Direct Source Network | Expat Jobs Blog

JOB OPPORTUNITY ► Marketing & Branding Director | Hi-End Retail | The Philippines

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:10:00 +0000

Hi-End Luxury Brand Retailer
Manila, The Philippines

$120k + Expat Package
Apply TODAY!

Direct Source Network is working closely with a major European Hi-End Luxury Brand Retailer. This company is planning to expand it's operations in China and Asia during 2010/11.

To help facilitate this growth the company now requires a Marketing Director (based in Manila) to develop and grow their brand in the China / Asia region.

Working closely with in-Country Management, Financial Management and Local Marketing Specialists the M&B Director will be responsible for establishing and driving growth in several new territories in the Asia Pacific region during 2010/11.

Using consumer statistics like income information, buying trends and value perceptions, the Marketing & Branding Director will be responsible for developing the Groups Regional Marketing strategies. These strategies will be key to the company meeting financial goals over the next 24-36 months.

The Marketing & Branding Director will have overall responsibility for approving Marketing Advertising and Promotional activity for the Group across the region, directing local Marketing Managers and Specialists to ensure that the branding activity is rolled out successfully at local /store level.

Ideally the Marketing & Branding Director will have a strong background in Retail (8yrs+) ideally in a Major European or US Retail organisation (Preferably with real exposure to Asian markets).

Applicants must be degree educated (Business, Sales and Marketing or Retail related).

This is an Expat 3yr contract which will pay a salary inexcess of $120k+ plus attractive expat benefits package.

For more information about this Marketing & Branding Directorship, view the job spec at the DSN Website

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JOB OPPRTUNITIES ► New C-Level Expat Jobs Available in 2010

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:57:00 +0000

€150k + Packages
International Assignments

Send your CV today if you are interested in hearing more about a number senior management C-Level career opportunities in top quality organisations.

Situated in Europe, Caribbean, Middle East and China regions.

Send your CV today!

Right now we are working on the following assignments for International Clients

2 x CEO (China x 1, Middle East x 1)
2 x CFO (Caribbean x 1, China x 1)
3 x Finance Director (Caribbean x 1, China x 1, Middle East x 1)
2 x General Managers (1 x China)

Direct Source Network has visibility of at least another half dozen C-Level and Senior Management positions around the Globe (Most of which will be Expat opportunities) coming up in mid Q1 2010.

For more information about these and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks main Jobs Pages (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

Only Applications received via the Website will be considered.

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JOB OPPORTUNITY ► HR Business Partner | Telecoms Services | Dubai

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

£100k + Expat Package
18mth Contract
Based London & Dubai

Direct Source Network is working closely with a UK based Telecoms Services company which has several very interesting projects on the go in the Middle East and South East Asia.

Currently this company is looking to engage an experienced HR professional to work alongside the Programme Director in the capacity of a HR Business Partner, to ensure that the organsiation is maximizising it's Human Capital investment.

Skills Requirement:

Reporting into the Programme Director, the HR Business Partner MUST be able to demonstrate advanced understanding of key HR areas including performance reviews / management, HR compliance, employee relations, associate training and development and management coaching.
CIPD Qualified.
Business Degree.

For more information about this and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks main Jobs Pages (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

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Don't Believe the Recovery Hype | David McWilliams

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:37:00 +0000

Many years ago, just before the fall of communism in Russia, I lived for a while with a Russian family in a small village about 100 miles west of Moscow called Novi Ruza. The experience was a bit like going to a Russian version of the Gaeltacht. I lived with a family who didn’t speak English, except for the daughter whose only access to English was a scratched recording of Hey Hey My My by Neil Young.

In this atmosphere – listening to Neil Young and going to Russian classes every day – I tried, with limited success, to learn Russian.

Most mornings, the official radio carried riveting stories about bumper grain harvests in Ukraine and how the collective farms had beaten all expectations. Yet the shops in the village had no bread.

We heard stories about how much industrial machinery the Soviet Union was producing, yet there were no spare parts for the Lada, which kept breaking down.

Every week, there was a story about how the great triumph of socialism was just around the corner.

I suppose we would now call this sort of stuff ‘talking up’ the economy.

Communists were great at it. They would spot a recovery, a new dawn, at the drop of a fedora. They believed in the ‘incantation’ approach to economics, which held that, if you incant or even chant long enough about something, that something will eventually come true. Daft, I know, but the communists were great believers in positive thinking, even if there was no evidence to back it up.

Now is it just me or do you get the sense that you are listening to Pravda on the radio these days? There seems to be a concerted spin, delivered by politicians and so-called economists, who never saw this bust coming and were preaching ‘soft landings’ two years ago, that Ireland is now on the cusp of recovery. We are going to experience some mythical ‘export-led growth’, which will drive down unemployment and, by next year, we will splurge again, spending all the savings we are sitting on.

Quite how we could possibly have labour-intensive, export-led growth when we have one of the highest wages in the world is beyond me. For that matter, I can’t see how we will splurge our savings when the government deficits are so huge that they will absorb our nest egg. I can almost hear the sheaves of wheat bursting out of their ties on the steppe.

The truth – a strange concept which ultimately broke the communists – is that Ireland is not going to experience a recovery any time soon, and this year will feel worse than last year. Behind all the spin and incantation, there is a barely audible sound which will get louder and louder. It is a large sucking sound: the sound of money leaving the economy.

What is now faint will become a cacophony.

We don’t seem to realise that we are now in a phony war situation where our sense of stability is based on the European Central Bank (ECB) injecting soft loans into the banking system. This massive monetary injection was carried out all over Europe to make sure the European banking system survived last year.

The ECB is now unwinding this credit. Let’s just recap on the way the banking system works. If the banks stop lending to each other (as happened in September 2008), the Central Bank, acting as the ‘lender of last resort’, steps in. It says to the banks: ‘‘Give us what you call ‘assets’ on your balance sheets and in return we will give you money so that you don’t run out of money and go bust.”

