Shafa'At Gilani Email & Phone Number

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Developed subject matter expertise on as-is product development framework and devised a governance to ensure its integrity and compliance to legislation via regular enablement check-ins in 3 end-markets.• Led the annual strategy planning process and developed Project SG 2.0, spanning multiple BUs to devise a faster, simpler and more compliant approach to product development with KPIs and metrics tracking.• Actively managed multi-functional stakeholder relations, using persuasion, and collaboration to develop and deploy numerous change management initiatives (Stage Gate Repository, Power Automate tools, etc).• Developed change management templates, tools and procedures for training and business improvements (PROSCI Model).• Facilitated hackathon sessions with senior leaders and SMEs to devise project scope, deliverables, andlong-term goals.• Worked collaboratively with teams to ensure key change management activities are integrated into the overall project plan and executed on time and budget.• Provided training and coaching to senior management and peers on championing change management.

• Designed and institutionalized analytics mechanisms, and drove improvement opportunities of new verticals, in line with consumer and regulatory demands, driving subscribers up by 50%.• Developed sales selling decks and stories to raise the next round of external financing through extensive outreach to VCs.

• Here I was responsible for operations of a prime tobacco hub, and successfully delivered the company plan of 4.5M KGs of quality product that fed premium brands, while managing competition and remaining 1st choice of valued business partners.• Met operational KPIs of 3% yield improvement, 100% company recommendation implementation, reporting accuracy of ±0.5%, 100% multi-stage monitoring of 1,866 farmers, 0 injuries/ controls lapses and an energized and engaged field force.• Managed 4 direct and 16 indirect reports, government stakeholders, regional budget, infrastructure upgrades and EH&S.• Led multiple strategic projects aimed at conservation, increasing efficiency and ROI and eliminating wasteful contaminants. • Designed COVID compliant ways of work for the department with detailed footfall- infrastructure- volume analyses leading to an incident-free operation season.

• Established Pakistan as an Export Hub in the region by leading development of 27 blends and brands to 7 markets in the Middle East and Levant, thereby establishing a business unit with an annual revenue of USD 30M.• Led product testing and development (concept to commercial) as per stage-gates and legislation unique to each market. • Set project scope/ milestones and tracked budget, risks and timelines via weekly meetings with teams in four countries.• Facilitated source transfer for Yemen, during active conflict, by stabilizing supply of 3M KGs of semi-finished goods. • Delivered fortnightly updates to Ops Director for progress tracking, troubleshooting and charting the future glide path. • Designed cross-functional procedures to avail an imports duty exemption regime, slashing the duties bill by USD 1.5M.• Acted as one-stop-solution to requests/ constraints, building subject matter expertise and trust in Made in Pakistan brand. • Bridged concerned functions (within and above market) and liaised with customers to draft SLAs and business contracts.• Stayed abreast of and reacted swiftly to developments in the customers’ tobacco regulatory landscape to ensure compliance and avoid write off/ recall (plain packaging, reverse plain packaging, track & trace directives).

Pakistan

• Here, I rolled out the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP) in BAT Pakistan – an industry specific sustainability initiative.• Conducted rigorous risk assessment of the agriculture footprint on Crop, Environment and People themes to identify gaps.• Designed an airtight framework, spanning multiple functions to address gaps, e.g. disposing hazardous waste (3+ tons), child labor (100% elimination), labor rights/ safety (100% universe), farmer literacy (100% multilingual universe). • Streamlined governance procedures by roping in stakeholders across functions and up to leadership team for stewardship.• Designed paper-based farm monitoring mechanism to collect multi-stage, sustainability-specific information (150 queries) from 14,000 farmers. Then collated, cleaned and performed multiple analyses (Excel-based) for decision making.• Digitized farm monitoring to a tablet-based system (developed backend questionnaire in Urdu and English for Group use).• Conducted robust self-assessments and led a two-week international audit, wherein we were declared Group Benchmark.

A rigorous two-year programme, the MT track for me involved 9 rotations in multiple functions in Pakistan and Brazil. I graduated from the programme with an Outstanding rating for each stint. • Manufacturing: Redesigned the layout of Primary Manufacturing Plant to reduce product degradation by 4%.• Logistics: Containerized tobacco move from source to factory and built capacity of 2 vendors for smooth operation.• HR: Conducted Battle of Minds, BAT’s annual recruitment drive, in 11 campuses building a strong talent pool.• BAT Brazil: Cross pollinated two winning global best practices to and from Pakistan and Brazil.

Islamabad

This was my first employment experience, and was immensely instructive in professionalism and working on accounts in a cross-cultural context.I was the lead SPOC for the USAID account, and conducted/ oversaw multiple quantitative and qualitative research projects for USAID branding, outreach and advocacy campaigns. I also conducted an independent Mid Year Evaluation for USAID Pakistan here.

Islamabad

Islamabad

Islamabad

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Finance And Investment, 3.7

Activities and Societies: NBS Business & Entrepreneurship SocietyMaintained merit based scholarships for every academic term.

Bachelor Of Business Administration - Bba, Business Administration And Management, General, 3.8

Activities and Societies: - President NUST Drama and Debating Society, - Secretary General NUST International MUN, - Director StageAblaze.

Bachelor'S Degree