Jovana Nikolic

Jovana Nikolic is CFO at Connectis Tower, Actis’ telecom tower platform operating in the Western Balkans. In this video and Q&A she discusses her career and the lessons she has learned along the way, as well as why diversity and inclusion matter in the world of business.

Tell us about your career to date – your career journey, the successes you’ve had and the challenges you’ve had to overcome.

I’m a finance professional with over 18 years of experience, with expertise in audit, financial leadership and corporate finance.

After finalising my university studies in finance, I began my professional journey at KPMG in Belgrade, Serbia. At KPMG I worked as an auditor and gained valuable experience in auditing companies across a number of industries. During this time I also enrolled into studies at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and became an ACCA Fellow.

While my time as an auditor provided invaluable experience, audit is primarily focused on reviewing historical data and what I wanted to deal with was real-time problem solving in a dynamic business environment. I therefore continued my career in corporate finance, serving in several finance leadership roles in the region, overseeing accounting, financial operations and financial planning and analysis.

These experiences were very enriching, allowing me to work in diverse teams. To take an example, in past roles I have been responsible for teams in Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Belarus, the UK and the US.

Throughout my career, maintaining a healthy balance between my professional ambitions and family life has been a significant challenge. I take great pride in both excelling at my job and cherishing family moments. I even continued working during my pregnancies and maternity leaves. However, a serious bout of Covid-19 led to hospitalisation, which served as a crucial turning point. This experience prompted me to pause my career and pursue personal interests and professional development. I discovered a passion for sewing and dedicated time to it, alongside earning certifications in Financial Modelling and Valuation, and completing a coaching programme with Erickson Coaching International. These new ventures have been incredibly revitalising for me.

What does your role now entail as CFO of Connectis Tower?

I joined Connectis Tower as its first employee in January 2024. In my role as CFO I lead the business’ financial strategy and operations across the region and ensure our KPIs are met through a sustainable and compliant business model. That said, it’s worth noting for the anecdote that because I was the platform’s first employee, in the first few months while we built out the team I handled not only client relationships and a network of external service providers, but also procurement, HR, office management and a range of administrative tasks!

More generally speaking, I work closely with our CEO, Bogdan Djukic, as well as the Actis team to oversee the management of a portfolio of more than 1,800 macro towers across Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a leading independent telecom tower company in the Western Balkans, we provide space to mobile network operators for their telecommunications equipment, enabling connectivity and access.

In your view, why is inclusion and diversity important in the world of business?

It’s absolutely clear that in today’s rapidly evolving marketplace, diversity and inclusion are essential for business success.

Employees with varying backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints bring fresh ideas and challenge the status quo. Diverse teams are crucial for fostering innovation, solving complex business problems and better understanding and responding to different needs, notably by reducing the risk of group think and biases. From what I’ve observed, the most successful projects I’ve been involved with typically featured multidisciplinary teams that brought together a diverse range of skills and cultural perspectives.

Thanks to these aspects companies with diverse leadership teams tend to outperform their peers, identifying potential risks and opportunities more effectively.

In addition, prioritising inclusion and diversity can attract a wider pool of potential employees and lead to higher job satisfaction levels and lower turnover rates. It can also enhance the reputation of a company.

Ultimately, embracing diversity and inclusion is not just ethically right, it is a strategic advantage that creates a more competitive, resilient and profitable business and helps drive sustainable growth.

What is Connectis Tower doing on the inclusion and diversity front?

Connectis Tower, which operates in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse work environment. We are proud to have achieved equal representation of men and women within our workforce, demonstrating our commitment to gender equality.

Our hiring process prioritises knowledge and skills, ensuring that every candidate is evaluated based on their abilities and potential. This merit-based approach has helped us build a team that is not only diverse but also highly competent and driven. What sets us apart on the market is that our sustainable business model and financial stability coexist with an agile, startup-like mindset, which is something we really look for and highly value in our candidates.

In our company, we have women in all positions, including female engineers who lead important projects, managers who drive strategic initiatives, and executives who shape the company’s vision and direction.

We also offer flexible working hours and remote work options to support work-life balance, ensuring that no one is overburdened and that everyone works within safe and regular hours. As a management team, we’re dedicated to providing a secure and supportive work environment.

We also value early feedback from employees and are focused on creating a workplace where everyone feels equally included and has a sense of belonging. This culture encourages our team to contribute not only through their job responsibilities but also beyond, according to individual preferences, skills and interests.

A great example of this was the employee engagement we had for our new office space, where everyone took the initiative and contributed how they could to bring fresh ideas for the new office.

What more needs to be done, at an industry level, to create opportunities for women and to drive equality between men and women in the world of work?

The digital infrastructure sector, often perceived as male-dominated and engineering-focused, is undergoing a significant shift.

This shift is particularly evident in our region, where women have had equal educational opportunities for many years and over the past 15 years the percentage of female students enrolling in technical faculties has steadily increased, from 20% to 33%.

Seeing more women pursuing STEM fields and excelling in technical and leadership roles within our industry is positive sign of change.

It’s important to continue to encourage girls and young women to pursue studies or careers in STEM fields. This is key to building a strong pipeline of female talent across a number of industries, including digital infrastructure.

Creating working environments that also enable a work-life balance for women is also critical. Employers can implement flexible working hours, remote working options and other supportive policies that allow women to manage both their professional and personal responsibilities effectively.

Another key part of this is ensuring equal pay for equal work. This is fundamental. Management should prioritise maintaining pay equity, ensuring that women receive the same compensation as men for the same roles and responsibilities. This may include, for example, having regular reviews and adjustments to address any disparities.

What’s the most valuable lesson you have learned in your career so far? And what advice would you give to a young professional embarking on their career?

I have found that I always thrived in times of change and felt strained in status quo situations and environments.

When I look back at my career, I realise that I achieved the most significant growth when I embraced change and worked in diverse environments. I like my views to be challenged and value the same attitude in others. I would therefore advise young professionals to focus on learning and developing their skillset through a variety of roles and settings.

I think that by keeping your core values while evolving your beliefs to fresh learnings and experiences, you can stay relevant amidst times of rapid change. This is particularly important given the rapid changes we’re experiencing today.