Shahzad Mirza, Chief Executive Officer

Shahzad Mirza

Chief Executive Officer

Afrah Group

Location
Pakistan
Education
High school or equivalent, Mechanical Engineering
Experience
32 years, 1 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :32 years, 1 Months

Chief Executive Officer at Afrah Group
  • Sudan
  • My current job since January 2018

Top management position reporting directly to the Chairman. Complete responsibility for strategy and
business, sales, market expansion, P&L & end to end supply chain of the entire company, which is
involved in the manufacturing and selling of cigarettes, shisha, & tea.
• Developed business strategies and plans ensuring their alignment with key strategic objectives in both
the short-run and long-run
• Oversaw entire operations and business activities including end to end supply chain (planning,
procurement, manufacturing, logistics, customer service), P&L, HR, sales, and technology
• Maintained and upheld relationships with key stakeholders and actively developed market expansion
and growth strategies for the group across MENA region
• Ensured an optimal financial performance of the organization, overseeing the entire P&L closely
• Successfully identified and resolved issues with manufacturing and the larger supply chain processes,
resulting in significant cost reduction
• Developed a successful marketing and sales strategy to boost sales figures and revenue during the
COVID-19 pandemic
• Promoted a culture of coaching and mentorship, and built an environment that encourages
cooperation and professional growth

Senior Business Executive at Pakistan Tobacco Company
  • Pakistan
  • January 2017 to December 2017
Head
  • June 2015 to January 2017

A key leadership position managing procurement & supply chain, planning and NPI, providing strategic
directives to achieve company’s mission, vision and short / long-term goals. The role involved managing
and aligning supply and demand, interfacing with key partners: finance, manufacturing, distribution,
security, marketing and central planning team based in Singapore (ASPAC).
Managed: 2 Factories, 50+ warehouses (Inventory of Rs. 13 Billion (USD 120 Million)), 190+
Distributors and 350 Vendors (Local + International)
SHAHZAD MIRZA PAGE 3
• Devised strategic & financial plans, setting the overall direction for the business, preparing business
and operations.
• Established and managed customer services along with devising all the metrics/ KPIs across whole
operations.
• Established whole distribution, procurement & supply chain department from scratch, aligning the
whole team across it by managing all stakeholders. Leveraged expertise across functions and
delivered savings of Rs. 250 Million.
• Changed the supply chain model by introducing new LSPs vendors; rerouted good movement to
make it cost-effective; re-bided all contracts and negotiated them at substantially lower cost.
• Introduced P2P in procurement, changed the bidding process, increased base of suppliers to get the
best quality product at minimum cost. Delivered more than 5% percent savings.

Head at British American Tobacco (
  • Indonesia
  • March 2012 to August 2015

Managing: 23 Factories and processing plant having 20K+ workers
A key leadership position, managing manufacturing operations for the entire organization in Indonesia.
Took over at very low productivity, high manning level, very high operating costs, low quality control
management, with no synergies between manufacturing & supply chain/ procurement.
• Devised and implemented a strategy to transform entire manufacturing operations, optimizing plant
operations to deliver high quality and output at a low cost. Optimized inventories and trained/
developed people to continue delivering with new achieved efficiencies.
• Managed a huge "overall change process". Identified redundancies and unprofitable areas of function
which resulted in the closing down of 4 factories and brought the strength below 10K from previously
20K+.
• Improved productivity by more than 70%, enhanced capacity by 55% without any capital investment,
reduced wastages by 40% and brought costs down by 20%.
• Developed "New way of Working & Best Practices" and from July’ 13, Bentoel (Indonesia) was rated
"Best in Class - Plant Operations" across the entire Asia Pacific region
SHAHZAD MIRZA PAGE 4
British American Tobacco Jakarta / Java, Indonesia

Head at Pakistan Tobacco Company
  • Pakistan
  • September 2014 to May 2015

Managed: 22 Managers and 72 Officers along with 15, 000 contracts with farmers; SRTP across the
spread of 50, 000+ farmers
Responsible for managing all movement of tobacco, from seed procurement, distribution to plantation,
cultivation, harvesting and curing till purchase of tobacco and then processing in plants. Directly
responsible for cash outflow of Rs. 8 Billion (USD 70 Million) in a span of 3 months and a very risky
environment.
• Exceptional Results:
o Crop purchase price reduced by 10% while managing supply / demand.
o Quality Improved by 18% - losses in supply chain decreased by $1 million
• Developed strategy and training that streamlined operations; established processes to support hyper
change resulting in substantial cost savings.

Head
  • Pakistan
  • June 2011 to December 2011

Took the daunting task of transforming Bentoel Operations (23 factories & 20, 000+ Workforce), a new
acquisition, and enabled it to merge with the parent company. Responsible for bringing in solid and
tangible changes across the organization in plant operations, finance, human resource, procurement,
supply chain, manufacturing, quality assurance, logistics, warehousing, planning & engineering, ensuring
that all improvements are implemented.
• Took over an arduous project and established plans with milestones and successfully completed the
project on schedule.
• Devised and executed the project plan and methodology; formed a cohesive environment for a team
comprised of members from across the company. Inspired / motivated the team to manage change
through coaching & mentoring, infrastructure improvements, processes and procedural changes.
Transformed the whole company, which is now delivering high productivity across all functions.
Pakistan Tobacco Company (Member of BAT)

Head at South Asi
  • September 2006 to May 2011

Managed: 10 managers, 25 officers, 20 international & local contractors and 08 consultants; projects
worth more than USD 25M +
Transformed the department by devising short & long strategy for machinery, spares procurement/
storage, and infrastructure changes, to deliver a sustainable business advantage to the company. Ensured
implementation & compliance of BAT/National HSE & HAZOP standards across the organization.
• Managed the engineering function in South Asia region and delivered optimum solutions of
procurement and supply of machinery, spares and capex / services.
• Managed and led company-wide Technical Services Function (civil / electrical/ mechanical), while
retaining core operations competencies and attributes
• Led from concept to commissioning of complete Green Leaf Processing Plant (USD 20M) in
Bangladesh, including the procurement of infrastructure material and machinery from both local and
international suppliers,

Factory Manager
  • January 2004 to January 2006
Production Planning Manager
  • January 2002 to January 2004
Engineer
  • January 2000 to January 2002
Manufacturing Manager
  • January 1998 to January 2000
Production Manager
  • January 1996 to January 1998
Engineer
  • January 1994 to January 1995
at Descon Engineering Works
  • January 1991 to January 1994

Education

High school or equivalent, Mechanical Engineering
  • at University of Engineering & Technology
  • November 2021

,

Specialties & Skills

Supply Chain Management
Procurement
Logistics
Manufacturing
General Management
FINANCE
PROCUREMENT
STRATEGIC
SUPPLY CHAIN
COACHING
CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
HUMAN RESOURCES
LEADERSHIP
LOGISTICS
MANAGEMENT