Healthy attitude

Having made these changes, Ülgen is now focusing his efforts on supporting the company’s future growth strategy. ‘Finance plays a crucial role in purchasing, investment, manufacturing, marketing and selling,’ he explains. ‘So I’m trying to integrate finance into as many business processes as possible.’

Nobel İlaç manufactures medicines that treat a wide range of health problems from pain and gastrointestinal conditions through to cancer and rare diseases. It also produces nutritional supplements. The company is growing fast while simultaneously navigating a complex global pharmaceutical landscape that is being shaped by pricing pressures, currency fluctuations, supply chain disruption and digital transformation.

Although it already exports to more than 50 markets, Nobel İlaç wants to further expand its international presence while investing in R&D and further enhancing operational excellence. It is also committed to maintaining a strong balance between profitability and responsibility, viewing environmental and social impacts as significant as financial performance.

‘My role is to ensure that our financial strategy supports sustainable growth while maintaining agility and resilience,’ Ülgen explains. ‘What keeps me awake at night is ensuring that we continue to invest smartly in innovation and people, the two true engines of long-term success.’

Career journey

Ülgen’s rise to the top of his field is no surprise given his longstanding fascination with the world of business and finance. ‘From my childhood, I was curious about how companies earned money, how nations printed it, and how banks granted loans or accepted deposits,’ he recalls.

After graduating from prestigious Bosphorus University with a degree in economics he wanted to find out how companies create financial value through their operational processes. This desire led him to join the finance function of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

Initially Ülgen worked in budgeting and reporting, but he later moved into accounts receivable where he ‘learned about the real world’ from issuing and collecting tens of thousands of invoices, worth almost US$1bn in total, over the course of a year.

In 2013, he moved to Egypt as finance manager for Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Cairo, managing a team of seven. This was to prove a defining moment in his career. Not only was he a manager for the first time, but during a period of social and political transition in Egypt, he was exposed to challenging situations. ‘I learned how to deal with hard things,’ he says. ‘There were many obstacles.’

For a period, he juggled his role in Cairo with a secondment to Pfizer’s Algerian business, where he provided finance support to another manufacturing site.

Ülgen had more than eight years with Pfizer under his belt when he was offered the role of finance manager for Kibar Industry, the Jordan-based subsidiary of Turkish sandwich panel manufacturer Assan Panel. He took the job because he wanted full responsibility for the finances of a manufacturing company and the opportunity to enhance his managerial skills.

Multiple responsibilities

The role did not disappoint. His remit spanned a broad range of responsibilities from accounts payable and receivable, tax and customs duty through to pricing, production and supply chains. He also attended meetings with senior Jordanian politicians.

While working for Kibar Industry Ülgen began studying for the ACCA qualification, attracted by its global status. He qualified in 2019 and subsequently embarked on an MSc in Professional Accountancy with the University of London.

Being an ACCA member has benefited Ülgen’s career in several ways. ‘It boosted my self-confidence, enhanced my professional reputation and provided a framework for continuous development,’ he says. He also believes his ACCA studies played a pivotal role in him being promoted to CFO of Assan Panel at just 34 years old. With the promotion, he became responsible for all of Assan Panel’s entities in Türkiye and abroad, while maintaining his role at Kibar Industry.

Ülgen flourished at Assan Panel, but the pharmaceutical industry beckoned again. In 2023, he was approached about becoming CFO of Nobel İlaç and jumped at the opportunity, attracted by the company’s strong values-driven culture and growth ambitions. ‘Being part of a company that delivers trusted brands and essential medicines to millions worldwide is deeply meaningful to me,’ he says. ‘I saw Nobel İlaç as a place where financial leadership can directly support a mission that improves lives and that is what makes this role both fulfilling and motivating.’

Critically, digital transformation is enabling Nobel İlaç’s finance team to help deliver the company’s mission. This is because it allows the team to focus more on value-added analysis and strategic initiatives rather than on transactional work.

‘We view digital transformation not just as a technological upgrade, but as a redefinition of our financial decision-making culture,’ Ülgen says. ‘It encourages data-driven thinking, predictive planning and proactive risk management across the organisation.’

Right fit

Automation and AI-powered analytics are being used to enhance forecasting accuracy, improve decision-making and increase efficiency in transactional processes. Ülgen’s advice for other CFOs looking to deploy new technologies is to be strategic about the investment and make sure it’s the right fit for the business, rather than deploy a new system just because other companies are using it.

Earlier this year, Ülgen was named one of Türkiye’s top 50 most influential CFOs by executive search and leadership company DataExpert and BMI Business School. Although he is honoured by the accolade, he does not see it simply as a personal milestone, but as a reflection of the collective success of the teams and organisations with which he’s worked.

Effectively summing up his career to date, he says the achievement ‘reinforces my belief that impactful financial leadership is built on collaboration, ethics and a genuine desire to create long-term value’.