BAT DBS Romania Hub is celebrating 15 years

Mario Calero Leyva, General Manager at DBS Romania Hub, sat down with Business Review and talked about the company’s history on the local market, highlighting the added value it brings for the local business environment.

How would you briefly describe BAT?

BAT is a leading, multi-category consumer goods business whose purpose is to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing its health impact through a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky* products for adult consumers. In Romania, BAT is represented by BAT Trading (our commercial organisation), BAT Investment (our factory, located in Ploiesti), and BAT DBS Romania Hub (our global business solutions).

What is the role of BAT DBS Romania?

At DBS, we are switching our focus to end-to-end solutions that are beyond our traditional scope, driven by market demands, in areas such as Finance, HR, Procurement, in order to unlock commercial value and help simplify the ways in which we do business. Inside DBS, we are continuously improving our operations and building new capabilities.

Who is Mario Calero Levya?

I joined BAT Colombia in 2012, where I supported the merger of BAT and Protobacco after the latter had been acquired in 2011. I had the opportunity to support process redefinition operations and implement BAT standards, create a sustainable and engaging Talent Agenda, structure a collaborative Labour Relations agenda, and kickstart ways of transforming work.

In 2017 I joined the Talent & Organisational Effectiveness Centre of Excellence in the UK, where I had the chance to support Organisation Design projects, lead our employee listening strategy, and drive the creation of the first global HR Analytics Dashboard with live data.

In 2020 I moved to Romania to lead the DBS HR organisation, which continues to position itself as more customer-centric and leverage more from data and analytics to improve existing and new processes while being more effective and efficient. I am married and have been blessed with 2 great children (twins). I enjoy running, golfing, and good food.

What’s the role of the BAT DBS Romania Hub in BAT’s larger strategy?

BAT DBS Romania is in an acentric time zone and very close to our headquarters in London, which enables this hub to be a trailblazer of transformation by delivering Value-Driven Simplification and Next-Gen Business Solutions. We host most of the global process lead roles, which means we are very well positioned to define and lead global process changes. We do this by adopting new tech and creating centralised dashboard and visual management centres of expertise.

What is DBS’s ambition for the future?

DBS is all about end-to-end solutions that we bring to BAT to create value, leverage technology & data, and streamline processes. We’ll further accelerate our automation, data, and innovation journey; empower our teams with data-driven insights and platforms; and deliver digital solutions at scale. As our people are our greatest asset, our underlying ambition is to create the best work environment so that together we can achieve our goals and at the same time help them develop meaningful careers. One of the major improvements we’re making is moving to a brand new ESG-friendly office in January 2024, which is designed for collaboration and engagement with well-being, relaxation areas, and game rooms.

In Romania we’ve seen multiple global business service centres developing in recent years. What makes BAT DBS stand out?

I truly believe that BAT DBS Romania Hub stands out because we are focusing on personal and professional growth, a flexible work environment, and diverse experiences. We believe that work should complement your life. Our working practices offer adaptable arrangements to support people’s professional and personal lives. We encourage our people to go beyond their daily tasks and focus on their long-term career journeys.

This year, BAT DBS Romania Hub is celebrating its 15-year anniversary. What do you think of its evolution over the years?

It’s been a great 15 years of learning and growth. This hub has gone from being a functional and operational Global Business Solutions centre to becoming a true end-to-end process owner, leading in business partnerships and creating value for the business at scale, quality, and speed. It is a place where the young generation can develop capabilities for the future by working in an environment where challenging the status quo is a mantra. Everyone can be in the driver’s seat and strive to only do their best. This is why I believe we are among the best! We are more data-led than ever. This allows us to have quicker and more actionable insights, and this strategically positions us to deliver value and have a high impact within our business.

What can you tell us about the company’s relocation to One Cotroceni Park?

We are excited about our new offices, which encourage different ways of innovating and working together, with spaces for collaboration and creative interaction—an important aspect for our global integrated services centre (BAT DBS Romania). The new offices will be structured to facilitate hybrid experiences for connection and work, through new technologies and space design that supports interactivity. The new location also allows us to advance our sustainability goals, focused on ESG—an aspect that I personally support and that is very important to our entire centre and to BAT’s mission to build a better tomorrow.

What is one piece of career advice you would give to our readers?

I would advise young people to focus on building a career, not just a job.

*Based on the weight of evidence and assuming a complete switch from cigarette smoking. These products are not risk free and are addictive.

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