Assessment and analysis of financial and operations processes;- Co-ordination with audit committees, board, club management and preparing high quality reports on audit findings;- Presentation of reports to the boards and sub-committees of racing clubs;- Lead and participate in fraud investigations;- Active participation in preparation of audit plans;- Guidance to clubs in the areas of gap analysis, internal controls and corporate governance;- Carrying out special audit projects of the affiliated entities of Racing Victoria Ltd.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Overseeing financial and operational aspects of the retail division of this large conglomerate retail enterprise with 400 retail outlets across the globe.- Financial and commercial analysis of retail division consisting of 150 retail stores;- Lead and manage retail store budget process worth $500 million and liaise with area managers;- Management reporting for the whole UAE region including high quality analysis on store performance against key KPIs;- Identify control weaknesses in the business processes, identify ways to optimise revenues and alternatives to reduce costs, suggest improvements and discuss time bound corrective action plan with the management;- Merger and acquisition advice to the management.- Due diligence and demand forecasting on product launch and brand performance;- Leading and managing a team of 18 high calibre individuals. Some notable accomplishments/achievements- Headed Retail Division for preparation and submission of 10 years business projections for IPO (Initial Public Offer) purposes;- Appraised by management for making them alert of two vicious fraud/mal practices worth $ 0.7 Million;- Project managed a large scale CRM implementation;- Created 'Flash Reports' and 'Dashboard' formats for board/committee reporting.

Providing value-add professional services to various client groups (high net-worth individuals, SMEs, large global corporate businesses)- Performing financial and statutory audits and preparation of high quality audit reports;- Design and implement internal audit plans for clients;- Presentation of audit findings and recommendations to the board/governing bodies;- Monitoring and managing work-flow of junior staff and providing them with training;- Maintain effective relationship with clients and other stakeholders;- Physical verification of Inventory & Assets for the year end process;- Income Tax returns of corporate and individuals.

Governance

Fcpa, Accounting

CPA

Chartered Accountant, Accounts

Chartered Accountant

Cima, Management Accounting

CIMA

Bachelor, Commerce

Bachelor of Commerce

Post Graduate - Cyber Security Governance And Risk Management, Computer And Information Systems Security