Governing Body Spotlight

Philip is currently the EVP, CFO & Global Operations at Topcon Positioning Systems. At Topcon, they are changing the ways to build cities and produce the food needed to feed our world using their building block technology. They are creating solutions that make a positive impact now and are finding new paths to a better, more sustainable future.

Over the course of his +20 years experience from Maxim Integrated to Fairchild to Topcon, he has scaled the finance organization, implemented financial systems, helped fundraising and taken on the operational finance, FP&A, M&A and risk management roles. These experiences have given him a great hands on perspective on how to partner and best support business leaders to run and optimize the results of their businesses while providing reasonable assurance, financial controls, compliance and reporting.

Learn more about the San Francisco CFO community here.
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I embarked my professional career as a Financial Analyst with Maxim Integrated, a reputable, publicly traded semiconductor company based in the Silicon Valley and listed on the S&P 500.  I was privileged to work under the guidance of exceptional leaders who not only encouraged my development, but also orchestrated a myriad of opportunities that fostered my professional and personal growth. This experience has been pivotal in fueling my passion for leveraging financial data and analytics to optimize business performance and operations results.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

Lead by example with empathy and transparency.
 

With disruption being a key theme of recent years, where do you see the CFO role going in the next 1-2 years?

With the rapid advancement of technology and an increasingly competitive landscape, the role of the CFO is anticipated to be in constant evolution - moving beyond traditional financial leadership to a strategic business partner to facilitate and drive collaboration, alignment of strategies, deliver and optimize business performance.
 

What advice would you give to someone just starting out as a CFO?

Learn the business, connect with people, and build relationships through trust and credibility.
 

Tell us a few fun facts about yourself.

1. I enjoy shopping, traveling, and cooking.
2. I speak 4.5 languages (English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Teochew and some French).
3. I learned how to cook via instagram.
    

What is the value of joining an Evanta community? 

Joining an Evanta CFO community offers immense value by providing a platform for learning from peers, exchanging best practices, networking, benchmarking and more.
 

Evanta Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.
 

by CFOs, for CFOs
 

Join the conversation with peers in your local CFO community.