Ben Couzens - Renewable Energy

Download Ben Couzens' Renewable Energy CV in Microsoft Word.doc format                  See Ben Couzens' "Peer Reviewed" CV on LinkedIn.com

Engineer with outstanding success in Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, USA and Middle East in Oil and Gas, Renewable Energy, ERP, IT, Software, Consultancy, and Civil and Structural Engineering.

Click on the links in this table for versions of Ben Couzens' CV highlighting specific experiences and skills

General CV Project Management CV Consultancy CV Business Development CV
IT/IS CV IT Project Management CV  SAP ERP CV Senior/Board level work CV
Software Development CV Oil and Gas CV Energy CV Renewable Energy CV
Banking and Finance CV Telecom CV Engineering CV Manufacturing CV
Relocation Microsoft Word.doc CV LinkedIn CV iProfile CV
  • Wind Energy - assisted the wind energy pioneer Geoff Pontin in the design and implementation of wind energy systems
  • Tidal Energy - Cambridge University research project into Engineering Strategies for Tidal Power Systems
  • Wave Energy - Cambridge University research project into Engineering Strategies for Wave Power Systems
  • Nuclear Energy - IT strategy, Best Practice, Knowledge Management
  • Oil and Gas Upstream - Project Management Subsurface Integrated Studies, Consultancy Sales, resourcing
  • Oil and Gas Facilities - Petrochemical plants, oil fired power stations
  • Oil and Gas Downstream - ERP SAP Consultancy to downstream Oil and Gas
  • Oil and Gas Network - strong pervasive contact network within the oil and gas industry particularly in Europe and Middle East
  • Gas and Electrical Utilities - Implementation of billing systems for national gas and electrical retail utility companies
  • Civil Engineer - Petrochemical plants, oil-fired power generation, bridges, railway, motorways, aviation, military.  Chartered Civil Engineer
  • Structural Engineer - military, transport, bridges, finite element analysis, theatres,48 storey building, prisons, hospitals, housing, roof structures
  • Project Management - major Civil projects, major IT projects, oil and gas consultancy, financial services.  PRINCE2 Certified Project Manager
  • Program Management - complex international systems implementations
  • Professional Services & Consulting - Partner Deloitte, recruited and trained 100 consultants, Senior Manager Coopers & Lybrand, freelance consultant
  • IS - Engineering Information Systems - finite element software developer, leading-edge 3D graphics developer, automated design engineering systems
  • Engineering Design Software - design, develop, implement, support, sell - won and directed outsourced software maintenance for Ministry of Transport
  • IT - Information Technology - 25 years experience ranging from "hands-on", to team management, to directing a staff of 300+
  • IS - Business Information Systems - business systems developer, bespoke software, packaged software, ERP, SAP
  • ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning - SAP - implement, support, sell $70m in 7 years, directing team of 100 SAP implementers
  • Retail Banking Software - design, develop, implement, support, sell in 400 banks worldwide
  • Financial Consultant - certified as Financial Consultant by SAP Berlin, Senior Manager Coopers & Lybrand, Partner Deloitte
  • Manufacturing - management, machine design, software automated manufacturing
  • MBA and MA Engineering.  MA Engineering Cambridge University.  MBA Warwick Business School Warwick University

Work experience includes UK, USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuanian, Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Russia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, India, Philippines

 2008 March to 2010 July    Knowledge Reservoir Energy Consultancy Services and Business Development Europe, Africa, Middle East

  • Sold and contracted €multi-million global consultancy agreement with OMV
  • Successfully rescued Project Management of £multi-million field development project which was in trouble with unhappy client and uncontrolled expenditure
  • Project Managed large integrated field development studies including Geology, Geophysics, Reservoir Engineering, Simulation, Modelling
  • Took over accounts and territories from several departing colleagues
  • Built relationships with global oil companies including Afren, Anadarko, Apache, BG, BHP, Centrica, Chariot, CNR, ENI, Enquest, Fairfield, Falkland, Firstoil, GDF, Hess, JKX, Maersk, Marathon, MND, Nippon, OMV, Petro-Canada, Petrom, Pioneer, Premier, Serica, Shell, Silverstone, Sterling, Talisman, Venture, Xcite, Crescent Petroleum, Dubai Petroleum, ADNOC, ADCO, ADMA, ZADCO, ADOC, Total, Oxy, Qatar Petroleum, RAK, KOC, Kuwait Energy
  • Achieved pre-qualification registration with ADNOC Group.
  • Established UAE market presence including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Qatar
  • Established Aberdeen, London and European market presence from The Hague to Bucharest
  • Formal reference available on request

2004 to now   Independent Consultant

  • Consultancy in Prague, Paris and London included interim strategic consultancy to Areva world-leading Nuclear Energy company, in English and French.
  • Benchmarking IT functions to global financial best practice standards. 

