Muhammad Sarim Akhtar, Risk Management & Controls and Project Manager

Muhammad Sarim Akhtar

Risk Management & Controls and Project Manager

Alghanim Industries

Location
Kuwait - Al Kuwait
Education
Diploma, CFE - Certified Fraud Examiner
Experience
17 years, 3 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :17 years, 3 Months

Risk Management & Controls and Project Manager at Alghanim Industries
  • Kuwait - Al Kuwait
  • July 2013 to November 2017

Spearhead risk management and control administration in order to improve operational productivity and mitigate institutional risk. Committed to enhancing corporate governance by monitoring process performance with KPIs and generating comprehensive reports. Champion best business practice controls by providing professional guidance with an aim to strengthen the internal controls. Administer SOX 404-like compliance over control self-assessment program based on COSO and COBIT framework. Monitor and track closure of issues to mitigate risks and rectify control weaknesses. Committed to enhancing project component developments to more effectively facilitate execution and improvement of tracking functions.

Key Contributions:
 Drove compliance with scheduled CSA and KPI programs from 60% to 100%.
 Influenced the implementation of 51% more risk and control remediation actions.
 Managed implementation of companywide payments automation via Hanse Orga.
 Delivered complex projects with both external vendors and internal cross-functional teams, remained within budget, broke complex task into simpler smaller tasks, handled technical delays with effective communication, and enforced accountability.

Manager Compliance at Alghanim Industries
  • Kuwait - Al Kuwait
  • May 2012 to June 2013

Consistently improved internal control deficiencies by effectively optimizing fraud investigation plans. Managed entire investigation cycle and authored detailed reports. Collaborated closely with HR, legal and operations department leaders to implement disciplinary actions. Headed internal fraud awareness program and implemented whistleblower hotline. Forged strong team relationships with management to monitor and optimize compliance efforts.

Key Contributions:
 Secured recovery of $40K through strategic analyses resulting in two criminal cases valued at $2M each.
 Proved individual guilt through correlation of statements among employees despite lack of paper trail.
 Retrieved data and deleted files from live computers and passive hard disks.

Manager Internal Audit at Alghanim Industries
  • Kuwait - Al Kuwait
  • May 2005 to April 2012

Outlined risk assessment work strategies and established comprehensive testing plans. Collaborated closely with advanced teams of professionals to manage audit and investigation lifecycle. Drafted audit findings and finalized professional reports. Coordinated operations and IT audit execution. Managed multiple audit projects simultaneously till timely closure with effective coordination and continuous communication with auditee to prevent surprises and delays.

Key Contributions:
 Achieved consistent distinctions from executive leaders regarding audit execution.
 Recognized for identifying fraud via effective tests.

Audit and Systems Manager at Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited
  • Pakistan - Karachi
  • November 2003 to May 2005

Enhanced the effectiveness of audits by developing data extraction utilities for analyzing red flags and exceptions. Reengineered bank’s user access to ensure segregation of critical duties. Redesigned account opening form to build compliance with Central Bank rules. Provided support regarding implementation of innovative technologies and systems.

Key Contributions:
 Managed the user access project with effective planning, stakeholder management, communication and liaising with IT.
 Enhanced data backup, and synchronization with process improvement recommendations.

Project Leader and Sr. Programmer Analyst at Pibas Inc
  • Pakistan - Karachi
  • August 2000 to September 2003

Developed software applications for retail banking, including mobile banking solution using WAP in 2005 when only few Nokia mobiles had the feature. Developed interface applications for banking, namely mobile, telephone, ATM, POS and SWIFT. Led projects from planning, development, delivery, and issue management to closure.

Education

Diploma, CFE - Certified Fraud Examiner
  • at Association of Ceritified Fraud Examiners
  • May 2013
Diploma, CISA - Certified Information Systems Auditor
  • at ISACA
  • June 2002
Master's degree, Computer Science
  • at Karachi University
  • July 2000
Bachelor's degree, Mechanical Engineering
  • at NED University
  • June 1998

Specialties & Skills

Operational Reviews
IT Audit
Fraud Investigations
Report Writing
Management Practices
Fraud Investigations
Report Writing
IT Auditing
Operational Auditing
SAP Automated Controls
IT Governance & Access Controls
Operational Controls
Effective Presentations
Risk Assessment
Compliance Administration
Project Management
Risk Management

Languages

English
Expert
Arabic
Beginner
Urdu
Intermediate

Memberships

Association of Cerified Fraud Examiners
  • Member
  • April 2013
Information Systems Audit & Control Association
  • Member
  • January 2015

Training and Certifications

SWIFT - funds transfer and trade finance message training (Training)
Training Institute:
SWIFT
Date Attended:
August 2002
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) – awareness course (Training)
Training Institute:
Alghanim Industries
Date Attended:
January 2009
Computer networking training with MS Win95, WinNT (Training)
Training Institute:
Micro Innovations & Technology
Date Attended:
January 1997
SAP - implementation of controls in different modules (Training)
Training Institute:
Alghanim Industries
Date Attended:
September 2012
ACL (Audit Command Language) – advance level training on Scripting (Training)
Training Institute:
ACL
Date Attended:
September 2008
Business Objects – introductory level training (Training)
Training Institute:
Alghanim Industries
Date Attended:
January 2010
Computer Forensics-I (conceptual and practical training) (Training)
Training Institute:
EnCase
Date Attended:
June 2012
CISCO – training on router administration and configuration (Training)
Training Institute:
Advance Training Institute
Date Attended:
January 2003