BIO
Justin is currently a Senior Project Manger in Finance Transformation at Solvay, a global leader in science technology bringing advancements and innovative solutions to many aspects of daily life. A native of Wisconsin, Justin was raised on the North Shore suburbs of Milwaukee. Having attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he graduated with a a degree in Global Management focusing on business and the world economy (a joint degree between the College of Letters & Science and the Sheldon B. Lubar School of Business). This program required him to complete a study abroad program and an overseas internship, both leading to the learning of a foreign language. With this opportunity, he traveled to Sevilla, Spain to study business and intern with a professional soccer team. Thanks to this amazing experience, he had his first but not last encounter working and living abroad.
After college, Justin decided to follow his love for soccer and newly found passion for travel, and returned to Sevilla, Spain. Leveraging his positive experience with the Sevilla F.C. (soccer club), he returned to work for them while teaching English to young professionals at night. This was an enriching time for Justin to pursue his dream and follow a path less traveled compared to his peers. Upon completing the gap year, he returned to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to work for U.S. Bancorp as a back-office operations specialist. This was his first opportunity to work on process improvement projects with cross-functional teams. Though the subject matter and relationship building was intriguing, he still had the aspiration to return to Europe and embark on an International professional career. Using his banking experience and the network he created while in Spain, Justin was able to land a job at Euroclear Bank, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
In this new challenge, Justin progressed strongly moving from back to middle office roles, requiring additional responsibilities, strong analytical abilities and effective communication. Advising back office operations on financial risks and improving processes to adapt to new regulations was at the core of his responsibilities. During his time at Euroclear, Justin exhibited a positive team atmosphere and adapted to the company culture by joining the “Fun events team” and becoming captain of the company’s soccer team for the interbank league in Brussels.
With 5 years of banking experience under his belt, Justin was looking for a new challenge and to switch industries. As a result, he transitioned back to school to pursue an MBA at Vlerick Business School in Brussels. With a concentration in corporate finance and strategy consulting, he was able to leverage his MBA Internship into a job offer shortly after graduation. Upon joining AB InBev, the world’s largest beer company, he entered as Global Internal Control Manager ensuring SOX compliance of the 6 geographic zones. With the use of data analytics, he worked closely with business process owners from around the world to identify risks, drive process improvement and timely closure of action plans. Partnering with cross-functional stakeholders, he lead global transformation projects to improve process analytics and develop KPIs to ensure effective compliance. Leveraging process analytics helped him to influence process owners and to make business decisions in order to improve efficiency. Finally, having the chance to lead the implementation and upgrade of the SAP GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) security tool for the company has been a valuable opportunity for his career development at AB InBev. After working 2 years in Internal Control, Justin was looking to grow within the company and learn more about the core beer business and was promoted Global Innovation Finance Manager & Project Lead within the Global Innovation & Technology Center at ABInBev. As a Finance manager he managed the Global R&D budget ($30M+) & reporting process to ensure successful delivery of global innovation projects. Working closely with global directors and driving the finance processes for global innovation projects was a truly thrilling experience. Being able to see first hand on how the company financed growth and prioritised innovations was a unique opportunity.
After 3.5 years at ABInbev, Justin was looking to enter the tech sector and was recruited by ex-ABInBev management to join Solvay, a science technology global leader in Materials, Chemicals and Solutions bringing advancements in planes, cars, batteries, smart and medical devices, water and air treatment, to solve critical industrial, social and environmental challenges. Here he landed a role as a Senior Manager in Finance Transformation where he is driving the Fuel for Growth (F2G) initiative.
After working in Europe for almost 10 years, Justin is ready to transition back to the U.S. With close family ties located in the West Coast and the Midwest, both San Francisco and Chicago are currently his ideal placements for relocation.
Justin is an avid sports enthusiast having been to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 UEFA Euro Cup in France. He is a passionate foodie and enjoys balancing all the eating by exhibiting an active lifestyle. Having visited over two dozen countries, Justin is constantly striving to learn about new cultures and building relationships with locals, using food as the bridge.