In Ireland, the assets on the banks’ balance sheets are our mortgages and all sorts of loans to property. So the banks package all these mortgages into what is called an asset-backed security (ABS).

This product, which could be thousands of performing mortgages, is rated by the rating agencies and then given to the Central Bank in return for cash.

This cash goes into our ATMs and we spend it. The ECB did this all over Europe from September 2008, because every banking system was experiencing problems.

The pathetic spin put out by the government and believed by many is that Ireland has some sort of sweetheart deal with the ECB, whereby the Europeans looked favourably on Ireland.

This is not true. The ECB treated the Irish banks the same as any other banks in Europe. In fact, it could not have legally treated us any differently to any other country. It loosened its rules on what did and did not constitute ‘security’. So banks in Europe that couldn’t get money anywhere else went to the ECB and exchanged ‘assets’ for cash.

In normal times, the ECB will only accept assets with an AAA rating as collateral. In the past two years, it has loosened this and accepted any old trash in return for cash to protect the system. Look at the chart for Europe as a whole, and we see that the ECB provided over €500 billion in this type of financing across the eurozone.

In July, it intends to pull €442 billion out of the system, as it reverts to taking only AAA assets and signals to the rest of Europe that the banking crisis is over. But it’s not over in Ireland.

In the crisis, different countries needed differing amounts of cash, depending on how delinquent the country’s bankers and regulators were during the boom. It will come as no surprise that Ireland is the most badly affected. Today, Irish banks are getting €98 billion from the ECB in this type of ‘cash for trash’ funding. That is 17 per cent of our banking system’s assets, which are about €520 billion.

Nearly as fragile are the Greeks, who are getting €42 billion or 8.8 per cent of total assets. For Italian and French banks, only 0.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively of their total requirement comes from the ECB. In other words, when the ECB changes its rules, it will have no effect in Italy and France, a nasty impact in Greece and a catastrophic impact on the amount of money in ATMs here.

The major problem for Ireland is that the ECB will accept only AAA assets from March, but we don’t have any AAA assets.

Our government debt, the least risky (apparently) asset in Ireland is not even AAA any more. The ABS packages of our mortgages are clearly nowhere near AAA and will be further downgraded as mortgage defaults rise.

So where are we going to get €92 billion and how much will our banks have to pay over and above ECB interest rates? Someone will lend to us – but at a huge premium and probably a rationed amount of cash.

This means the most heavily indebted country in Europe is facing interest rate hikes and a massive contraction of credit from bust banks, which are looking for more cash from us. This can only be generated by more government borrowing, which drives down the rating on the debt further, drives up the cost of money to businesses and increases the likely tax hikes. Recovery, how are you?

I lived in Russia too long and listened to drivel about the whopping grain harvest in Ukraine as we queued for bread. We are hearing the same nonsense from our government and their lackeys on the radio and in print these days. As that great economic thinker, Chuck D of rap group Public Enemy, once said:

‘‘Don’t believe the hype.”

Source: David McWilliams Website

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Please Support our Up Coming trip to Haiti

HAITI CONNECT | Help Us Deploy Telecoms Engineers to Haiti | Your Much Needed Support Greatly Appreciated!

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:01:00 +0000

Hi There,

Over the last couple of weeks I am sure (like myself) you have been horrified and deeply saddened with the terrible news coming out of Haiti.

In the next week or so "Haiti Connect" will be in Port au Prince to assist in the rebuild process (Myself included).

Haiti Connect is a volunteer initiative started literally hours after the recent earthquake devastated the island of Haiti on January 12th 2010.

The aim of Haiti Connect is to assemble and deploy a team of qualified engineers and support staff to Haiti with a mission to build a number of WiFi Mesh Networks. These networks will be suitable for both Voice (VOIP) & Data Traffic enabling Internet Access and Telephone Services. Haiti Connect will give access to these networks to any party that needs it but we will put the emphasis on providing services for civilians and civilian authorities.

Haiti Connect is on schedule to deploy it's first team to Haiti early February to start this vital work on providing this much needed communications service to those operating on the ground in Haiti.

How can YOU help?

Well there are a list of ways that you can help, the obvious is funding and donations. Haiti Connect is a volunteer initiative, so cash donations are definitely welcome (No matter how big or small, we appreciate ALL donations as it will cost us a significant amount of money to deploy and maintain our team in Haiti).

Please make your donations via Paypal at the Haiti Connect website

Equipment Donations | What We Need!

Haiti Connect is in the process of building its team and sourcing the specialised equipment needed to fulfil its mission successfully.

Again, on our website there is a list of equipment, services and tools we'll need once on the ground in Haiti. While much of this is technical equipment, we will obviously need a lot of support equipment (i.e. Tents, Medical Supplies, Cooking equipment, Food Supplies etc) See list of equipment, services and tools we'll need once on the ground in Haiti.

If you (Or your company) would like to help us source some of this equipment, then please, contact us by email at:

support@haiti-connect.org

(Please Quote DSN Blog Donation in your email subject).

Once again, ALL donations no matter how big or small appreciated!

If you are a Twitter User, please follow us at: @haiti_connect

You can also connect to the Haiti Connect Site via the Direct Source Network Website

***IMPORTANT | Please Tweet, Digg, Stumble and spread the word about Haiti Connect via your LinkedIn, Plaxo FriendFeed and Facebook contacts (And any other Social Media tool you use).

Once again, setting up this type of communications network is a key component which will allow the NGO's and Charities on the ground co-ordinate and successfully distribute aid to the towns and villages in Haiti most effected by the quake.

So please, donate what you can.

Thank You.

