Nayla’s distinguished 29-year professional career is marked by three key attributes: technical expertise, strategic management, and team coaching skills. Initially trained as an engineer and excelling in technical roles, she always had a keen interest in strategic management and strategy execution (program management). Later in her career, she experienced the transformative power of executive coaching firsthand, inspiring her to pursue certification in both individual and team coaching. In recent years, she has developed and implemented a comprehensive 6-step program designed to build and coach high-performing management teams.
Nayla has held a variety of technical and business roles across six industries:
- Defence – R&D, Product management,
- Pharmaceuticals – R&D, Business development,
- Medical Devices – Engineering operations,
- Vaccine Manufacturing – Site technical services,
- Software development – Agility transformation; and
- IT/Finance – Project management office.
Her natural leadership skills were honed early on as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces (Army Reserves), where she became one of the first women in Canada to qualify as a Mechanized Infantry Platoon Commander, leading an Army Reserve Infantry Platoon from 1994 to 1999.