Alexandra Dumitrescu-Meier is VP of Finance & CFO, Global Sourcing at Barry Callebaut. She has been with the world-leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products for nine years, having previously worked for Mondelēz International for 12 years in Greece, Switzerland, and the UK.

What made you decide to embark on a career in Finance?

That decision was influenced by a combination of factors that align with my strengths and interests. From my early days in school, I had a passion for mathematics, which naturally drew me towards a field that uses analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.

As I progressed through education and entered the workforce, I found that Finance gave me the opportunity to apply these skills in a practical and challenging way. One aspect that I find particularly appealing is the end-to-end view it offers, allowing me to be involved in critical business decisions and see the impact of financial strategies on the overall success of the company.

This holistic perspective resonates with me as I enjoy being able to connect the dots between different aspects of the business and contribute to strategic planning and forecasting. In my current role as a senior business (and sparring) partner, I have the privilege of working closely with key stakeholders, collaborating on projects and exploring new Sourcing strategies that have a direct impact on the bottom line.

While the high-pressure deadlines in Finance can be challenging, I thrive in these situations and find them energising. The pace keeps me engaged and motivated and pushes me to deliver results efficiently and effectively. I appreciate the structure and clarity that Finance brings to my work, allowing me to navigate complex situations with confidence and precision.

Many people in Finance cite month-end as being stressful but, interestingly, you say pressure is something that drives and motivates you?

Yes, there’s always the flip side. Look at your strengths and you’ll find your weaknesses. Deadlines can sometimes drive negative results, like too much pressure, but it's a bit of both. There will be moments when too many deadlines overlap and create conflict - of course, nobody enjoys that – but, overall, I prefer that structure and having that clarity. It also comes down to how stress-resistant you are as an individual. I find it more half-full and, after 20 years, I'm used to it.

I know over the last nine years you’ve closely collaborated with Sourcing. What aspects of this partnership resonate with you?

Indeed, I have been a Sales Business Partner prior to this role and switched from one commercial side to the other. It's very interesting to be close to the business and it was a good choice.

Procurement and Sourcing involve very strong commercial content and I find that very captivating, especially in the chocolate industry; my scope is linked to areas like commodities (market evolution), which are impacted by natural phenomena and the financial and geopolitical environments.

Working in Sourcing Finance, supporting a commodity-based business, you have to take in everything that’s going on in the world at a particular point in time; the impact of certain events in the external environment can have a domino effect. That's exciting because you can learn a lot about different markets and different aspects of the economy.

Another thing to consider is the nature of your work itself. In the Sourcing realm, you engage not only with internal but also with external stakeholders like suppliers, and it’s essential to cultivate good relationships on both fronts. To achieve economic objectives in this field effectively, it’s crucial to grasp the dynamics of negotiations and interpersonal interactions.

I learned a lot from all stakeholders and I have been captivated by the Sourcing teams. They bring a lot of know-how and trends insight from the external side and they’re pragmatic in the way they collaborate. In this role, the learnings are huge and multi-faceted. I’ve learned more about people and how they go about things.

The analytical and mathematical aspects of Sourcing resonated with my skills in Finance, reinforcing the interconnectedness of different functions within a business.

That’s interesting. We quite often see people switch between an operational Sourcing or Procurement role and Finance and there does seem to be more of an overlap. Just today, I was talking to a CFO that's now become a CPO.

Yes, as I said, the skillset is very transferable. Throughout the years, I have seen my activity as being part of the Sourcing team quite directly, so not only focussed on Finance – it’s about the broader business decisions where I take a lot of ownership

Across the business, there are many stakeholders and this means extensive interaction with them. I relish the vibrant, multi-faceted environment that this results in. This setting not only exposes me to a diverse range of personalities, but also presents an incredibly dynamic international dimension that I find truly captivating.

The Sourcing organisation spans Asia, America, and Europe; cultures with different ways of interacting and you see aspects from each region in the behaviours from an internal customer perspective. Experiencing these different dimensions is a valuable experience.

We talked the capability building as part of your success. Can you provide some more insights as to your approach within your team?