Phil Finane | Direct Source Network

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Providing emergency communications for Haiti | Read More at BLITZKRIEG BOPP

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:34:00 +0000

As we all know by now Haiti has been devasted by the recent Earthquake, and while much of the rest of the world mobilises in a relief effort reports coming out of Port-au-Prince are telling us that the relief effort is being hampered due to the bottle-necks and logistics issues causing delays in getting aid to those in need on the ground.

Restoring communication systems and networks is a major priority. And while Digicel, and Comcel (Haiti's two Mobile operators) and the US Army are working hard to restore Comms more needs to be done.

A contact of mine here in Ireland called Evert Bopp is trying to pull together a WiFi solution and needs help to get things going ASAP.

To gain an understanding of Evert's plan and to contact him directly, please click here.

Update (As of the 22nd Jan) For an Update on Evert's progress in recent days, click here (People, this is growing legs and is going to happen!!! Please Support!!!)

Evert is a well respected Telecoms entreprenuer here in Ireland, and I know he is VERY serious about getting this WiFi offering up an running in Haiti ASAP, giving NGO's and others participating in the relief effort on the ground a much needed and reliable comms network.

Please, no time wasters. Evert needs tech expertise, equipment offers and specialty expertise.

Please get intouch if you can help. At the very least, please pass the URL of this blog entry to your friends and colleagues.

Thank You.

Phil Finane | Direct Source Network

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Senior HR Manager | Hi-End (Luxury Goods) Retailer | Asia Pacific Territory

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:24:00 +0000

Direct Source Network has been working closely with a major European Retailer (Hi-End Luxury goods) that is expanding quickly in the China /Asia /Pacific Rim region.

To help facilitate this growth the company now requires a Senior HR Manager to structure and develope their growth in several new territories in the Asia Pacific region in 2010.

The HR Manager role will be based in Manila, The Philippines and report directly into the Regional CEO and will also report /liaise with HR counterparts in London and Paris.

Ideally the Senior HR Manager will have a strong background in Retail (5yrs+) ideally in a Major European or US Retail organisation (Preferably with real exposure to Asian markets).

Applicants must be degree educated (Business, Sales and Marketing or Retail related) and must be CIPD (or similar) qualified.

For more information about this excellent opportunity, CV's must be sent to Direct Source Network by January 25th (We will contact and schedule interviews with suitable applicants by February 2nd).

_________________________________________________

For more information about this and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks main Jobs Page s (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

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Available Opportunities Via the Direct Source Network | Jan 2010

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:09:00 +0000

As we are now into Jan 2010, I am delighted to inform you that Direct Source Network are currently working on a range of open job requisitions which our clients wish to complete ASAP.

A Selection of Available Opportunities (Jan 2010):

Recruitment Manager (Contract)
Telecoms | Canada ($90 - 100k pa)

Commercial Manager
Telecoms | Canada ($100 - 110k pa)

Sales Director
Management Consultancy | Canada ($140 - 160kpa)

Commercial Finance Manager
WiMAX Operator | Taiwan ($110-130k pa)

On-site Project Finance Manager
Energy Sector | Sub Sahara Africa (Neg)

Head of Accounts
Hi-End Retailer | Singapore ($100-130k pa)

Marketing and Branding Director
Hi-End Retailer | The Philippines ($100 - 130k pa)

Chief Commercial Officer (Brand New Role)
Telecoms | South Pacific (Neg)

Chief Technology Officer
Telecoms | South Pacific (Neg)

Apply Today, visit the Direct Source Network main Jobs Pages.
_______________________________________

Direct Source Network also has visibility of several other Expat C-Level and Senior Management opportunities coming up in the very near future.

Finance Function
Telecoms | Caribbean, South Pacific, China, Middle East

HR Function
Telecoms | Caribbean, South Pacific, USA

Finance Function
Retail | Philippines, Singapore, South Korea

Operations Function
Energy | Sub Sahara Africa

Commercial Function
Telecoms | Caribbean, South Pacific, USA, Canada, UK

For more information, visit the Direct Source Network main Jobs Pages.

___________________________________________
Shaping up for 2010

Over the last few weeks we've been speaking with several new and existing companies who are in the process of planning their Hiring schedule for 2010. I am delight to say that Direct Source Network will be working closely with them to resource suitable headcount into the New Year.

To be kept up today with these opportunities as they arise, I'd suggest that you Subscribe to our Expat Jobs Blog or RSS Feed

___________________________________________
PLEASE, if you have Friends or Colleagues who are in the job market now (or might be looking for a new opportunity soon), please forward this mail onto them.

In the meantime, we look forward to communicating with you going forward.

Best Regards,

Philip Finane | Direct Source Network

Commercial Finance Manager | Telecoms (WiMAX) | Taiwan | Apply Today!

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working with a Taipei based Telecoms Operator which is in the process of rolling out it's WiMAX offerings in 2010.

To drive the process there is a requirement for an Commercial Finance Manager to join the team (This will be a minimum two year Expat assignment).

Working within the Finance team, the Commercial Finance Manager will be responsible for Undertaking financial evaluations and commercial reviews in support of contract negotiations/renewals including cost & benefit analysis, sensitivity analysis, pricing, payment and funding reviews advice on management information required from supplier to assist in managing contract, general financial advice.

The job holder will also be tasked with developing and maintaining relationships across the business providing sound financial advice on business matters.

The ideal candidate must have strong commercial knowledge of the Telecoms and WiMAX sector and will have have a minimum of 5 years PQE in a Telecoms environment (Ideally time spent within a WiMAX rollout scenario is desirable).

Applicants MUST be qualified accountants (Either ACA, ACCA or CIMA).

For more information about this and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks main Jobs Pages (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

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Iceland shows importance of putting people before banks | David McWilliams

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:50:00 +0000

Yesterday the, largely ceremonial, president of Iceland stood up for what is right. He decided that it was not democratic for the Icelandic government to insist that the Icelandic people pay foreign depositors who deposited money in Icelandic banks that subsequently went bust.

