Achievements - Robbert Zillesen

Launched a Full Finance Operation in 12 Months | Enabling Busness Readiness

Tanzania | 2016–2017 | Philip Morris International (PMI)

Dropped into a true greenfield environment, tasked with building the finance backbone for a new market entry. I oversaw design, financial planning, and alignment with PMI global standards, plus ensuring the right support from the Cape Town hub and access to HQ expertise.

Within 12 months:

Core finance processes — R2R (Record to Report), P2P (Procure to Pay), O2C (Order to Cash), payroll and internal control were implemented.
Finance team of 6 FTE was trained, structured, and steadily progressing toward PMI global standards
SAP FI was implemented and stabilized
Launched product sales in Dar es Salaam (pop. 5.4M) via newly contracted national distributor.

→ The result: A complete, compliant, and scalable finance operation — built from scratch and enabling rapid commercial growth.

Redesigned Budgeting for Agility — Empowering Smarter, Faster Decisions

Caribbean | 2017–2019 | Philip Morris International

Amid a high-stakes product category launch, I redesigned and implemented within 2 months the budgeting framework for an annual commercial budget of $1.5mio — shifting from static, top-down planning to a dynamic, cross-functional approach driven by the needs and ownership of local commercial teams.

→ The result: Faster decisions, clearer accountability, and full alignment between finance and the market — turning budgeting into a business enabler, not a bottleneck.

"Robbert was instrumental in helping to set up the Finance organization for our new affiliate in Tanzania. His leadership and guidance during the planning phase and his hands-on approach during the implementation phase on the ground was very much appreciated."

Can Uslu, Finance & Adm Manager, PMI

Built and Deployed Odoo ERP Across 17 Entities | Driving Business Adoption and Integration

Switzerland | 2021–2022 | VESPER Group

Led the design and build of Odoo ERP. Within six months, core finance modules were fully configured, including a complete accounting framework and integrated banking systems. Partnered with the COO to design Sales, Purchasing, Inventory, and HR modules and co-managed the full go-live across all modules

simultaneously. Recognized for translating complex processes into clear steps and driving cross-functional collaboration throughout the enterprise-wide rollout.

→ The result: A unified, cloud-based ERP with fully integrated operations and scalable architecture across 17 global entities

→ Key learning: Lasting adoption starts with embedded change leadership and a clear, cross-team vision.

Global O2C | Aligning Process, People and Data

Switzerland | 2020–2021 | Deloitte

Led a 14-month global Order-to-Cash transformation across the US, Europe, Asia for a Swiss pharmaceutical company. The business faced fragmented processes and customer master data inconsistencies.

I managed three consultants, we designed a global process blueprint, introduce a clear Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed ownership model and improve master data governance — all in preparation for a global ERP rollout and migration to a shared service center in India.

→ The result: Aligned processes, defined global accountability, and trusted data