My team is global, based in different regions. It’s been quite a journey as I built this team from scratch and now there are more than ten members. Building and developing their capabilities has been a rewarding aspect of my own career journey. In fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing among team members, I’ve found fulfilment in empowering others to grow and succeed.

One by one, in each region, I had the opportunity to organise the roles and I had to build capability around certain areas, because you don't always find the exact fit talent, with the complete skillset developed in the way our department works. It’s multi-layered and, of course, I learned a lot on the journey. That's why I stress that I was building up from the beginning; I believe one fine-tunes the approach along the way.

I dedicate time to listen to my team’s needs and hold internal, face-to-face workshops where they learn from each other, to transfer best practice between regions; when one team member develops certain analyses in one region, how do we lift and shift that into another? How do we manage and leverage this into a global approach? It’s key that we bring them together.

It's also key to provide the opportunity for small group collaboration: two or three-person teams assigned to global tasks, driving learnings between China and America, or Turkey and Belgium, for example. We’re more tactical in how we apply these.

On the team approach, what is very important – and I went through this a lot – is not only how you listen to people, but also how empower them to act; giving them the freedom to formulate new approaches and implement new projects so that they learn through that process.

If you provide them the empowerment and liberty to learn, they will. They will open a book, look online, check internal and external sources, and they will try to own it. I’ve found that through giving ownership and responsibility, people learn a lot more than by saying, "Do this and then that." That’s an old way of working.

In the context of capability building, have you found that digitisation plays a role in enhancing your team's efficiency and effectiveness?

Yes, that's a very contemporary topic. I think every Finance team values having this information at their fingertips and tries to implement new systems. We’re very active on that front, using new technology to maximise efficiencies and, within the organisation, move Finance from the controlling element towards being a business partner, a storyteller, an influencer.

We’re moving at full speed on these internal developments and my team has been very curious and eager to learn and want to evolve in that area. It's a tremendous change and I think in five years from now we will see much more of these new dynamics of the way we interact and collaborate within the business. In the future, there will be a completely different way of working.

The skills required will also change the way people are trained for certain roles. It will be interesting to see how roles will evolve because of all this information: will all the information be needed for the decisions? There will be much more on the radar of business professionals.

It's very exciting. For the past five years, we have been looking into those areas. The next five years will be super dynamic, and we’ll see a difference in who is going in each direction. The extent to which artificial intelligence and machine learning can be applied will be a differentiator.

There's a lot of opportunity, but there are concerns and questions around the security of data, for example, using AI tools within Finance. Hopefully, those questions can be answered at the same pace as the technology moves…

Of course, there are security concerns. Information is much more exposed and granular via these new tools than it used to be, but that comes with risk. I leave it to the specialists in the IT department to keep us safe and we do not use tools that are not agreed with these specialised teams. The business’ data needs to be safe and remain in the right hands.

What is your approach to keeping on top of technology advancements or trends shaping the Finance landscape?

By actively participating in external events, leveraging online resources and networking with industry professionals, I make sure that I’m learning and evolving continuously in response to the changing demands of the field.

I try to join conferences as I learn and absorb information better if I’m connected to people, so definitely if it's a conference, an exchange, a networking event - something face to face - I prefer it, but I follow podcasts and online content if my schedule doesn't allow.

I also use apps like Blinkist and Headway to learn and absorb new insights from professional books in a summarised format - not necessarily only in Finance. It's important to learn how to manage time, manage conversations and manage leadership, for example. There is a lot out there and through apps and online tools that becomes more efficient. It all creates new learnings.

Even with progress, there's still a disparity in women in Finance leadership roles. What advice would you offer to aspiring female professionals?

It's a multi-layered question and not straightforward to advise; I discovered the options along my path step by step and I believe it's down to individual preferences. But I can say something for female professionals in general, because not a lot of women choose Finance. The CFO role is perceived to be very masculine and it's not easy to attract young women to this kind of role.