The president refused to sign the parliament’s bill, which would have penalised the Icelandic people for the mistakes of the executives of the Icelandic banks. He concluded that this was not reasonable as the banking mess was not the fault of the average Icelander. Iceland will have a referendum on the issue now.

This move implies that Iceland might jeopardise its access to IMF funds as well as definitely knock back its aspirations to join the EU.

The official line peddled by the international bureaucrats is that standing up for the small guy undermines Iceland’s credibility. However, the president decided that if credibility in the eyes of the foreign investors comes via hoodwinking the average Icelandic citizen into footing the bill for a mistake the financial markets facilitated, then it was better to be not credible.

This type of credibility undermines democracy and the basic idea that the government represents the people. In so doing he has stood up for something which is now, sadly, profound and unusual in modern politics — he is championing the interests of the small man in a small democracy.

At the press conference, President Olafur Grimsson referred to a petition which raised signatures from thousands of ordinary citizens who were set against bailing out the banks at the people’s expense. The petitioners went on to argue that foreign depositors (mainly Dutch and British) took out deposits in Icelandic banks because the banks were offering interest rates that were much higher than in the UK or Holland. In economics the iron rule is, the higher the return offered, the higher the risk offered.

The Icelanders are simply saying that your investments have nothing to do with us and, therefore, the solution to the depositors’ dilemma is not the immediate concern of the average cod fisherman from the Westman Island or any other part of Iceland for that matter.

In a country where the president occupies a similar position to our own, this was only the second time a president has ever declined to sign a parliamentary bill.

The Icelandic story is a mirror image of Ireland’s. However, unlike the Irish case where the average person is being asked to pay the bondholders of the banks — the creditors who speculated on such gems as Anglo Irish Bank — the Icelanders are taking a different tack.

They have decided that the people — not the elites or the “insiders” — must decide. This country clearly is a proper democracy; not one run by politicians who are part of an insider group up to their teeth in property and who can’t see that they represent the people, not the elite.

In its most simple terms, Iceland is a country with a banking system attached. In contrast, Ireland is a banking system with a country attached to it.

In the past five years, the Icelandic banks behaved precisely like our own. They lent to anyone and anything but, in the main, they lent to their mates. When they ran out of Icelandic deposits, they borrowed abroad to finance their expansion. They issued debts and when they could no longer issue enough debt, they took in deposits.

When the system crashed, the foreign depositors and the bondholders got caught. You can rightly ask what in God’s name were English depositors doing putting their life savings into Icelandic banks that they had never heard of?

Now let us move to the ramifications of the Icelanders’ democratic stance. Officials are aghast. According to the men who run the Department of Finance here, if we were to do something similar and negotiate a deal with our foreign bank creditors, Ireland would be declared a pariah. They claim interest rates would rocket and the world would shun us.

If their view is right, interest rates in Iceland should have jumped yesterday on the news of a referendum. But they didn’t — Icelandic interest rates hardly budged from their present 7pc.

By the way, when I was in Reykjavik last May interest rates stood at 15pc. Yes, they are high, but interest rates in Iceland are coming down in line with inflation, as any basic economic textbook would predict.

More significantly, long-term interest rates, which gauge the long-term risk in a country, have also fallen to 7pc in Iceland.

This means investors believe there is no real extra risk in Iceland in the future. My guess is that Iceland’s credit rating will rise on this news, not fall.

The reason for this counterintuitive stance is the same reason John Maynard Keynes argued against reparations being imposed on Germany after the First World War. Keynes argued that if you impose the debts of a past regime on a new regime, the economy and politics will suffer.

In a similar vein, the Icelandic president has decided that it is unfair to lumber the average citizen with the sins of Iceland’s financial generals. The specific case in Iceland involves one bust bank, but has ramifications for the whole country. Foreign depositors are owed €3.8bn by Icebank.

The EU stipulated that the average Icelandic citizen should pay €12,000 each to cover this. The EU and the IMF said further aid to Iceland is dependent on this deal. This president has stated that if the price of this EU and IMF help is penalising the citizen, then it is a price so high that it must be passed by referendum. In short, the outsiders (the citizens) should not be forced to bail out the insiders (the banks).

In their president, the outsiders in Iceland have a champion. Who champions the outsiders in Ireland? Who in our political class shouts stop, enough is enough? Who is prepared to say there is a difference between right and wrong?

Finally, who has the courage to point out that, in financial terms, far from being penalised, Iceland is being rewarded by gradually falling interest rates.

In Ireland we can’t tell the difference between right and wrong, and worse still, we are not even getting the supposed financial bonanza for being “good boys” and siding with the international bankers. We are still paying nearly twice as much as Germany to borrow money.

Iceland is showing our politicians another way. These are not easy decisions — and it would have been much better if the country had never got into this mess — but at least they are dealing with it. Similarly, it would have been better if we never got into this mess too, but here we are.

Iceland proves that there is an alternative — are any of our politicians, from the President down, prepared to listen?

Source: David McWilliams Blog

Looking for a Job in 2010? Visit the DSN Jobs Pages Right Now.
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Engineering Procurement Manager | Telecoms Provider | Beijing, China | Apply TODAY!

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:08:00 +0000

2yr Expat Assignment

Apply TODAY!

Direct Source Network is working closely with a Telecoms Provider which is growing steadily within the China region.

Due to an Expat rotation, there is now an opening for a Procurement Manager to take over the purchasing and inventory duties for an Engineering Division based in Beijing. This will be a 2yr Expat Assignment which will begin at the end of March 2010.

The Engineering Procurement Manager must have at least 6yrs post qualification Procurement and Contracts Management experience within a Tier 1 Telecoms Provider environment (Ideally at Group level) servicing either a Engineering Division or IT /Data Centre.

Reporting to the Head of Operations, the role will lead the procurement service within the Engineering Division and will have responsibility for all operational procurement and contracts throughout the Chinese business.

