Somani, Rahim
MA EPEID (IOE London), BComm (University of Karachi), CPA, CA (Canada), FCA/FCMA (Pakistan), IEM (Harvard GSE, 2014)
Biography
Rahim Somani provides leadership and oversight over Finance and Administrative Services at the University of Northern British Columbia. The Vice President, Finance and Administration portfolio comprises Financial Services, Treasury and Payroll Services, Contracts and Supply Chain Management, Budget and Integrated Planning, Human Resources, Facilities Management and Capital Planning, Safety, Security and Risk Management, Health and Wellbeing, and Business and Ancillary Services, which comprises Housing and Residential Services, Hospitality Services, Retail Services, Continuing Studies, Athletics and Northern Sport Centre.
As part of the President’s Executive Council, Rahim leads strategic, financial and operational planning, and is relied on for his expertise, leadership, innovation, collaboration, relationship building, organizational development and change management skills. His expertise extends to a number of critical areas:
- Finance, corporate affairs, strategic planning, and human resource development and management.
- Enterprise resource planning, program management, and management information systems.
- Capital planning, projects and facilities management.
- Internal audit and enterprise risk management.
Before joining UNBC, Rahim served the Aga Khan Development Network for over two decades. He was the Founding Chief Financial Officer at the University of Central Asia (UCA) for 12 years where he played a key role in planning and developing a multi-campus university and provided leadership and oversight to university operations. Prior to his time at UCA, Rahim was the Interim Chief Executive Officer at Aga Khan Education Service in Pakistan, holding a variety of roles within the organization dating back to 1998.
He received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Karachi in 1992, his Master of Arts in Educational Planning, Economics and International Development from the University College London’s Institute of Education in 2006, and his Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Accountant (CA) qualifications in British Columbia and Ontario in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Rahim is also a Fellow member of the Institutes of Chartered Accountants and Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan and an alumnus of the Institute for Educational Management (IEM Class of 2014), Harvard Institutes for Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
In addition, Rahim serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the UNBC Pension Plan, President and Director of the Northern Sport Centre Limited, Director of the UNBC Land Development Corporation, Director of Northern Medical Programs Trust, and Member of the Investment Advisory Committee, a standing committee of the Finance and Investment Committee of the UNBC Board of Governors.
Rahim is an alumnus of the Aga Khan School system, a recipient of the Aga Khan Scholarship and has served in voluntary capacities in many organisations.