David Upton is Regional CFO: EMEA, Brazil and Global Export Director of Finance at HOYA Vision Care – a company that’s dedicated to creating impactful change in the global eyecare market. We learnt more about HOYA’s ambitious sustainability targets and focus on innovation, and how David’s diverse career has shaped his goals and leadership style.

Tell us about HOYA’s unique One Vision programme. How do you use it to keep your teams committed to achieving the company’s sustainability targets?

One Vision was set up to help us achieve our ambition to become a more connected, conscious, and impactful organisation. It’s a scheme that unites us – as individuals and teams – to achieve our common goals, to use the insight we have on our communities to support them, to reduce our impact on the environment, and to create a safe and diverse workplace. It enables us to learn from each other, to listen beyond borders, and work together to create a sustainable impact in the long term.

We’ve put three pillars in place to help us structure our approach to this – Community, Environment and Workplace – and this brings great clarity of purpose. Everyone understands how they can make a contribution. While it starts with individual employees, the actual power comes from a team approach across functions and across borders.

We’ve seen some great initiatives recently. For example, to mark their National Environmental Week, our Brazilian team decided to plant 140 trees as part of a reforestation initiative in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Our Indian team also launched a vision screening campaign for commercial vehicle drivers, partnering up with the Indian Optometric Association (IOA) and All India Optical Federation (AIOF) to test the vision of drivers at the Harayana Roadways’ Bus Workshop in Gurugram and supply free spectacles to those who needed them.

We also have a longer-term partnership with an organisation called Orbis, which provides communities across the world with sight-saving interventions and education on eye health care. This collection of projects – big and small – gives us the ongoing momentum and framework we need to support and incorporate the One Vision initiative into our day-to-day goals.  

We’ve got an exciting journey ahead, with a target to reach 100% renewable energy by fiscal 2040, with an interim target of 60% by fiscal 2030. That’s going to require continual dedication and innovation from each and every HOYA team, globally – and initiatives like this are a great way to keep us united and committed.  

If you had to choose just one of your organisation’s key values (Care | Learn | Empower | Adapt | Respect) to sum up your work ethic, which one would you choose and why?

Honestly, I don’t think I could choose just one. I believe it’s the balance and symbiosis of all of them that will enable us to achieve our vision – to innovate for a better tomorrow.

Innovation is core to HOYA – it’s positioned right in the middle of what we’re all about, and every one of our values sits around that. It’s what enables us to share experiences and problems in a joined-up way across the entire organisation, so we can create real, lasting change and impact.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your role at HOYA?

There are two key elements. The first is something I’ve already touched on, which is being part of a truly innovative organisation that makes a difference to people’s lives. That gives me the energy, the excitement, and the enthusiasm to contribute, lead and drive the team as much as I possibly can. I wear spectacles myself, so I’m no stranger to the magic of vision care.

By 2050, it’s estimated that five billion people - or roughly half the global population - could be affected by myopia (short-sightedness or near-sightedness, as it’s more commonly known), so the innovation we’re driving at HOYA is of huge importance. The work we’re doing to help people - children in particular - is the thing that touches me most. It’s why I fell in love with the medical device business.

For example, we launched a highly innovative, multi award-winning lens called MiYOSMART especially for children. It’s clinically proven to slow down the progression of myopia and combat this massive challenge facing the global population, and it’s now been rolled out around the world. I’m a parent of two, who are both slightly myopic, which really brings it home that not only our children benefit, but their families, too.

Another really rewarding part of my role is that I’m privileged to lead a brilliant and culturally diverse team of Finance professionals, at the same time as being part of a wider global team. Part of my role is creating clarity around what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, giving teams the freedom to set their own goals and actions within that wider framework. Seeing people working hard, together, towards that common mission brings me such energy.

You’ve had an exceptionally diverse career, starting out in consulting before moving into hospitality and events, then venture capital, and now the medical equipment manufacturing market. How did you seek out these opportunities as you navigated your career path?

There’s a common theme running through my experience. I started off with a Master of Civil Engineering qualification way back, and landed what I thought would be my dream job of a Coastal Design Engineer.

I was as born on the South Coast of England, so it was something I’d always wanted to do. However, I quickly realised that the rest of the Engineering team were both excellent design engineers and excellent windsurfers – both of which I realised I was not good at!

At the same time, I realised my strengths and interests – building things, creating growth, and making improvements. At that point, I joined Ernst & Young and that gave me the opportunity to learn very quickly about a broad range of businesses across many sectors. I thrived on that variety, because it gave me insight into multiple different companies, while helping me understand what enables growth in them.

After working hard during the audit season in these industries, I jumped at the challenge to get involved in other projects, such as mergers and acquisitions, supporting start-ups or leading IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) – both in London and as part of the global secondment programme in Munich and across mainland Europe.

That growth has been the key element of my career, especially given that the hotel business has such a strong internal expansion plan. Working within Virgin’s core launch team was exciting, too – building something from scratch, creating growth from nothing, essentially.

From there, I found Straumann, a fast-growing Swiss dental implant company, initially in the UK, and then moving onto an international secondment in the Benelux to look after the team there. Now, HOYA allows me to continue that passion I have for blending growth, leadership, and making a difference to people’s lives.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your career? 

Of course! Hindsight’s a wonderful way to clearly see things that weren’t always clear at the time.

Personally, I love the proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago, the second-best time to plant a tree is today.” So, it’s not about regret, but - if you identify something you could have done differently in the past - make the change now and let the growth begin. I’ve used this proverb many times - it’s so powerful. I love it.

Thinking about the best manager you’ve ever worked for, what was it you liked about their leadership style?

One of the benefits of moving between different roles and companies over the years is that I’ve been fortunate enough to work for – and learn from – many great leaders along the way.  

My most inspirational bosses have always been clear about what we’re going to do and how we’re going to measure it. But, most importantly, they’ve always given the why behind it. And, critically, they’ve encouraged me to get to the solution myself, while offering their support, mentorship, and coaching.

It’s that trust, that individual empowerment, that I always found so motivating, so I’ve tried to replicate that with my team. You’ll have to ask them if I’ve succeeded, but that’s always been the approach I’ve tried to take in my own position as a leader. Seeing my team grow as a result is the best reward.  

Another thing I’ve learned over the years is to recruit only great people – never settle for second best, not only in terms of abilities, but the cultural fit into the company, as well. If you slot the best individuals into a company and team culture, then you set everyone up for success, and can support them to find their own path to achievement and fulfilment.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

It has to be any sort of positive comments about my team. That’s the best compliment, when someone says, “This person’s done a great job”. It’s not necessarily because of me, but it may be that I’ve influenced or helped bring someone to that point. There’s no better feeling than that.

What’s the last thing that made you smile?

No matter what challenges I’m facing that day, it’s meeting and talking to people, soaking up the team’s energy and the positive environment they create. That’s always guaranteed to make me smile.

Thank you to David for speaking to Director Hannah Mallia in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands.

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