About Jody Ade Coker
Having lived and worked in the UK, Australia and most recently the Middle East (UAE) in a series of notable roles, with some of the world's most prominent organisations, I have gained valuable personal and professional expertise developed by working with different cultures in very different settings. The basis for my global nature comes from my childhood where as a child my father lived and worked in Ghana whilst I lived and studied in the UK, this was a formative experience that added layers to the wealth of cultural exchange that envelopes my DNA.
As a young man I was extremely entrepreneurial. When I wasn’t playing football or rugby, I would buy and sell at the local car boot (garage) sale. Whilst at university I sold personal computers for a major high street brand (Time), and after completing my internship, I returned to my final year studies at university and set-up a bespoke software development company in my final year with my classmate, where we developed databases and pricing systems for a Sheffield based shop fitting company. I talk more about entrepreneurship on the Professional and Creative pages, where I further elaborate on Directorships that I've held.
Experienced Director-level professional with procurement, operations and business development background. Founded and led companies, managed functions and teams across regions, managed large scale projects and used to dealing with c-level stakeholders.
• Procurement professional with 19 years’ global, experience heading in country and regional indirect procurement functions
• Diverse global and local responsibility for UK & Europe (GE), Australia & New Zealand (Origin Energy), the Middle East (Serco) and globally (AstraZeneca)
• Strong track record in developing and delivering strategy and plan, managing small to large procurement projects, driving change, creating category structures, managing indirect spend categories, negotiation and contracting
• Strong sales and business development background, through bid, cross-sell, direct and online channels
• Expertise in delivering procurement consulting, outsourcing and tail spend projects in UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, covering industries including Commercial and Consumer Finance, Education, Facilities Management, Government, Healthcare, Military, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Sovereign Wealth and Transportation
• Specialties: strategic sourcing, new business development, mobilisation, strategic partnerships, procurement structural development, digitisation, spend management and analytics, category strategies, procurement outsourcing, tail spend management, contract negotiations
• Strong team / people management skills (onsite, off site, virtual, third party)
• Masters Degree in Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Management with a major in Artificial Intelligence in Procurement, and minors in Strategic International Business Management, Project Risk and Procurement Management, Global Supply Chain Management and Operations and Information Management
• Outstanding senior stakeholder, supplier and customer relationship building
• Derived demonstrable business value by driving efficiency, productivity and the removal of waste through the development and implementation of new processes (LEAN Six Sigma Certified)
Sports
RUGBY
At the age of 11 I was fortunate enough to win a scholarship to the number one school in Staffordshire, Newcastle Under Lyme School (NULS), and it was here that I was introduced to the game of rugby, having only previously played soccer. What a wonderful game and what a wonderful experience, that has stayed with me until this day. At NULS we won the Staffordshire Cup in my penultimate year there and in the following year I was honoured to be made captain of the first team. Selection to play for Staffordshire followed, and through my university and early professional career I continued to flirt with rugby, playing in Sheffield and Sydney, and most notably with Kevin O'Brian for a season at Broughton Park in Manchester. For many years rugby seemed to illude me until I relocated to the UAE where after a season playing soccer, I signed for Abu Dhabi Saracens, a partner club of the UK based Saracens team. From the perspective of personal, mental and physical development this experience was an unadulterated success. During my first season, I was made 2nd team captain, club Secretary and played enough 1st team minutes to contribute the our winning the UAE Division 1 Championship. At 41 years young, you're never too old, and despite a few bumps and bruises I never felt happier. The video on the right is my post match speech and comes from the 2nd team's first win of the season, in an international match against a team from Oman.
FOOTBALL (SOCCER)
Whilst rugby is one of my passions, soccer (football) is another; it was World Cup winner Bobby Charlton who first spotted my talent as a soccer player, at one of his Bobby Charlton sports days when I was aged 9, the above photo of me, my class mates and Bobby, shows just how eager I was to get involved. I went on to play for Port Vale Valiants, and then at Stoke City's School of Excellence, before having professional trials at the age of 16 where I played for Stoke against Shrewsbury. Although winning many honours at lads and dads level, including league, cup and Area Cup honours, I wasn't successful in my professional trials with Stoke City, and at the ripe old age of 16 I failed to act upon their advice to find another club to keep pursuing my career with. For me this was a devastating blow, where I thought that my career was over, hindsight tells us that indeed it was but lessons learned tells us you're never too old, keep knocking on that door and amazing things can happen.
JodyAdeCoker@gmail.com | +971502183593 | +61 414012740