Meet The Team

Allow us to introduce you to Simona C. , our exceptional Finance Director here at Inventya. Simona brings a unique set of skills and experiences to her role, established through a varied and admirable career so far.

Regarding her background, Simona holds a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and a Level 4 ACCA diploma. Her first job fresh out of university in 2007 was in banking, as a corporate loan officer. She states, “This role was a great start for me, as banks have a lot of compliance requirements, and I developed a clean well-managed approach to ensure conformity with all rules and regulations. As part of the role, I assessed the financial health of companies and the commercial viability of their business ideas. Looking back, this was a stepping stone in my career.”

In 2010, Simona took some time off to volunteer for the Liverpool branch of L'Arche, a global charity that has created amazing communities where people with and without disabilities share life together. Simona lived in this community until 2012 but kept up to date with finance by volunteering one day a week in the finance department. In addition to L'Arche, Simona worked at The Women's Organisation for four years, delivering business support for women, and gaining further experience in the non-profit sector. From a financial perspective, charities have different regulatory and reporting regimes, thus these roles helped broaden her expertise further.

What ultimately helped strengthen Simona’s compliance skills were the two years she worked as a Finance Director at a solicitors' office, another heavily regulated field. She comments, “Financial compliance is an important and ongoing consideration for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. My broad experience in compliance has proven invaluable in my current role, as it helped us take on complex work, which gave us a competitive advantage. My job is to interpret rules and regulations and create a workflow according to them. To do so, I liaise with government agencies and auditors, I oversee areas of improvement and develop roadmaps for remediation.”

Since 2014, Simona has been working with public funds and has helped countless grant recipients meet their compliance obligations and deliver timely claims. She states, “Handling public money is not a case of common sense, but a fiduciary duty towards both funders and grant recipients.” She is passionate about financial management and is proud to have helped so many businesses optimize their cash flow. She says, “Securing the funds is one important milestone, but keeping them and using them right is essential to achieve the objectives of the project and product validation. I help implement efficient processes, ensure smooth claim delivery and minimise risks.” Simona has extensive experience working with government bodies and auditors, including the National Audit Office (NAO) and European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and has developed a deep understanding of niche grant requirements.

Simona joined the Inventya team in 2018 and was immediately drawn to the company's commitment to innovation and its dedication to helping businesses overcome compliance challenges. "It's great to be a small part of that. Innovation changes the world every day, and our clients do just that. They launch amazing technologies that positively impact society and create jobs in their communities." She enjoys working with like-minded colleagues who are passionate about delivering exceptional results for clients.

A couple of examples of Simona’s impact include when she successfully challenged the view of auditors who wanted to make a reduction in a client’s awarded grant. Simona's expertise and understanding of the rules saved the company considerable amounts of money, and she felt a great sense of pride in her accomplishment. Furthermore, on another project, Simona helped secure a retrospective grant amendment that helped save the client around €100,000 – another impressive feat. When asked about the proudest moment of her career with Inventya so far, Simona answered “My recent promotion to Finance Director last December. This was the culmination of years of hard work and results. The promotion was a validation of the impact I made on the business and has motivated me further to continue to drive the business forward and help our clients and funders succeed”.

On a more personal note… having grown up on a farm, Simona is a self-certified animal lover and has three cats and a dog of her own, her long-term goal is to open an animal shelter in retirement. Simona lives in the countryside and enjoys cycling and going on long walks with her dog along the scenic routes near her home. One fun fact about Simona is that she always crochets or knits while watching TV (to keep herself from snacking), she comments, “Let's say that my friends and family are all set every winter with new scarves and gloves…” Simona also enjoys the Taekwondo and Yoga classes provided by Inventya, to help her to disconnect in the middle of the working day.

For entrepreneurs and SMEs looking to innovate and grow their businesses, Simona advises accessing Innovate UK Edge programmes to unlock their growth potential. She also stresses the importance of being compliant with laws, rules, regulations, and statutory requirements to reduce risks and ensure a solid base for their business to scale on. She emphasizes the importance of not underestimating this.

Simona is an incredibly valuable member of our team here at Inventya and we feel so lucky to have her on board. Her passion for financial management, compliance, and innovation shines through in everything she does, and we're proud to call her our Finance Director.