Interview with Yvonne Roghair, head of Finance & Control at NWO-I
Collaboration to strengthen operations
Yvonne Roghair has been head of Finance & Control (F&C) at NWO-I since October 2023.
"During my job interview with NWO-I, I was told I would be allowed to further develop the Finance & Control department. That really motivated me", Yvonne says, for whom the world of research is a new work field. "It is magnificent. Each of the institutes does something different, which makes working with them so interesting. For example, at the start of February, I heard on the radio that NASA had successfully launched the PACE climate satellite. And that SRON helped build one of the instruments on board, the SPEXone. Then I proudly tell everyone at the breakfast table that this is the work of my NWO-I."
Background
Yvonne completed a bachelor in commercial economics and subsequently a master in business economics at Maastricht University. Subsequently, she began her career started at accountancy firm Ernst & Young, at their offices in Eindhoven and Rotterdam. In 2002, after seven years at this international accountancy firm, she moved to Amsterdam for love. As she had always wanted to do something 'in the building sector'.
Yvonne opted for a job at housing association Ymere. There, she worked in various roles and she eventually became director Finance & Reporting. Yvonne: "That last role was similar to my current position at NWO-I. I had a functional line of contact with financial co-workers at the various branches. The connection with the government is another similarity: Ymere is privatised, but still under the Housing Authority's supervision. At NWO and NWO-I there is the important relationship with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science".
Conscious choice to work at a not-for-profit
In 2018, Yvonne made her next career move: she became the operational manager at the Dutch NGO SOS Kinderdorpen, which meant leaving an organisation with thousand employees and a turnover of 550 million euros for an organisation with 36 colleagues and a turnover of 20 million euros. She laughs when asked if this was a logical career move. Yvonne: "I made a conscious choice to work in the not-for-profit sector. My work field is enriched by combining operational activities with working towards societal goals. I find the broad playing field more interesting than the optimisation of profits. At SOS Kinderdorpen I learned, for example, about EU funding and the rules for granting subsidies. That was a useful experience for my work at NWO-I."
Quality and energy
In the spring of 2023, the vacancy at NWO-I came at the right moment. Yvonne was ready for a new challenge and was weighing up the advantages of a bigger organisation: "Being able to brainstorm more internally, and greater opportunities for personal development. It was a turbulent period at NWO-I, because Jan van der Boon, Director Operations at NWO-I, had just left and F&C had said farewell to several interim managers. I would be given the opportunity to shape new developments in the department."
When she arrived last October, many changes were already taking place. NWO-I had begun to work with a new temporary form of governance. Part of that is the gathering of institute managers for an operational meeting (BVO) and all the managers having one NWO-I-wide portfolio. Additionally, the heads of Finance of all institutes and the office meet each other monthly in a functional meeting (FO F&C). Yvonne: "I'm impressed by the quality and energy of the Finance colleagues. Everybody wants to contribute ideas to the further development of F&C and put their shoulders to the wheel to make this development happen."
Priorities for 2024
After six months on the job, Yvonne is up and running. Together with the responsible representative at the NWO-I office, BVO has drawn up a year plan for each functional area. In the case of Finance & Control, the control function needs to be strengthened. Yvonne: "Accountability and reporting is well organised at both the institutes and the NWO-I office. The control side, the management and governance of the projects and other parts of the organisation can be improved, though. NWO-I carries out research projects for which we receive funding. How can we manage these properly? Before my arrival, steps in this direction were already taken that I can further build upon with the Finance & (project) Control colleagues".
Yvonne says that with the strengthening of Control other functional areas (P&O, Real Estate, Legal Affairs, Information Management, Communication and Procurement) will also be examined. BVO has agreed that these areas will be included in the reporting for 2024. This year, the completion of the previously initiated harmonisation of processes in the financial domain - including project accountability – is another F&C focus area.
Sharing solutions
How does Yvonne find the new working field of research? Yvonne: "Colleagues are keen to tell me about their institute. I meet a lot of dedicated people in both the support departments and research". In her opinion, the new, temporary governance form of NWO-I creates connectivity. "Of course, I do not know how things were in the past. However, the institutes and the NWO-I office work closely together and monitor the overall picture. This cooperation generally runs smoothly. People - and also the different institutes know where to find each other. I notice how we are all moving in the direction of a different type of organisation. It is a given that we must satisfy a growing number of requirements as a result of laws and regulations. That creates dilemmas for how do we meet requirements in the area of cyber security and privacy while at the same time ensuring that there is enough money left for research? In such instances, it is absolutely essential that we work together and exchange solutions. I feel completely at home within the NWO-I organisation. Sometimes I still need to discover how things are done here but everybody is happy to help me."
Who is Yvonne?
Yvonne (51) grew up in Tilburg. She has lived in Amsterdam with her partner for the past 22 years and they have a daughter (14) and a son (12). Both of their children are dyslexic and Yvonne helps them with their homework : "I'm the expert on history and geography, and my partner does maths and the science subjects". She enjoys cooking, eating out and doing fun things with her friends. Her favourite hobby is going on adventurous journeys to faraway destinations. "I prefer travelling with a backpack and by public transport, or trekking with a tent. Last summer, we went to Vietnam, which the whole family awarded a 10. This summer we plan to camp in Slovenia. And in 2025 we hope to travel to a long-distance destination again."
Text: Anita van Stel
Newsletter Inside NWO-I, March 2024
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.