Mr. Damaska has 35+ years of finance and operations experience. Most recently, he served as the CFO (and prior to that the Corporate Controller) of a $3 billion, global, public company (NASDAQ). Prior to those roles, he held Vice President and General Manager positions with a $1 billion German/Japanese joint venture. Phil has had full P&L responsibility for businesses ranging in size from $50-$300 million, including responsibility for a Latin America business with operations in Brazil and Mexico.
He has worked predominately for manufacturing and distribution related companies in the automotive and industrial sectors, but also has significant exposure to the retail space; particularly automotive parts retailers and mass merchandisers.
Phil has extensive experience in financial and operational areas, including:
- Organizational and operational restructuring to effect cost reductions and efficiencies
- M&A – from target identification through negotiation, due diligence and post-close integration
- Capital Structure – significant experience in both equity and debt arenas, including negotiation of terms and selling the underlying instruments to investors
- Development and delivery of strategic communications to all constituents; investors, customers, suppliers and employees
- Improvement of financial reporting and internal control processes, including establishment and monitoring of key performance metrics
His career includes roles with expanding responsibility with the following organizations:
- Exide Technologies – EVP/CFO (and prior to that Corporate Controller)
- Freudenberg-NOK – VP/GM and Division President
- Allied-Signal Automotive (now Honeywell) – numerous staff and line financial positions up to and including VP-Finance – Automotive Aftermarket (an $800 million division)
- Price Waterhouse LLP – numerous positions up to Senior Audit Manager
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Albion College and an MBA from the University of Detroit. He is also a recipient of the 2011 Atlanta Business Chronicle’s CFO of the Year Award.