2003 to 2004    Misys International Banking Financial Services Software T/o £1bn
                        Global Product Services Director

Selected to direct 300+ IT Consultants worldwide developing and supporting financial software and to introduce and implement wide ranging change

  • Reversed collapsing global blue-chip Customer Satisfaction rating from “very dissatisfied” to “very satisfied” within first six months
  • Initiated, championed and directed rationalisation of offshore development in Philippines and India increasing capacity, improving quality and reducing cost
  • Instigated and directed convergence of leading financial software packages building continued market leadership into the next generation of products

1996 to 2003    Deloitte & Touche    Global Auditing and Consulting T/o $12bn
                        Partner in charge SAP ERP IT in 17 countries

Selected to develop ERP IT Consultancy in Czech Republic

  • Oil company clients included MOL Budapest and INA Industrija Nafte Zagreb.
  • Reviewed staff and business unit, transforming strategic direction and driving revenue from $100,000 p.a. to $3m p.a. within 12 months
  • Achieved recognition of global quality, enabling the business unit to join European consultant sharing policy, generating additional $6m pa fees
  • Established Board Level relationships, personally selling projects up to $23m
  • As Engagement Partner directed Project Management of complex international systems implementations with lead responsibility for all client interactions
  • Devised and implemented international recruitment policy, recruiting, training and deploying 100 consultants from 14 nationalities throughout the region
  • Commissioned publicity video in which clients generously praise the quality of the team and project delivery
  • Appointed to devise and lead strategy to develop and consolidate internal and vendor relationships throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa
  • Championed SAP global business development strategy during holding company separation, whilst integrating Andersen Business Consulting teams
  • Successfully implemented these combined strategies, achieving revenue of $11m pa within 15 months, totalling $70m in 7 years at 30% profitability

1995-1996    Coopers & Lybrand  Global Auditing and Consulting T/o $8bn           
       SAP Consultancy Service Leader

Invited to establish SAP Consultancy in Czech Republic

  • Performed strategic review, developed and won approval for business plan, achieving $1m revenue sold, managed and delivered within 12 months
  • Initiated Central European cooperation enabling unified market approach

1995            SAP R/3 Academy, SAP Berlin Germany 

Residential training in the SAP R/3 Academy in SAP Berlin Germany.  SAP certified by examinations as SAP Financial Consultant.

1993-1995    PE International        Consulting T/o $300m        
       Project Director - IT/IS

  • Developed and presented bid, winning and delivering $2m+ project to create National Market Information System in Romania
  • Recruited and directed team of 20 consultants, and created local office and company presence in Bucharest
  • Selected and contracted local software companies and established post-project system longevity
  • Collaborated with telecom and data services to connect 200 markets

1992 – 1993    Warwick University.  MBA Master of Business Administration

1986 – 1992    Bowater          Global Manufacturing T/o $3bn    
         European Development Director CTO/CIO MiTek Inc T/o $150m

Approached to turnaround the company

  • Reviewed strategic position, proposed business transformation, piloting new technology and winning board approval for fast track implementation
  • Successfully returned the company to premier international competitive position, initiating and implementing fundamental changes in 300 customers
  • Directed pan-European teams of software and manufacturing technology developers, achieving sales of $45m pa sales within 2 years
  • Designed, developed, tested, certified and manufactured new engineered products
  • Designed, developed, tested and put in production new automated manufacturing machinery
  • Seconded to provide Strategic Consultancy to parent company Bowater
  • Implemented acquisitions in Europe and the USA, including integrating operations of $150m pa global competitor

1985 – 1986    Skanska          Engineering Company T/o $17bn 
         Technology Director CTO/CIO DATECH

Approached to create new IT software company

  • Built new business achieving profit with £1m sales within first 12 months, building foundations for £10m sales in subsequent years 
  • Specialising in highly technical software such as Chemical Engineering, Petrochemicals, Finite Element Analysis, CAD

1982 – 1985    M H Anderson Consultants             $500m Technical Consultancy
          Head of IT & Software Development

  • Promoted to lead a team of 20+ analyst programmers developing engineering and financial software. 
  • Sold and managed outsourcing contracts for the Department of Transport, including a helpdesk and nationwide support.
  • Designed, coded, implemented and supported advanced finite element analysis software and 3D graphics
  • Managed the design, development, implementation and management of business systems, timesheet systems, billing systems

1981 – 1982    Harris & Sutherland Consultants   $70m Engineering Consultancy
          Senior Engineer        (also seconded ‘78–‘79)
 

  • Led design teams for military and civil projects, bridges, finite element analysis, theatres,48 storey building, prisons, hospitals, housing, roof structures

1975 – 1981    John Laing ($1bn Engineering Company)     
          Project Engineer (UK and Poland

  • Managed projects in petrochemical plants, oil-fired power generation and transportation, including engineer in charge motorway bridges M63 and M25.

