Uwa is a Director with more than 15 years of experience across Advisory, Energy and FMCG sectors, leading human resources, legal, regulatory, security and administrative functions at one of Nigeria’s largest FMCG companies. She is able to define winning HR strategies and shape policies to drive sustainable business growth across markets within very volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments.
As GM I Head, Human Resources and Legal at Promasidor, she was directly responsible for holding P& L responsibility for six business functions. She oversaw budget input plan for the Human Resources, Admin, Security, Legal, Insurance and Regulatory arm of the business, ensuring to champion cost management initiatives in all program execution. Under her leadership, the Human Resources and Legal Department won the most outstanding department in 2019.
Uwa also worked as part of the senior leadership team for Nigeria and engaged with key stakeholders, including other C-Suite executives, senior managers and human resources (HR) managers to define the overall HR strategy and implement plans based on the overall strategic direction of the company.
Also, she oversaw all talent management initiatives for 1,500+ employees in multiple locations in Promasidor Nigeria, aiding the company’s recognition in 2019 as Best 100 companies to work with in Nigeria by Jobberman (Merited for having supportive and a well-rounded talent management ecosystem).
Michael-Okafor’s responsibility under same portfolio also included overseeing business regulatory liaisons with SON, NAFDAC, FCCPC, MAN and so on, leading the regulatory team to a restructured and more efficient way of work through the use of regulatory work plan, resulting in the reduction of timelines for regulatory permits and licences
She also coordinated the restructuring of the legal department by moving outsourced legal services in-house, resulting in over 30% cost savings on Legal fees / cost.
Uwa developed best-in-class security structure and frameworks whilst optimising security vendor headcount by 30% through performance driven KPI and SLA updates for all vendors. She tracked progress through regular and timely security reporting, and carried out requests for proposal (RFPs) for admin services, and drove a vendor management process overhaul which saved the company $200K+ in operating expenses.
In addition, Uwa renegotiated insurance contracts which saved the company 15% on premium payment with cover on more assets.
Her core competence is layered in her finance academic background which has equipped her with the ability to structure business processes for efficient cost management. She also has assertive communication skills and an execution mind-set, which she leverages to engage key stakeholders and motivate her team’s performance to success.
