Navigating the Cultural Shifts of International Treasury with Stephen Harper

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Featuring

Mike Richards

CEO, The Treasury Recruitment Company

About this episode

Despite treasury being an international language, there are cultural shifts that can be difficult to navigate.

We go through our Treasury Career Corner archives again for this insightful episode with Stephen Harper, currently SVP Global Treasury, Insurance & ERM at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Stephen appeared on the show in 2020 to discuss his move from banking to international treasury, what led him to these decisions and to outline the cultural shifts that pose challenges in a global treasury career.

Stephen Harper is a seasoned senior finance professional with over 20 years of experience across four continents.

He has a wealth of experience in corporate finance, business strategy, M&A, risk management, cash management, pooling and netting, investor relations and many more areas.

Starting with Merck in 1991 as Benelux/Nordic Treasurer, his career has seen him work with Flextronics International as Vice President & Corporate Treasurer, then in a similar role with Amcor Limited.

He later moved to The Nuance Group in Switzerland in 2013 as Head of Treasury & Investor Relations, before switching to Australia with Pact Group.

After three years of self-employment, he joined NIDEC EUROPE B.V. as General Manager Treasury Europe in March 2019 in Almere, Netherlands, before taking on his current role in Tel Aviv, Israel, with Teva Pharmaceuticals.

On the podcast Stephen Harper and I discuss…

  • Stephen’s transition from banking into treasury
  • Why Stephen was keen to leave the UK to grow his career
  • The key differences between UK and international treasury
  • How treasurers can prepare for a crisis
  • The evolution of treasury and Stephen’s predictions
  • Preparing to be a treasury professional post-COVID

You can connect with Stephen Harper on LinkedIn.

Are you interested in pursuing a career within Treasury?

Whether you’ve recently graduated, or you want to search for new job opportunities to help develop your treasury career, The Treasury Recruitment Company can help you in your search for the perfect job. Find out more here. Or, send us your CV and let us help you in your next career move!

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🎧 Earn CTP & FPAC Credits by Listening to the Podcast

Whether you’re at the gym, on your commute, or walking the dog – you can now make your podcast time count toward your professional development.

We’re thrilled to share that Treasury Career Corner podcast episodes now qualify for CTP and FPAC recertification credits through the AFP’s Independent Study category.

How It Works:

  • Listen to a Treasury Career Corner podcast episode
  • Complete the short multiple-choice quiz
  • Score 80%+ to pass
  • Submit your credits to AFP as part of your recertification record

➡️ Credits earned per episode length:

  • 30 mins = 0.6 credits
  • 45 mins = 0.9 credits
  • 60 mins = 1.2 credits

No filler. Just real treasury conversations covering leadership, strategy, risk, technology, and team building.

🧠 Quick Facts:

  • 📝 Quizzes contain 6–10 multiple-choice questions
  • 🎯 You need 80%+ to pass
  • ✍️ Quiz submissions are reviewed manually
  • 📋 We must then VERIFY you are a CTP treasury professional to help prevent automated or non-genuine submissions
  • ✅ Once verified, we mark your quiz and send CTP credit confirmations every Friday
  • 📨 If you need results sooner? Then email mike@treasuryrecruitment.com and we’ll try to prioritise the marking of your latest quiz

NOTE: In line with AFP compliance requirements, no more than two quizzes may be completed per day.