When someone has been with ConQuaestor for 15 years as a finance professional, you expect someone with a great deal of knowledge of finance and control. Yet that doesn't hold true for Philip Heij. "I am much more of a generalist. I master the big picture and can manage that well, but I like to leave the real financial details to the specialists." That doesn't mean Philip does simple jobs. On the contrary, in recent years he has developed into a much sought-after project manager for very diverse and especially challenging projects that always have a financial component.
Legal work not dynamic enough
Fresh out of high school, Philip did not yet have a very clear idea of what he wanted to be later. To rule out few options beforehand, he chose to study Management Economics and Law. He did an internship at a law firm, which he liked and so did the firm. Reason enough to stay on at the firm after completing his college studies in combination with a university law degree. "But after a few years of spending a lot of time alone in a room drafting legal documents, I had to admit that the legal work wasn't dynamic enough for me."
Dreams of large, leading companies
Fortunately, Philip was able to transfer to a credit management organization. "A great stepping stone, but they weren't the challenging assignments I was really looking for. My dream was to work at large, leading companies preferably on innovative assignments. No micro-finance, but overseeing projects big, making a plan of action and managing a team." Exactly the projects ConQuaestor offered.
First ConQuaestor assignment hit the mark
"Even in the early years of ConQuaestor, it was already a very desirable company to work for." So when Philip was hired, he had already taken an important step. And his first assignment was also an immediate hit: adjusting Nationale Nederlanden's accounts receivable policy to the changed Pensions Act. "Immediately a strategic position with a financial component. That suited me."
Divergent functions and organizations
When that was completed he was in demand as project manager outsourcing administration at a home care organization, team leader swine flu at the RIVM, among others. "The fear of a global outbreak was great at the time, so stakeholders, including doctors and virologists, had to be up to date with the very latest information. To streamline that, a call center was set up, which I was allowed to manage. Crazy work, but learned a lot."
Wish fast movers, assignments at fast movers
After doing some more assignments with banks and insurers, Philip expressed his eagerness to make the switch to FMCG. With success. He received great assignments at Nutricia, Danone and Douwe Egberts, among others. "I'm mainly asked to make processes run better and make a team work more efficiently. In that sense, I am more of a people manager than a financial manager. I come up with a good plan of action and hope to get everyone on board with it. But if you fall down, I pick you up, stick a band-aid on you and help you on your way again. So far that has always worked out well. And that's how I want to keep doing it."
Challenging Schiphol
Asked about his finest assignment, he doesn't have to think long. "I spent over two and a half years at Schiphol Airport implementing a Property Management system for accounts payable and accounts receivable management, Yardi, for Accountinghouse. A fantastic time. Huge challenges, it was all new at the time, but that's exactly what made it so interesting. And Schiphol is such a dynamic organization. There is so much to learn there."
15 years in service, not yet done
Now that Philip has been on board with ConQuaestor for 15 years, he certainly isn't thinking about quitting just yet. "I've been cooking in lots of different kitchens for 15 years in ever new roles. I've just completed a role as authorization management coordinator at ALFAM and I've just had an interview at a housing association for a great role. Is also completely new for me again. That really makes working for ConQuaestor gold. I'll be around for a while for now."
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