For more information about this Procurement Assignment, view the job spec at the DSN Website

Interested parties must submit a CV via our Websites Job Pages
________________________________________________

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JOB SEEKERS 2010 | New Opportunities Added Weekly by Direct Source Network

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:14:00 +0000

CLIENT SECTORS | Telecoms, Oil and Gas, Financial Services, Technology

Keep up to date and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Plaxo

As we enter 2010, the Direct Source Network will be assisting a growing number of client companies source C-Level, Senior and Mid Management level professionals across a number of industry sectors and geographical locations.

So if you are a pro-active Job Seeker, or just someone who’d like to keep their career options open in these recessionary times, then you should connected with the Direct Source Network today!

Now there are even more ways to keep informed about current and future job opportunities as they come up.

Bookmark our Main Website and regularly review our Jobs Pages

Follow on Twitter

Join the DSN LinkedIn Group

Join the DSN Plaxo Group

View our Expat Jobs Blog

Subscribe to our RSS Feed

We are adding new jobs to our blog feeds and jobsites regularly.

So please, get in touch....

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Senior Finance Management Roles | Telecoms Sector | Multiple Jobs in Various Worldwide Locations

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:56:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working closely with two high profile fixed line telecoms companies and several aggressively expanding operators in the mobile market.

Each of these companies have multiple OpCo's around the globe and each of these companies will be looking to recruit Senior level Finance Professionals into LIVE open vacancies Q1 2010.

There are positions available in:

Eastern Europe
North America (USA & Canada)
Caribbean
South America
China
South Pacific
Middle East
Sub Sahara Africa

IF you are a Senior Finance Professional (ie. Finance Manager, Finance Director, CFO operating at either Group or OpCo level) looking for a new assignment in 2010, and you have REAL experience within a Telecoms Operator Environment (Either Fixed line, Mobile or Internet Service Provider) then the Direct Source Network would be delighted to hear from you.
Due to the sensitive nature of some of these job opportunities, exact details about names of operators and locations will only be discussed post receipt of CV with applicants deemed suitable (All applications received will be treated in the strictest of confidence!)

For more information about these and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks Main Jobs Pages (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

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LINKEDIN POLL | Will You Be a Jobseeker in 2010?

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:11:00 +0000

As we exit 2009 many workers around the world will be worried about their future employment status and prospects... While many have already been impacted significantly by the on going worldwide recession (whether it be a loss in earnings due to pay cuts or worse yet, redundancy), this year has been an absolute dog of a year to many of our readers.

Listening to and reading recent reports from politicians, industry leaders, economic analysts and media pundits, I personally am fairly confused with all of the "noise" surrounding the future.

Over the last month I've spent a lot of time (probably too much time) on the various job boards and social media forums I subscribe to trying to get a handle on what 2010 will serve up. While I am personally optimistic and believe DSN has sliced out a nice niche for itself in the expat recruitment market I still have many concerns and fears about what the next 12 months has in store...

Will we have a double dip in the global economy?

Will the USA lead the rest of the world out of this recession in late 2010?

Will we have to bail out yet more financial institutions?

What will be the general trends going forward in the job market?

There are a lot of questions, but who has the answers...?

With the Job Market question in mind, I invite you to partake in a LinkedIn Poll I've composed named "Will You Be a Jobseeker in 2010?"

If you are a LinkedIn user, I'd appreciate your time (It will take less than 20 seconds). It contains a batch of simple, yet straight forward questions which I hope will reveal a snapshot of what the Job Market is looking like as we enter 2010.

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For News about upcoming Job Opportunities in 2010, then we invite you to join the DSN LinkedIn Group

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Onsite Project Finance Manager | Energy Consultancy | Sub Sahara Africa | Apply Today!

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working closely with a Major European Energy Consultancy which has invested significantly in several energy exploration projects in the Sub Sahara African region.

In early 2010 this company now wish to appoint a Project Finance Manager to act as their Financial Representative onsite liaising with Programme Management Directors, Engineering Management, Procurement and Staff Resourcing functions.

Ideally the Onsite Finance Manager will have strong International experience within the Oil & Gas or Alternative Energy Sector (Ideally in African or Middle East Market).

To be considered for this role you will need to be a Qualified Accountant with a minimum of 6yrs PQE.
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Recruitment Manager (18month Contract) | Telecoms Provider | Canada | Apply Today

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:47:00 +0000

Apply TODAY!
Recruitment Process Begins Jan 2010

Direct Source Network is working with a North American Telecoms Service Provider which is expanding operations in 2010.

To facilitate this growth, the company now requires the services of a "Recruitment Manager" for it's Canadian OpCo. This will be an 18 month contract assignment that will be based in Toronto, Canada.

The ideal applicant will be able to demonstrate strong (Strategic and hands on) recruitment and resourcing ability within a Telecoms environment, and will have previously worked for a Tier Telecoms Provider (Ideally in Europe or North America).

The Recruitment Manager will report into the US based "Head of Resourcing" and will work off an already signed off recruitment intake plan for 2010.

The ideal candidate must be a self starter and be able to get up and running quickly. Working closely with local HR Team and Functional Line Managers.

To set up relationships with internal heads of functions and business stake holders their will be a requirment to travel across Canada to regional offices to ensure (initially) a smooth handover of recruitment processes and then (going forward) agreement of service levels and standards to internal customers.

The Recruitment Manager is also required to have a strong functional understanding of emerging Social Media and Online Networking tools (i.e. Maximising LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook, Twitter, Friendfeed, RSS Feeds etc) and use this technology successfully within the hiring proccess.

This is an 18 month contract assignment (With the possibility of extention if there is a business requirement).

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Head of Accounts required in Hi-End Retail Sector | Singapore | Major Job Opportunity 2010

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:07:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working closely with a major European FMCG Retail Company with Op-Co's throughout Asia and the Middle East.