One piece of advice I have for women attracted to Finance is to work first on what they enjoy and secondly have a mentor or an advisor. Not just an external mentor but also colleagues, to better understand their environment - not necessarily Finance but other business areas, as well. It's helpful to understand behaviours, changes and phases of a business, mastering the mind and how to approach things. Mentors not only help you work on personal mindset, but also on collaboration.

Consider your approach to collaboration: some people perceive that they bring fewer or less valuable solutions than their colleagues. I’d always encourage young female professionals to value their logic and focus on solutions. With a positive outcome from the solution, no one will focus on whether you’re female or male. Along with what you bring to the table, your thoughts and solutions, bring integrity and aim to do the right thing - bring all of you. Then you will make a difference.

For one to be successful, another key element is resilience. I would put this quite high on the list of priorities for young and/or female professionals. Speak up in front of others and convey what makes you tick. What do you want to achieve from people and collaborations? Don't let it go by just by chance. Be clear about what you want. Women tend to pull back, stay low profile and that doesn’t help them achieve a senior role.

I have changed countries and moved a few times in my life from Romania to Greece, to the UK, to Switzerland. I have had my cultural challenges and that builds a certain resilience in my approach. I also think it's important to take things lightly and with a note of humour, especially when there’s the perception of CFOs being very rigid.

Lastly – and this may not be significant for every culture – for a woman to open doors, my advice would be to dress for success. If you appear confident in what you wear and how you come across, your presence in the room will have more impact. When that happens, your mindset will stay positive and you’ll have a better opportunity to make your point in the right outfit.

That's interesting. In the past few years, people moved to working from home more and there seems to be a shift to more casual attire, as well. I agree that it impacts the mindset…

For me, it does. There is casual and there is casual. Your look needs to be right for you, for how you perceive yourself and how want to come across in daily interactions. You don’t necessarily have to wear something so sophisticated, but I do think that to some extent there’s a subconscious connection between that confident presence and successfully articulating ourselves.

Do you think Switzerland is still as attractive a location for forward-thinking professionals as it used to be?

It's a good debate, but I think it's still attractive on balance. Of course, there has been a trend to move Finance roles to different markets. Technology brings new tools and systems, we may potentially see further consolidation of activities in certain geographies, so perhaps a little less opportunity but the firms that have stayed and have a good presence still want to attract top talent, and that talent will never be a challenge to find here - that's still the case.

I think globally we’re leading the charge in ways of working in Finance. Capabilities will be different in the future as other geographies will also change and their populations shift accordingly.  

Switzerland is very international; you can work in English. There is an expat community here and there’s a lot of possibilities here compared to other geographies. It's probably a bit more limited by the availability of roles, but I think the country itself offers a very good base for professionals.

What are the aspects of your role that you find most fulfilling?

As mentioned, I find the most fulfilling aspects of my role in Sourcing Finance to be the diverse range of content and responsibilities, the collaborative work with my team and senior leadership, and the opportunity to make a positive impact in my areas of focus.

My current role encompasses a wide array of topics including accounting, financial planning & analysis, working capital initiatives, business partnering, supplier and sourcing-related inquiries, export-import activities, tax matters, and technology applications, to name a few. This breadth of content brings me satisfaction and the chance to excel in various areas.

I find the challenge of working with diverse global cultures across different timezones incredibly stimulating and that fuels both my personal and professional growth. Despite the challenges of dealing with distinct cultures remotely, I push myself and strive to strengthen myself professionally. I also value our open and diverse environment that encourages individual contributions and innovative thinking.

For me, it’s essential to be in an environment that offers rich content and opportunities, encourages new challenges, and pushes me to expand my limits. I believe our environment promotes diversity, acknowledges the value each individual brings to the table, and challenges conventional thinking, which, in turn, fosters respect, consideration, and balance in our interactions.

The high energy within the team is palpable, and while I may sometimes tackle tasks at full speed, I also ensure to maintain a sense of balance and collaborate. This approach values individuals beyond gender and other superficial aspects. My team and I often express how we feel empowered to make a difference, and that’s a key motivator for them and for me.

Thank you to Alexandra for speaking to Meriel Graham, Director in our Finance & Accoutancy recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.