Creating Treasury Structure in a Decentralised World: What Actually Works | Treasury Careers Podcast

Bringing order to financial chaos requires more than policies and processes.

In this episode, Ritu Narula, SVP Finance and Treasurer at Hilco Global, shares how she has built centralized, high-performing treasury and finance teams across geographies and cultures by focusing on what actually works in decentralized organizations.

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Featuring

Ritu Narula

SVP Finance and Treasurer at Hilco Global

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Mike Richards

CEO, The Treasury Recruitment Company

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About this episode

Ritu Narula is the Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Hilco Global, a global financial services firm specializing in asset valuation, advisory, and monetization. With over 20 years of experience, including 18 years at Stericycle, Ritu has led treasury transformations across diverse sectors and geographies. From scaling global teams to managing multi-billion dollar deals, she brings a unique blend of hands-on knowledge and strategic leadership.

In this candid conversation, Ritu walks us through her journey from a one-person treasury team to becoming a global finance leader. She shares actionable insights on building centralized treasury operations in decentralized businesses, balancing speed with controls, managing through stress, and adapting leadership styles across cultures.

What We Cover in This Episode:

Transitioning from a decentralized to a centralized treasury model
Leading treasury through rapid M&A activity and international expansion
The difference between public and private company treasury structures
Building trust and credibility in new roles and new cultures
Creating shared services from scratch and integrating global operations
Lessons in situational leadership and letting go of control
Treasury technology: from Excel chaos to automation and analytics
Cultural nuances in global banking and regional operations
Training and mentoring the next generation of finance professionals

You can connect with Ritu Narula on LinkedIn.

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Podcast 422 - Ritu Narula, SVP Finance & Treasurer, Hilco Global

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Get 80% of the answers correct in this quiz to be awarded 0.6 credits for this 30+ min episode.

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1 / 6

1. When Ritu Narula first began working in treasury early in her career, what circumstance led to her stepping into that role?

She was recruited directly into a treasury analyst role at a large corporation

She cross trained with someone doing treasury and stepped into the role after he left

She completed a treasury certification program that qualified her for the role

2 / 6

2. When Ritu Narula joined Stericycle, which description best reflects the company at that time?

It was a smaller publicly traded medical waste management company operating in a few countries and growing through acquisitions

It was already a global enterprise with fully centralized treasury operations

It had recently exited the medical waste industry and was moving into financial services

3 / 6

3. What was one key reason Ritu Narula said building processes from scratch early in her career was valuable?

It allowed her to outsource operational treasury tasks more quickly

It enabled her to understand the details of processes and better mentor her team later in her career

It meant she did not need to rely on accounting teams for treasury support

4 / 6

4. According to Ritu Narula, what was the biggest challenge when moving from regional treasury operations to a centralized global treasury team?

Negotiating lower banking fees across multiple countries

Replacing local banking partners with global banks

Convincing regional teams that centralized processes would improve efficiency while building trust with them

5 / 6

5. When discussing the shift from Excel-based processes to automated systems, what improvement did Ritu Narula highlight?

Daily global cash positions could be compiled in less than an hour instead of taking half a day

Treasury teams no longer needed to review cash data manually

All treasury reporting became fully automated without ERP systems

6 / 6

6. What advice did Ritu Narula give about approaching a new role after spending many years at one company?

Assume the processes that worked before will apply to the new company

Focus first on learning the business and company before deciding what changes are needed

Immediately implement improvements based on prior experience

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