Due to an internal promotion, there is now an opening for a "Head of Accounts" within their Singapore Business.

This is a 2yr Expat Assignment (Which we've just been informed is likely to become a permanent job requirement in early 2010), and is open to ACCA qualified Accountants with Head of Function experience (Ideally with 8+ years PQE).

Suitable applicants will have experience working within an FMCG related or Retail Sector (High Value goods end). Someone with Strong Billing (i.e. Coming from a Utilities sector) is also desirable.

As this is an Expat opportunity, we expect the annual salary will be in the region of €120k (Tax Free for European Union Applicants). Recent applicants hired by this company via DSN also received a very generous Package, Bonus and reloction allowance.

For more information about this and other available Expat Jobs, please visit Direct Source Networks main Jobs Page s (New jobs coming soon in 2010)

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Country on doomed course with ‘insiders’ at the helm | David McWilliams

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:37:00 +0000

In recent weeks I’ve been travelling around the country, talking to people and listening to ideas about how best to get out of this mess. What is coming up in all conversation is the sense that the insiders in Ireland are getting away with it and the outsiders are being asked to take most of the pain.

To the people I’m chatting with, whether in Kilkenny, Limerick or Cork, there is a palpable sense that those on the inside are not paying for their mistakes — rather those on the outside are paying. People seem to be waiting for regime change but it’s not happening.

The bankers are the financial equivalent of the bishops. Like the Church hierarchy, the banking hierarchy is not resigning. In fact they are regrouping and getting stronger at the top, taking State money without any conditions.

Meanwhile, the politicians are spinning that the boom was a collective madness and we are all to blame, which of course absolves them of any culpability. The big estate agents who facilitated all the property nonsense by their ridiculous valuations are set to make millions from fees to NAMA and the little guy is being asked to bail out the big guy and take cuts in his wages to boot.

“Surely,” people are saying, “a crisis should lead to change, to reappraisal and should usher in a new generation who will sweep away the old and start again with new ideas and new ways of doing things?”

In terms of countries that learned from crises, time and again we come back to Scandinavia, not because they have invented some crisp, environmentally friendly Utopia up there, but because in the face of crises they appear serious about learning from their mistakes and changing the system.

In their banking crisis of 1992/3, the Scandinavians moved swiftly to get rid of the old guard by protecting the interests of their citizens at all costs. Take the example of Sweden. In five months, Sweden guaranteed its banking system, nationalised its banks, let some others go bust, set up two bad banks, didn’t use public money until shareholders’ money was used up and then it devalued its currency to give its exporters a chance.

The Swedes, Finns and Norwegians smashed the old guard that was responsible for the mess. They moved to oust the insiders, to the benefit of new management — the outsiders.

In Ireland, the opposite has been the case. The main players in politics are still here. The party that got us into this mess is still in power. The banks still have the main guys at the top and the union leaders, who were part of the “nod and wink” status quo of the past 10 years, are still at the helm. In other words, the insiders are still very much on the inside, while the outsiders are locked out.

This “insider/outsider” view of society is an interesting way of looking at the country. But because the outsiders are not a unified force and there is no unified representative of the outsiders, this world is rarely commented upon in the media.

In short, the insiders are those with a large and well-organised stake in our country. They are the political class, the media, the large protected industries and the civil service. They are the union leaders and the IBEC leaders. All these people have a stake in the society. They are by no means the root of our problems, but they are a power grouping with a voice and an influence.

In contrast, the “outsiders” include the young and particularly the young who are unemployed. Today 30pc of those under 25 are unemployed. This is a shocking figure. The outsiders also include small businesses, which are struggling badly, those on welfare who feel abandoned and those who are emigrating in large numbers again. Their stake in Ireland has always been tenuous. During the boom they were temporarily inside the big tent but once the bust came they were out in the cold again.

Given this power structure, it is interesting to see that, in a crisis, Sweden, Denmark and Norway are monarchies that actually behave like republics where the people are looked after, whereas Ireland is a republic that behaves like a monarchy where the elite cling on, looking down on the people.

However, this can’t last because without a change in Ireland, the economy will continue to contract. The world sees through us. The State and the bankers don’t seem to understand that we are now living in an instantaneous world, where information is free and available. You can’t pull the wool over everyone’s eyes indefinitely.

In recent days there has been much backslapping from the Government because of a vaguely positive editorial in the ‘Financial Times’. In fact, I was on the ‘Frontline’ programme on Monday night with a minister who claimed that the Government and, by extension, the banks were getting plaudits for the Budget and new management of the country’s finances.

But the real proof is not in words but in actions. Despite all the tough talk about cutting this and that, the financial markets have decided that the risk of default in Ireland is probably about the same today as it was last week. The reason for this is that the markets know that there is a nasty surprise coming in the guise of a broken bank system, which will suffer in the face of growing mortgage default, credit card default and the like next year.

As a result, yesterday the shares of Ireland’s banks fell dramatically because the financial markets realise that a country which doesn’t change in a crisis is a country that can’t be taken seriously.

If we are to come out of this catastrophe stronger, the outsiders must become insiders and the insiders become outsiders. That’s what local people and international investors are looking for. Never before have the issues been clearer.

Source: David McWilliam's Blog

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Happy Christmas from Direct Source Network

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:47:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas. After a tough year goneby, here is hoping 2010 is a prosperous one for you on the career front.

Direct Source Network has great plans for next year, and in Q1 2010 several of our clients will be (thankfully) recruiting again.

Upcoming Opportunities in 2010.

Direct Source Network has been speaking with several new and existing client companies over the last couple of months and we are delighted to say that we'll be assisting them with their hiring schedule from January 6th.

