From the contract schedule to the portfolio decision

Mandate

Fund credible research choices while preserving the obligations and uncertainties behind the portfolio.

Outcomes

• Completed USD60m gross equity financing with USD57m net proceeds after fees.
• Funded USD2.6m closeout and transition alongside a decision not to pursue USD16m proposed expansion.
• Corrected a USD3.8m omission from an initial research-services accrual estimate.
• Kept USD48m of conditional collaboration value separate from available cash.

Decisions in context

I became CFO with responsibility for the financial account, funding plan and choices presented to the chief executive and board. The company now has four clinical programmes and two preclinical programmes, without an approved medicine or product sales. I lead twenty-one finance colleagues through four direct reports and work with scientific and clinical leaders whose decisions cannot be replaced by a budget preference. The role requires me to explain both the resources available and what different research paths would commit. A later equity round improved funding capacity, while a programme closure demonstrated that accepting evidence can require spending on a responsible stop. I attend board discussions as management and do not hold a directorship. My current work is to connect each programme's next informative event with its commitments and cash needs, so the enterprise can make a deliberate decision if the evidence or timetable changes.

Reason for the move

Current executive role; considering one first external board appointment where research funding experience is relevant.

Mandate

Bring financial control, portfolio planning and cash evidence into one management account.

Outcomes

• Established a documented comparison of programme commitments and available funding.
• Separated conditional collaboration receipts from the base cash account.
• Introduced operating confirmations for material research-cost estimates before the close.

Decisions in context

This appointment expanded my work beyond development planning into the reliability of the company account. I led fourteen finance colleagues by the end of the period and supported the CFO's preparation for board and investor discussions. Velmara had reached 170 employees, USD9 million of annual collaboration revenue and USD32 million of net operating cash use in 2017. Those measures described a development company rather than a profitable product operation. My responsibility was to help the CFO explain the relationship between research activity, estimates and available resources. I became more attentive to conditional receipts because they could make a portfolio appear funded without changing the cash actually held. I also learnt to preserve the assumptions behind earlier papers, so later results could be compared fairly with what management knew at the time. The promotion to CFO added ownership of the funding recommendation and broader executive judgement.

Reason for the move

Promoted to CFO following the prior finance leader's planned transition from the executive role.

Mandate

Translate competing development proposals into comparable resource and timing choices.

Outcomes

• Linked programme budgets to the evidence reviews they were intended to support.
• Made material supplier commitments visible beside remaining discretionary proposals.
• Prepared alternative spending sequences when development timetables changed.

Decisions in context

I moved from a research-services company into a sponsor's portfolio, where the central question was which uncertain work the enterprise should fund. Velmara was smaller then, reaching eighty-five employees and USD4 million of annual collaboration revenue by 2010. I worked with six planning colleagues, including two direct reports, on a development envelope of approximately USD21 million annually at the end of the period. Scientists and clinical leaders defined the questions and work; executives and the board retained approval authority. My team made the resource consequences comparable without assuming every programme could be reduced proportionately. I learnt that a budget can be too small to support an informative answer even when its arithmetic is correct. The appointment also taught me to identify contractual commitments early, because a planned pause does not automatically release the company from the arrangements it has already made.

Reason for the move

Promoted to a wider finance leadership role as the organisation and portfolio grew.

Mandate

Connect clinical-service activity, contract terms and the financial forecasts used by project leadership.

Outcomes

• Developed activity-based cost confirmations with clinical operations.
• Separated supplier billing delays from changes in the expected cost of work.
• Improved the explanation of timing differences between project progress and cash payments.

Decisions in context

I took responsibility for a five-person finance team as Sorevane's clinical-services activity grew. Three colleagues reported directly to me. By 2003, the company employed 290 people and generated USD46 million in annual service revenue; the portfolio my team supported represented USD19 million of that activity. I worked under the financial controller and had no authority over clinical protocols or participant decisions. My work was to understand the events behind project spending and help managers distinguish a timing movement from a change in expected cost. A supplier invoice could arrive after the work, while a payment milestone could precede some activity. Learning those differences made the financial review more useful to clinical operations. The move to Velmara offered a different perspective: rather than support a provider's service portfolio, I would help a development company compare the research choices its own capital could sustain.

Reason for the move

Joined Velmara to work on the sponsor's allocation of development capital across a portfolio.

Mandate

Prepare a reliable record of contract activity and the obligations behind supplier balances.

Outcomes

• Reconciled late supplier invoices to the periods in which services were performed.
• Documented contract payment milestones for the controller's cash review.
• Built recurring communication with project owners about work not yet invoiced.

Decisions in context

I joined Sorevane two months after graduating in accounting. As one of six finance colleagues, I prepared schedules and reconciliations under the controller's supervision. I did not approve research spending, negotiate clinical work or manage staff. The company reached approximately 105 employees and USD14 million in annual service revenue by 1996, while the contract portfolio I helped record represented about USD7 million. An early late-invoice problem made a lasting impression because it revealed activity the monthly account had failed to capture. I began asking project owners about work performed instead of relying only on documents already in finance's inbox. The task was modest, but it taught me to respect the difference between an administrative record and the underlying obligation. That attention to timing and completeness became the foundation for the clinical finance role I accepted in March 1997.

Reason for the move

Promoted into clinical finance management after developing experience across the service-contract cycle.