Ralf Zink
Chief Operating Officer
Summary
A commercially driven, senior operations executive with a proven track record for successfully developing & implementing profitable growth strategies.
Energetic leader, ready to de-invest non performing assets and shift into selected environments to unlock growth. Well respected across the organization with exceptional capability pulling together senior executives with sometimes competing objectives to deliver unified results.
Extensive cross-cultural experience operating 10+ years across Asia, working and living in Singapore, China, Germany and the UK. Passionate about employee experience, customer experience and leading change as an opportunity.
Putting in place best of class sustainable, lasting systems to manage and build accountability, transparency and high performing teams through human centric leadership and the power of collaboration.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
2
2
Languages
Work History
Chief Operating Officer
Valtech APMENA
08.2023 - Current
- design and build the operational growth foundation for APMENA
- Lead Operations & Business Management (increase quality and efficiencies/ drive topline growth, manage bottom line)
- Commercial Lead for APMENA
- Capacity & Hiring Leadership
- Drive monthly P&L reviews and client health checks to review budgets, delivery health, growth expectations.
- Define large transformation program for our clients and for Valtech in the region
- Lead APMENA Market Expansion (define market expansion roadmap and drive topline growth)
- Define and monitor the APMENA go to market strategy (drive topline growth)
- Be an active sponsor for People/ Culture and define our employees purpose (drive employer experience, purpose, core values, connectivity).
Chief Operating Officer
Publicis Sapient ASEAN
8 2020 - 07.2023
- Spearheading ASEAN's market expansion strategy by developing market readiness programs for Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and Indonesia leading into office openings in BKK, Jakarta, Tokyo, new client acquisition and 50+m revenue growth within 2 years.
- Implemented Thailand's growth platform within 12 month, successfully hired senior local leadership and established high performing mixed delivery onshore and offshore squads (500+ people).
- As PMO leader and integration lead successfully developed JV project plan to build Asian's largest Fin Tech (1000+ people) with one of Thailand's leading banks resulting in three digits topline growth.
- Empowered business development in Vietnam and Philippines to unlock 5 large prospects (10m+) through partnerships and marketing with significant revenue growth outlook for next 3 years.
- Created cross functional experience for our people by aligning internal team OKRs under COO office resulting in 10% less attrition and high stable employee satisfaction (7.4/10).
- Optimized margins as commercial lead for large deals by centralizing commercial, legal, tax, mobility, onshore & offshore delivery hub aspects under the COO office.
- Increased regional brand awareness by aligning company strategy, unique selling propositions, partnership engagements and overall marketing plan resulting in monthly thought leadership press releases, quarterly events and up social media activities by 30%.
- In tandem with MD successfully managed the overall P&L with 3 digit revenue growth and 2 digit profit growth.
Head Of Operations
Publicis Sapient SEA & Japan
08.2017 - 08.2020
- Developed effective business strategies and propositions with executive ASEAN leadership team for next expansion waves leading into Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines market penetration.
- Successfully integrated office in Indonesia and Japan as part of regional growth strategy. Relocated local leadership teams and hired 15+ people per market to enable business strategy and growth. Overall leading to 10 new prospects and 15m net new revenue.
- Implemented business critical systems (ERP & CRM) and processes, as well as local compliance related requirements. Successfully built and integrated HQ functions, trained and up scaled to run independently the countries businesses.
- Developed management relevant insight, reports and recommendations related to OI improvement, account margin improvement's, smart investments, capacity & hiring prioritization.
- Acted as senior adviser for big deals, commercial models, account margin management. Managed the most profitable FS account globally.
Senior Operations Manager
Publicis Sapient APAC
01.2016 - 07.2017
- As part of the APAC integration leadership team responsible for ERP (Oracle) and CRM (Salesforce) implementation and change management in HK & AU for 300+ people. Developed and conducted 30+ deal lifecycle, commercial and legal training on the ground in HK, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane .
- Introduced new pricing tools, time tracking requirements and contracts to cash targets. Together with local management developed and implemented hiring, investment and P&L guidelines.
- Responsible for (20+m) budgeting, re-forecasting and business operations as part of SG Management Team.
Senior Operations Manager
Sapient Nitro China
01.2015 - 01.2016
- Appointed and relocated as brand ambassador and change agent to Shanghai. Introduced successfully state of the art operations. Support MD in restructuring local business by re-invest into a newly established business strategy .
- Successfully integrated new ERP system (Oracle). Re-structured and trained local finance team (10 people) and implemented group compliance requirements.
- Responsible to build first large scale high performance India supported onshore/ offshore delivery team (200 people).
- Introduced core vales, performance management through OKRs and established ways of working to support cross functional teams.
Operations Manager
Sapient Nitro APAC
01.2013 - 12.2014
- Fully relocated to Asia in 2013 and appointed as part of APAC Core Leadership Team. Helped to established new regional HQ in Singapore. Built up regional capabilities and infrastructure as PMO with appointment of country leaders for Australia, China and Singapore.
- Introduced mobility & capacity planning. Rolled out ERP (Oracle) group operating model. Built pricing, profit and revenue forecast tools and implement in APAC.
- Introduced successfully time tracking, performance matrix, deal reviews, global mobility standards.
- Established and implemented operations roadmap for first global accounts.
Change Manager
Sapient Europe
08.2011 - 12.2012
- Appointed as M&A PMO and successfully integrate 100+ people in Germany. Oversaw change management efforts to support implementation of critical initiatives driving process and culture changes. Partnered with business teams to understand needs and mitigate potential problems. Focused on training and up-scaling.
- Appointed as expansion PMO to build Sapient' s new finance and operations center in Switzerland. Trained and coached 25 local talents, lead system integration and improved TWC by 20% and employee satisfaction due to customer centric approach (reduced expense claim process timeline by 50% through automation).
Finance Manager
Sapient Europe
02.2008 - 08.2010
- Started in 2008 as client finance partner to support business leads in DACH and UK (50m+). Reporting into regional CFO/ COO.
- Created and successfully implemented management reporting like quarterly business reviews, capacity forecast repots, utilization reports, P&L analytics to drive account margin improvements, burn reports, contracts to cash risk reporting.
- Commercial lead for small & medium sized deals (up to 2m).
Flight Paramedic
German Red Cross
01.2000 - 01.2008
- Senior specialized paramedic, elite member air & ground rescue service respond team, German Red Cross.
- Member special federal leadership team responsible for mass casualty incident management, German Red Cross.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Accounting And Business Management
Rosenheim Technical University Of Applied Science
Germany 01.2004 - 2008.01
Bachelor of Science - International Business Management
The University Of Queensland
Australia 2006.08 - 2007.08
Skills
Business Strategy
Timeline
Chief Operating Officer
Valtech APMENA
08.2023 - Current
Head Of Operations
Publicis Sapient SEA & Japan
08.2017 - 08.2020
Senior Operations Manager
Publicis Sapient APAC
01.2016 - 07.2017
Senior Operations Manager
Sapient Nitro China
01.2015 - 01.2016
Operations Manager
Sapient Nitro APAC
01.2013 - 12.2014
Change Manager
Sapient Europe
08.2011 - 12.2012
Finance Manager
Sapient Europe
02.2008 - 08.2010
Bachelor of Science - Accounting And Business Management
Rosenheim Technical University Of Applied Science
01.2004 - 2008.01
Flight Paramedic
German Red Cross
01.2000 - 01.2008
Chief Operating Officer
Publicis Sapient ASEAN
8 2020 - 07.2023
Bachelor of Science - International Business Management
The University Of Queensland
2006.08 - 2007.08
Additional Information
Singapore PR
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