Client Sectors and Locations:

Telecoms Fixed Line Operators (USA, Canada, UK, China and France)

Telecoms Services and Infrastructure (USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Middle East)

Mobile Operators (Caribbean, South Pacific, Middle East, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland)

Mobile Telecoms related supplier (UK, Caribbean, Middle East and USA)

Software House (The Netherlands, China, USA)

Hi-Value Retailer (Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific)

Oil and Gas Energy Company (Middle East, South America)

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Right now there are C-Level and Senior Management Expat assignment opportunities in the following functions:

Financial, Technology / IT, Commercial, Sales and Business Development

Human Resources, Operations, Engineering

For more information, visit the Direct Source Network main Jobs Pages.
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To be kept up to date with these opportunities as they arise, I'd suggest that you Subscribe to our Expat Jobs Blog or RSS Feed
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PLEASE, if you have Friends or Colleagues who are in the job market now (or might be looking for a new opportunity in early 2010), please forward this mail onto them.

In the meantime, once again, have a Peaceful Christmas Holiday.

Best Regards,

Philip Finane | Direct Source Network

Sales Director required for Canadian based Management Consultancy | Jobs in 2010

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working with a Management Consultancy in Toronto, Canada.
This company specialise in developing and rolling out Bespoke Financial Management solutions within the North American market place. Growing from strength to strength, the company now wish to appoint a Sales Director who will be tasked with driving sales pipeline and delivering additional hi-value clients in 2010/11.

Ideally the Sales Director will have 8yrs+ Sales Leadership expertise within a Management Consultancy or Software House environment either in the North American or European market place (Experience within a Big 4 environment or coming directly from tier one companies like IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun Microsystems etc preferred selling Hi-ticket Financial modules or systems into C-Level).

For more information about this Sales Director role, view the job spec at the DSN Website

Interested parties must submit a CV via our Websites Job Pages
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Will you be a JOB SEEKER in 2010?

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:10:00 +0000

CLIENT SECTORS | Telecoms, Oil and Gas, Financial Services, Technology

Keep up to date and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Plaxo

As we head into 2010, the Direct Source Network will be assisting a growing number of client companies source C-Level, Senior and Mid Management level professionals across a number of industry sectors and geographical locations.

So if you are a pro-active Job Seeker, or just someone who’d like to keep their career options open in these recessionary times, then you should connect with the Direct Source Network today!

Now there are even more ways to keep informed about current and future job opportunities as they come up.

Bookmark our Main Website and regularly review our Jobs Page

Follow on Twitter

Join the DSN LinkedIn Group

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We are adding new jobs to our blog feeds and jobsites regularly.

So please, get in touch....

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Senior Software Engineering Technical Consultant | Banking Services | New York City

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:19:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working closely with a major Services Company within the Banking space that is looking to recruit a 'Senior Software Engineering Technical Consultant' for a 2-3 yr Expat Assignment.
The role will be based in New York City (Applicants MUST be willing to travel regularly between New York, London and the Cayman Islands for the duration of the contract - Up to 50% travel at times).

Technical Skillsets Required:

Successful candidates will have strong programming and database skills, Oracle and PL/SQL preferred.
Strong UNIX experience (SUN-Solaris, HP-UX) and Windows XP.
Ability to read and debug Java is required to look at internal code (Java Programming desirable).
Previous experience with an enterprise Banking Application software company is desired. An ERP background is obviously a plus.

Ability to work within and positively influence a multiple teams environment is a must have skill.

Primary Job Duties/Responsibilities:

Consult with inhouse partners providing in-depth technical knowledge and guidance assisting them in designing, building and optimizing.
In conjunction with colleagues and clients, ensure solution requirements are satisfied through successful implementation and execution of the solution plan. Support installing and setup of technical environment.
While onsite, provide weekly status updates to the Solutions Project Manager and Services Management on project progress with escalation of application integration issues as appropriate.
Liaison between Services and the Development team providing field feedback to the R & D team as required.
Incorporate best practices into reusable deliverables to promote continuous improvements in client implementations.
Perform weekly mandatory administrative duties on time, including Time and Expense, Status Reports and active participation within internal Team Meetings.
Support development of pilot data models and responding to technical/architectural issues.

This is a Director level position, and the package will reflect the required skillset and job pressures (Salary in the region of $180k plus generous package).

Only applicants who apply via the Direct Source Network website will be considered for this role.

Interested parties must submit CV via our Website to be considered.
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Commercial Managers required by a Telecoms Operator in Canada | Apply Today!

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:21:00 +0000

Direct Source Network has just started working with a leading Telecoms Provider in North America.

Due to expected growth in 2010 they now wish to engage three (3) Commercial Managers in Canada to assist them grow their Business across the territories.

The Commercial Managers will be responsible for ensuring products and related promotions are delivered on time and to budget and achieve their desired effect within their given Canadian territory. The Commercial Managers will also be responsible for all Corporate Affairs in the territory and will also be a key controller of the Retail and Consumer Sales departments in the region.

For more information about these 3 Commercial Management roles, apply today at the Direct Source Network Website

Interested parties must submit a CV via our Job Pages

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JOB OPPORTUNITY | Finance Director required in Hi-Value Retailer Operation | Dubai, U.A.E.

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:47:00 +0000

Direct Source Network is working closely with a Hi-Value Gifts company within the Emirates which is going through restructuring. During this transition there is a requirement for a Finance Director (Expected engagement period is an 18 - 24 month Contract period).

Due to challenging trading times, the Finance Director (Reporting to the Local CEO) will be involved with redefining the companies 4yr business plan (Demonstratable expertise in developing realistic business plans is essential). During the contract period the Finance Director will manage two Finance Managers (Purchasing and Accounts) two Accountants and two Administrators. The FD will take responsibility for overall management and delivery of the business plan.

