Sydney Head Office

*What are your responsibilities at Sumitomo?

I am a manager both in chemicals & plastics department and in fuel & carbon department. My roles are

- Budgeting

- Strengthening the relationship and negotiating the commercial arrangements with current customers

- Maintaining 100% legal compliance

- Searching and developing new business opportunities

- Managing teams to achieve our target and goals

*What have you learnt so far from working at Sumitomo Corporation?

As our parent company, Sumitomo Corporation, has wide range of business activities with hundreds of affiliated companies globally, it took a while for me to understand what are the overall business activities of Sumitomo corporation in my business field.

 *How do you spend your days off?

As cooking is one of my hobbies, I experiment cooking new things over the weekends. As obtaining fresh ingredients are essential for tasty dishes, I often visit farmers’ markets & the fish market.

*How did you come to join Sumitomo Australia? 

 In late 1996 I was finishing up in a finance role with a listed company and responded to an advertisement for a Treasury Manager in Sumitomo.  I had never heard of Sumitomo Corporation prior to this but I was aware of other Sumitomo names.  The job was an easy fit for my experience, and I think I had a good cultural fit for SAPL.  I spent over 12 years in the Treasury department then made a career change to my current role in April 2010.

*How do you like your workplace atmosphere? 

I get to meet and maintain contact with nearly everyone in SAPL and some of the group companies as well.  In addition to the formal roles I have had many other projects over the past 14 years.  I have been able to study the different business operations closely and appreciate the challenges that the business departments face.

I enjoy good working relationships and find most people are very helpful and will support the work that I am doing. I also enjoy the work-life balance that working in SAPL allows.

*Please tell us about your lifestyle.

I have four adult children who hover around and create a lot of activity in the house.  I spend some time with my father each week. He is 91 and lives nearby in a retirement village and needs some help with living.  My children help out and visit him sometimes. Friday night is usually the time that my wife and I go out for a quite dinner.

My wife and I also do some volunteer work at a local community centre.  Outside of this I like to keep up with current affairs.

I play squash, touch football and soccer and this year I am coaching my daughter’s soccer team too.  It takes up most of the evenings during the week and much of the weekend.  It is a mix of competitive sport and social activity, but has kept me in touch with my children who sometimes join in the sports with me.  At home we play table tennis occasionally and this gets really competitive.

Family photo from December 2008.        

*What are your responsibilities at Sumitomo?

I manage the strategy, policy, practices and procedures impacting SAPL’s People and provide HRM advisory support to SC/SAPL’s subsidiary companies.  Coaching the leadership and management team on HR best practice is also a critical part of my role, as is continually reviewing our HRM practices to ensure SAPL remains a credible, relevant and attractive employer in the Australian and New Zealand market.

*When do you feel challenged and rewarded in your work?

When I am able to confidently demonstrate that my team and I have made a positive contribution and difference to our People’s journey within SAPL. In addition to this, I feel rewarded when I come across success stories relating to business growth/opportunities which are directly attributable by our People’s efforts and commitment to SAPL and its related Companies. 

 *What is your future goal?

To continue to play a critical part in the SAPL’s growth through creative and competitive Human Resources  Management best practise solutions and to work globally within the Sumitomo Group of Companies.

With my best friends in Roppongi, 2010

How did you come to join Sumitomo Australia Pty Ltd (SAPL)? 

I started in July 2010, so I am a relative new comer to SAPL.

When I registered with the employment agency last year I had mentioned that I wanted a change of industry from a TV Production company that is in the media and entertainment sector that was affected through the Global Financial Crisis and that I wanted to work for a substantial company that was part of an International Group. I was fortunate enough to have had my CV sent off to Sumitomo Australia and through the interview process and my internet research I could tell that there was a match between my personal values and those of the company.

I am very pleased to have found a role in a stable job while having the ability to spend time with my family after hours. Although there is the usual pressure of an accounting role especially at quarter ends, I like the corporate culture of SAPL, with the Corporate values and being surrounded by professional, supportive and friendly people.

*What are your main responsibilities at SAPL?

I work as a Corporate Accountant in the Mineral Resources area.

As Corporate Accountant I have obtained a comprehensive understanding of SAPL’s businesses and accounting operations.

A core responsibility is to support the Mineral Resources and Energy side of the business , ensuring that compliance is adhered to and that we report to Tokyo and locally in an accurate and timely manner so that meaningful information assists management with their decision making process.

It is mainly a Financial Accounting role with an emphasis on tax effect accounting and dealing with our portion of the fixed assets registers from the joint venture mines.

Another component of the role is to review & update accounting policy and procedures to ensure compliance for J-Sox purposes

In order to carry out these tasks, continuous communication and liaison with people inside and external to the company are essential, including fostering relations with the external joint venture contact personnel.

Having been in Television media for 8 years prior to Sumitomo it has been a refreshing change working in a completely different industry with an excellent opportunity to enhance my technical skills with various different areas now being of prime importance to me.

The Accounting Team,

 2010 Christmas Party

*What are your hobbies?

Before I had children I played tennis and squash and liked to walk on the weekends with my wife in wonderful Sydney where there are a good number of great walks such as Spit to Manly, Maroubra to Bondi is a great walk too. We migrated to Australia from Zimbabwe in 2000, we have now become Australian citizens and our two sons have been born here, in Sydney.

Now that my wife Pam and I have our two boys ( aged 5 and 2 ) our weekends are mainly taken up with entertaining them , attending various sports functions , kids parties, going to parks , socialising with families with young children too ,  however I have maintained walking as a hobby so I still do that , I live a few hundred metres from a nature reserve called the Kuringai Chase National Park, so I often go in there , my older son sometimes joins me , we have great fun together on our walks. A further interest that I have is The World Game, Football, having been an ardent Liverpool fan for some years, and The Champion’s League and World Cup are always great to watch too.

 My Two Sons