Marie Joyce, CFO at NTR plc, discusses her transition from practice to industry, her rise to CFO and her charitable work with the Make A Wish Foundation.
For someone who didn’t like accountancy at school, Marie Joyce has grown to love the subject she loathed as a teenager. Marie’s childhood was spent growing up as one of six children on the family farm in Galway. It was her parents’ determination to send their children to third level that saw Marie undertake a Commerce Degree in National University of Ireland, Galway followed by a Masters in Accounting in Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin.
It wasn’t until a training opportunity arose in Arthur Andersen, however, that she began to see the bright side of accountancy. “I didn’t particularly like accountancy in school and if you had asked me back then if I wanted to be an accountant, my answer would have been an unequivocal no! But when the opportunity to join Arthur Andersen came along, I saw the training programme in a very different light, more as a wider professional business qualification, and that excited me,” she said. “And that’s the road I’ve travelled, using that rounded training and applying it to my work on strategy, acquisitions, restructurings, start-ups, people management and business in general. Being a Chartered Accountant provided me with a great professional and personal grounding.”
From practice to industry
During her time at Arthur Andersen, Marie gained valuable experience working across a diverse portfolio of food, pharmaceutical and technology companies. She spent six years in practice but had a desire to work on the client side and ultimately left practice to take up a position as Strategic Planning Manager with Élan before moving to NTR plc, where she is now Chief Financial Officer (CFO). “I found the transition relatively smooth, but I was also clear about the type of company I wanted to work in. For me, the criteria included being entrepreneurial, providing development and learning opportunities, scope to influence and make a difference, and a fun place to work.”
Élan was Marie’s first public company role and, for two years after she joined, the company was considered one of the great success stories of Irish business. But the positive trajectory came to a sudden end when an important development stage drug failed in clinical trials and the share price subsequently collapsed. “Along with a small handful of colleagues, I was catapulted into leading several divestment transactions over the next number of years, culminating in the raising of over $1 billion in new funds,” she recalled. “This had the effect of restoring the group to a sound financial footing. It was a whirlwind period. My life at that time was dominated by a blur of lawyers, airplanes and long hours, but the challenge was exciting and what I did learn is that out of major calamities can come great opportunities.”
Indomitable rise to CFO
Soon after, Marie applied for her first CFO role in an NTR plc subsidiary when she was just 30 years old, but was overlooked as she didn’t have relevant sector experience. Undeterred, she took a corporate finance role in the same company and was appointed CFO of that subsidiary within six months. “For me, determination and perseverance are really important, together with a healthy dose of common sense. You must be willing to prove yourself and demonstrate that you can do the job,” she said. “In time, you will find that your record will speak for itself. I was also very fortunate to have some remarkable mentors along the way who challenged and encouraged me, including NTR’s chairman Tom Roche and my CEO, Rosheen McGuckian.”
Marie now holds a broad and diverse role as CFO, company secretary, board director of NTR plc and director of NTR’s €250 million Jersey-regulated infrastructure fund. She was also a director of NTR’s broader infrastructure companies for many years, incorporating wind, solar, water treatment, toll roads, recycling and waste, up to NTR’s demerger in 2015.
Marie’s personal management style
When it comes to managing people, Marie sees herself as a ‘roll the sleeves up’ type of person. “I lead by example and if the situation requires it, I am right in there with everyone else getting it done. As I was afforded quite a bit of autonomy over the years, I try to do likewise with my team to encourage initiative and ownership,” she said. “I like crystal clear communications, whether up or down, and I encourage efficiency and results.”
Given her strong strategic outlook and expertise, Marie also encourages her team to look at the bigger picture, build relationships and, above all, to point out the obvious without fear. “I encourage my team to realise that everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Get it started and you can refine it along the way,” she said. For Marie, asking open-ended questions is key to developing a strategic approach and, in terms of the skills young Chartered Accountants should hone, good and transparent communication is key, as is a determined and optimistic attitude.
“Don’t be daunted by the size or complexity of the task,” she added. “Break it down and tackle it one piece at a time, and trust your gut feeling. It’s generally right.”
Professional and personal achievement
Indeed, Marie’s gut feeling has brought her great success over the years. She cites her 12-year career in NTR and her role in bringing it to where it stands today as “without doubt” her greatest professional achievement. In the early days, Marie drove growth in a number of NTR’s incubator companies, both in Ireland and internationally, and during the recessionary years following 2008 she played a key role in restructuring the group, which put it in a position to deliver €250 million of distributions back to shareholders. Today, NTR manages its NTR Wind 1 LP Fund on behalf of itself and its institutional co-investors and is in the early stages of developing its second fund.
While Marie “wouldn’t change a thing” in terms of her career, she has a very busy life both inside and outside the office. Her work schedule is driven by the time of year, status of acquisitions, board meetings and investor reporting schedules. The days “usually fly by”, and Marie’s personal golden rule is to diary everything, including her personal tasks. “I don’t care who in the office knows that I have to go to the dentist – if it’s not in the diary, it won’t get done,” she said.
As for downtime, Marie spends much of her spare time Pokémon hunting with her 11-year-old son, Harry, and playing the button accordion. She also enjoys travelling to new places, spending quality time with family and friends, and cooking complicated dishes.
Charitable work
Marie is also heavily involved with Make A Wish Foundation and, in more recent years has acted as its Chairman. “I am the mother of a happy, healthy boy and, for all mums and dads, there must be nothing worse than seeing a sick child fighting for his or her life. I really believe in the healing power of a wish come true and the memories it brings to sick children, their families and their communities,” she said.
When Marie joined the all voluntary board, like a lot of charities, the charity’s funding had been badly affected by the recession. “These are children who sometimes didn’t have the luxury of waiting for funding to be available to receive their wish,” she added. “Make a Wish is effectively a small business. It needs a strategic plan, an operational budget, monthly management accounts, KPIs, good corporate relationships, governance and controls frameworks, policies and procedures, all of which I am familiar with from my professional and business background.
“I’m proud to work with such a fantastic management team and board, and to have the opportunity to mentor management and play an instrumental role in transforming the organisation to where it stands today.” Marie continued. “The role can be demanding at times and gut wrenching at other times, but it’s also joyful a lot of the time and I feel privileged to do my part to support its efforts for very sick children.”
Words of wisdom
While fitting everything in must be a never-ending struggle, Marie remains driven by a simple lesson from her youth.
“My parents encouraged all of us to do our very best... and that’s something I’ve tried to apply throughout my career,” she said. “I love what I do – I have from the very start and continue to do so. And while there have been ups and downs along the way, that’s life. The key thing is to enjoy what you do, and do what you can for others.”