My contribution to a board
I would bring a development perspective to the board's examination of consequential investment choices. A proposal may connect an equipment purchase, a technical result and a commercial expectation as though each necessarily follows from the previous one. My experience helps identify where that connection needs another question. I can ask what the development work established, which conditions its conclusion depends on and what obligation remains after a proposed investment is approved. The aim is to improve collective judgement, including the judgement to make a smaller commitment or stop a route whose next stage lacks a sufficient reason.
My actual exposure has been presenting technical investment matters to Lianvero's board as an executive. I have not held a director appointment and do not claim committee-chair experience. I would join a relevant technology, innovation or strategy committee where my background complements the other members. I would need to learn the wider business and develop the disciplines of a first board role. Specialist confidence should make my questions useful; it should not lead me to substitute an engineering opinion for the board's collective decision or another function's authorised judgement.
Judgement in practice
01A smaller facility with three unresolved project needs
The pilot investment served nine of twelve identified development projects. I supported its CNY 18 million envelope while retaining the other three in the portfolio account. The completed capital cost was CNY 17.6 million, separate from operating expenditure and project work. In a board discussion I would ask how the chosen capability fits the intended portfolio, what remains outside it and which changes in project mix would warrant reconsidering the investment. The useful challenge concerns the assumptions behind management's capital choice. It does not require directors to select equipment or infer that spare budget constitutes a return.
02A programme whose promise needed to leave the forecast
Stopping the formulation candidate required more than declining another laboratory stage. The commercial scenario had to remove the contribution previously assumed for it, and closure responsibilities had to be completed before six specialists were reassigned. I would help a board examine whether technical and commercial accounts of the same opportunity agree. The CNY 6.8 million spent remained historical expenditure, while the unapproved CNY 2.1 million proposal was not a realised saving. A successor concept needed its own assessment. These distinctions make the portfolio decision more accurate without asking the board to make a scientific conclusion from a summary.
03A milestone moved because the next scale needed evidence
The 50-to-300-kilogram programme moved the investment decision by six weeks and lost the originally preferred equipment slot. I would not hide that consequence behind a general statement about better understanding. A board can ask when the assumption became visible, why the receiving specialists were not involved earlier and how management will improve the next planning cycle. It can also ask whether the new evidence supports the particular commitment now proposed. The account should retain both the technical learning and the schedule cost, rather than require directors to choose between an unqualified success story and an equally unhelpful description of failure.
My first year on a board
I would begin by understanding the company's sources of revenue, financial constraints and major commitments before concentrating on development detail. The chair and company secretary should help clarify expectations for my contribution, the board's working arrangements and the induction I need. I would read the strategy and investment history and listen to directors with commercial, financial and legal experience. My first questions should reflect the company's actual circumstances rather than assume that its process business resembles Lianvero.
I would then follow a small selection of material development investments from their original proposals to their current status. This would help me understand how management records assumptions, examines alternatives and updates the wider plan when technical evidence changes. Meetings arranged through the agreed governance process could include operations, quality, finance and development leaders. I would ask the chair for feedback during the year and identify additional learning where my executive habits do not translate directly to a non-executive role. I would expect to contribute across the agenda while recognising where another director's experience is stronger.
Conflicts and their management
Lianvero's relationships include equipment suppliers, development partners and other businesses whose interests could intersect with a prospective appointment. I would disclose relevant connections through my employment and any advisory work, alongside investment and personal relationships, for a company-specific review. A relationship may be material even when my own involvement is technical rather than commercial. I would seek employer consent and appropriate advice before accepting and revisit the position if the circumstances changed. I would not describe myself as independent solely because I have no present directorship.
My proposed twenty annual days include preparation, meetings and reasonable travel, but are an initial capacity estimate rather than an unconditional undertaking. A demanding committee, cross-border schedule or unexpected matter could require more. I would examine the real calendar and expectations with the chair before agreement, preserving sufficient time for my executive obligations. Any arrangement must also protect confidential development knowledge belonging to the organisations involved.
My independence statement
I would examine employer, investment, supplier, development-partner and personal relationships for the particular company with its secretary and appropriate advisers. An executive career and absence of existing seats do not establish independence.
Committee contribution
Chair and member readiness| Capacity | Committees |
|---|
| Ready to join | Technology or innovation committee with a development-investment remit · Strategy committee where manufacturing capability is material |
|---|
Capacity and preferences
- Time available
- 20 days per year
- Current directorships
- 0
- Sectors
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing · Scientific process businesses · Development-intensive industrial products
- Company type
- Established private company with a substantive technical development portfolio
- Company stage
- Considering a material capability investment or a change in development priorities
The seat I am pursuing
I am interested in a first seat at an established private business where development choices and manufacturing capability have meaningful strategic consequences. I would prefer a chair who expects constructive challenge and supports a thorough induction for a first-time director. A technology or innovation committee could use my experience, but I would not seek a chair title in advance of demonstrating the broader capability it requires. The role should allow me to connect specialist questions with capital allocation and management accountability while learning from the rest of the board. It should not depend on my personally supervising a laboratory or resolving operational decisions outside the board's remit.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Not yet registered
I have not registered in the Indian director databank and make no Indian eligibility claim. Any appointment in another jurisdiction requires its own applicable assessment.
- Structured study of financial reporting and collective board responsibilities alongside technical investment experience
- Company-specific induction and feedback from the chair before assuming committee leadership capability
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Lianvero Pharmaceuticals
Board technical investment discussions
Technical director 2014–2020 and CTO from January 2021
Explained equipment alternatives, development assumptions and portfolio consequences in an executive capacity; never a director appointment.