1975                 British Antarctic Survey      

  • Selected and employed as geophysical surveyor by British Antarctic Survey. 
    Polar expedition 18 months at South Pole cancelled by Government funding cuts

1974                 Geoscience Consulting       

  • Gravimetric field survey for hydrocarbon exploration

1974                 Wind Energy Supply Ltd       

  • Assisted the wind energy pioneer Geoff Pontin in the design and implementation of wind energy systems

1973                 Wave Energy      

  • Cambridge University research project into Engineering Strategies for Wave Power Systems

1973                 Tidal Energy      

  • Cambridge University research project into Engineering Strategies for Tidal Power Systems

Qualifications 

1972-1975        MA Engineering
Cambridge University 

                       Mechanics, Structures, Materials, Fluids, Thermodynamics, Aerothermal, Alternative Energy, Renewable Energy, Manufacturing, Electronics, Electrical Power, Electromagnetics, Mathematics, Dimensional Analysis, Information Engineering, Computing, Technical Drawing, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Surveying, Geodesy

1992-1993        MBA Master of Business Administration
Warwick University 

1980                 Chartered European Engineer.  Chartered Civil Engineer    
Special Commendation for Excellence from Institution of Civil Engineers 

1996                 Certified Financial Consultant
SAP Academy Berlin 

2006                PRINCE2 Certified Advanced Project Manager 

2007                Non-Executive Director      
Cranfield University (Residential Training)

 Languages    

French - business, Polish, Romanian, Czech - useful

Personal

British.  Married, 3 children.  Willing to relocate.         

Currently location provides easy travel to Heathrow, London, Reading, Bracknell and Guildford by train and motorway.

“Ben is the best boss I ever had.”  Attila Feher, Senior ABAP developer, reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

“Ben is a bright, energetic, client focused, "can do" professional. He recruited then mentored and grew a body of professionals into a seasoned team of professionals, who shared his vision and unwavering passion to quality and client service. I had the pleasure of having him as my colleague and seeing, "up close", his single-minded focus on client service and quality.”  Azam Sher. managed Ben indirectly at Deloitte & Touche

 “Ben was responsible for our implementation of SAP - the most comprehensive in CEE - including a total BPR. He is a great guy to work with and very professional. Due to his skills we managed to succeed. My best recommendations!”  Dennis Thaagaard was Ben's client

 “Ben stood out as an exceptionally visionary and energetic leader, rapidly growing his SAP consulting practice into the largest and most profitable service line in our region. At the same time Ben demonstrated tremendous "people skills", generating enthusiasm wherever he went and gaining the support and respect of clients, colleagues and staff alike.”  Steve Knabe worked directly with Ben at Deloitte & Touche

"I was impressed by Ben's capability to build successful consulting business from zero to multi million business.  He had vision and made it into a reality.” Egils Simanovskis, SAP Senior Consultant reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

“Some people understand technology, fewer understand technology and have the skills to deliver, rare are the individuals who combine the two with a deep understanding of business issues. Ben utilises this valuable combination of skills to great effect. Together we developed a business plan for SAP services, Ben made sure he delivered...”  Mats Beem managed Ben at Coopers & Lybrand

"Ben Couzens is a brilliant man. He has the ability to grasp incredibly complex systems-related issues, and to connect powerfully with human beings in meaningful ways -- a person who is a rare combination of technically gifted and interpersonally skilled.” Lenann McGookey Gardner, President, Lenann McGookey Gardner Management Consulting, Inc.

“Ben was my boss for almost 6 years at Deloitte&Touche. Ben was a exceptionally great manager and excellent leader. He inspired us all to do our best and earned our respect almost immediately with his depth of knowledge, experience and patience. Always able to motivate people and lead them to success.” Frantisek Honsa, Manager for SAP, Deloitte & Touche reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

“I worked under Ben at Deloitte in Prague and found him an excellent manager with an enviable understanding of the Central and Eastern European business environment.” Dan Taylor, Senior Management Consultant, Deloitte Central Europe, Prague, Deloitte & Touche reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

“I was impressed by Ben's capability to build successful consulting business from zero to multi million business. He had vision and made it into a reality.” Egils Simanovskis, SAP Senior Consultant, Deloitte reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

“I fully subscribe to my Deloitte former colleagues comments on the Internet, with Mr. Couzens I had the best and happiest time in my entire professional life. We regretted very much his departure from DTCE because without him good projects became scarce.” Cristina Chiriac, SAP Senior Consultant, Deloitte reported to Ben at Deloitte & Touche

Click here for View Ben Couzens's profile on LinkedIn

Interests

I enjoy my family, socialising, sailing, cycling, rambling, opera, travelling and experiencing new national cultures. I am a violinist in Reading Symphony Orchestra, I am the Cambridge University and Daily Telegraph expat mentor for Prague