Financial Management

The FD will maintain day-to-day financial control of the Dubai Operation within budget.
Ensure that all finances are properly administered and monitored, including credit control.
Advise on the proper allocation of resources.
Ensure that appropriate financial regulations and controls are in place and in use at all times.
Make regular reports to the governing body on income, expenditure and any variations from budgets (Must be capable of presenting at C-Level).
Ensure that all financial reporting obligations are met in relation to submissions for funding, for grant aid, for contracts and any other initiatives.
Act as cheque signatory for and authorize expenditure up to limits as agreed by the board.

This role will suit a "hard nosed" Finance Director who is focused and NOT afraid to recommend and make hard decisions under pressure.

For more information about this role, visit the Direct Source Network Website

Interested parties must submit a CV via our Website
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Ghettoisation of a Nation | David McWilliams

information@directsource-network.com (Philip Finane) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Last Friday’s 9.55am train from Limerick pulled out on time, hurtling towards the ‘Junction’. As we sped past the waterlogged land on a beautiful morning, commuters on the train were going about their business as normal, reading about the treacherous Thierry Henry in the paper and chatting to friends on the phone.

As we arrived at Limerick Junction – a bleak enough place which hasn’t changed an iota since the early 1980s – a talkative grandmother cornered me to discuss the ‘‘situation’’. I regretted having the last pint in Limerick’s wonderful White House the night before. It probably wasn’t absolutely necessary.

The Cork train arrived just in time and I settled in, gazing out the window and thinking about how normal the country seemed, even though we are nearly bankrupt. Is this how it will be? Will we meander on as if nothing is happening, until we wake up and realise that the credit taps have been turned off?

When you look for real signs of the massive fall in our income, when you look for signs of the €20 billion-odd budget deficit, it is easy to convince yourself that these things are remote. But as you travel through the countryside ,you slowly begin to see the trauma. Every town the train passes through has the same ‘ghost estates’ on the outskirts – desperate places that are worth nothing, or next to nothing. How will these mortgages ever be paid?

At Thurles, the guy opposite me got chatting about how he’d lost his job in April. He was a young accountant, and he was going to Dublin to do his fourth interview since then. He had expected to bounce back in May or maybe June, but having scoured the papers since then, he was beginning to sink. He’d expected dozens of interviews and was confident that, having finished the first year of training, he’d be fine. But six months on, nothing was emerging. He was 24.

We nattered away until Heuston Station and, as we came closer and closer to Dublin, more and more ghost estates appeared.

From Kildare to Dublin, all we saw were rows and rows of empty housing estates, which were beginning to suffer from what has been called the ‘broken windows theory’.

This is when a neighbourhood begins to falter. A window is broken here and there, and soon the place starts disintegrating. If the windows are not fixed straight away, it sends out a signal that it is fine to break windows. Then the rot sets in.

In time, rather than being ‘worth something’, the houses begin to cost the owners. But the owners might have lost their jobs, so they don’t have the cash to fix up the house and, in short order, the places become quasi-ghettos. This has happened in many parts of the US. It could well happen here.

The key to the ghettoisation of our ghost estates will be the rate of unemployment.

If unemployment continues its upward trend, these places will be abandoned – and might ultimately be pulled down in a crime prevention move in the years ahead. The one thing that will drive crime in the years ahead is youth unemployment (but more on that later).This all sounds radical now, but the lesson from this crisis is that what sounded radical last year is now mainstream, and what sounded mainstream last year just sounds silly.

If we look at the chart from the US, we can see a clear correlation between the rise in unemployment and the number of properties that are being foreclosed on.

While there are outliers like Florida, where foreclosures seem to be running way ahead of unemployment – probably due to defaults on the huge amount of holiday homes in the state – the trend is pretty much as you’d expect.

In Ireland, we will see a similar pattern emerging. I expect unemployment to rise significantly next year as the financial industry contracts. This will mean large layoffs in our banks and insurance companies.

As well as this, the public sector will contract after the budget cuts, and retail employment will fall away after Christmas under the twin pressures of higher taxes and charges, and the strong euro driving thousands over the border to shop.

If we look at our unemployment figures, we see a potentially explosive rise in youth unemployment, which has not been properly documented yet. According to the CSO’s quarterly national household survey,12.1 per cent of our 15to 19-yearolds were unemployed in July 2007.This has jumped to a terrifying 36.4 per cent. Think about it – more than a third of our youth who are not in education are unemployed.

In the next age group, the 20to 24year-olds, the figures are equally frightening. When this government came into power, 8 per cent of this group were unemployed. This figure stands at 23 per cent, or close to one in four, today. In the key 25-34 age group – the ‘Pope’s Children Generation’ -13.4 per cent are out of work now, as opposed to 4.7 per cent the month that this government won the election.

The three-fold rise in unemployment in the 25-34 age group is why defaults will increase dramatically. These are the first time buyers who were shamefully cajoled into getting on the property ladder. Now they can’t repay their loans. Many thousands will simply walk away from their houses, hand in the keys and turn their backs on yesterday’s false dream.

When these houses become vacant – with no one to rent them, because you need jobs to have a healthy rental market – these estates will become classic breeding grounds for marginalisation. Some of the 35 per cent of those between 15 and 19 who are idle won’t be long finding these estates to hang out in. This is the way it goes.

The gardaí will eventually stop patrolling the estates, and the places will fall apart. Again, we have the evidence from US cities which, in the 1970s and 1980s, were allowed to deteriorate. The people who live in these estates will try to maintain standards, but they will eventually flee in the face of constant crime.

Many of the young men like the guy I met on the train will just head off if they can’t find jobs, and try their luck in the likes of London, Sydney or Boston. We are just witnessing the tip of the iceberg now.

We are living in extraordinary times, and we need extraordinary policy changes. Thus far, we are just seeing incrementalism because we have been lulled into a false sense of security by the calm before the storm. However, to get out of this mess, we will need to entertain extraordinary remedies. Otherwise, a country with close to 30 per cent of its youth under the age of 25 on the dole could become very, very angry.

Source: David McWilliams Blog

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