Corporate Ladder: your weekly guide to executive appointments
South Australia’s premier executive appointments column tracks the movements of those driving the state’s public and private sectors. Plus the latest executive recruitment opportunities.
Ockert Le Roux (pictured) has joined local grape-growers and winemakers not-for-profit Coonawarra Vignerons. Image: supplied.
Financial businesswoman bags entrepreneurship board
MyBudget Founder Tammy Barton has joined the SA Entrepreneurship Advisory Board, adding to her list of leadership positions, which also include the boards of Project Gen Z and the University of Adelaide School of Management, as well as the BankSA Advisory Board between 2012-2020.
The entrepreneur has spent more than two decades growing her Adelaide-based financial services company from a home-based business in 1999 to a global money management brand.
Barton has won a range of awards for her work, including the state’s Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award twice and the Australian Government Business Innovation Award.
Vino association names its pick
Local grape-growers and wine-growers association Coonawarra Vignerons has appointed Ockert Le Roux as its new Executive Officer following the resignation of former Executive Officer Olivia James in January.
Le Roux comes to the position following a number of years in management, marketing and financial roles in the forestry sector, including assisting the State Government with the sale of its softwood assets in the “Green Triangle” region and as a member of the Tourism Mount Gambier Board.
He most recently helped lead the marketing and operations for timber firm OneFortyOne in Mount Gambier.
Hill heads abroad
South Australian Tourism Commission (SATC) Marketing Executive Director Brent Hill is leaving the position to head overseas, where he will lead an international tourism organisation as CEO.
The marketing professional said he would be heading overseas in June for a move he labelled “bittersweet”.
Hill has been with the SATC for more than five years, following eight years with People’s Choice Credit Union as Marketing Communications Senior Manager and a decade across a string of marketing roles for brands including Harris Scarfe and EzyDVD.
SATC has begun advertising on SEEK for a Marketing Executive Director to “grow SA’s visitor economy” as well as a General Manager of Marketing and Communications to work on events including Santos Tour Down Under, the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant and Tasting Australia.
Corporate Position: the latest executive employment opportunities
A rare chance to make a career defining contribution to a well-respected and community focused entity has come up with Scouts SA looking for a Chief Executive Officer. Comprised of over 6,000 volunteers and youth and employing approximately 180 FTE staff, the Association has sizeable commercial and fundraising operations which include the Scout Recycling Centre, Scout Outdoor Centre and the Woodhouse Activity Centre, and has a turnover circa $35m. Working with the Branch Executive Committee and Chief Commissioner, the CEO will lead the Scouts SA staff and drive financial growth and strategic change. Applications are encouraged from appropriately qualified and proven senior executives with high levels of commercial and political acumen.
Expressions of interest are sought from suitably qualified and credentialed professionals seeking an Independent Directorship on the Hospital and Orthopaedic Board of sportsmed. The remunerated position is offered for an initial two-year term and requires an appropriately qualified appointee who can ensure decisions made at Board meetings reflect and enhance the strategic direction and manage the risks of sportsmed. The appointee will be expected to demonstrate a successful track record in a range of significant executive and/or governance positions. Key attributes sought include strong business and commercial acumen, excellent communication, strategic planning abilities, experience of change and reform and an understanding of contemporary corporate governance knowledge. Experience in the healthcare industry is not essential but will be a natural advantage as would experience in a professional services group.
Operating since 1972, Cavpower is a South Australian owned and operated family business regarded as one of the leading Caterpillar dealers. Reporting directly to the Managing Director and working closely with the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Financial Officer is a pivotal Adelaide based role and is primarily responsible for planning, directing, developing and administering the company’s financial activities, including overseeing compliance and corporate regulatory requirements and enhancing the company’s commercial contracts. Applications are encouraged from senior finance professionals with experience in a comparable financially disciplined business and who are a hands-on enabler capable of becoming a trusted advisor to senior management within this agile privately owned business.
Credit Union SA is one of South Australia’s largest credit unions with over 140 staff, over $1.2b in assets and close to 51,000 members. Working as the 2IC to the Chief Financial Officer, the Finance Manager plays a pivotal role in managing the internal finance function, including leading and developing the Accounting team and supporting the Treasury team for accounting related matters. Other duties include preparing, analysing and reporting of financial information for both internal and external stakeholders, including the Executive team and Board of Directors, and working closely with the Executive team to manage annual planning/budgeting and monthly forecast processes. The ideal candidate will be a CA/CPA qualified finance professional who has the ability to effectively communicate with a broad range of internal and external stakeholder and has demonstrated leadership experience.
Crows footy foundation scores big
The Adelaide Crows Foundation has made four appointments to its board: Chris Keane, Julie Cooper, Jessica Adamson and Darcy Fogarty.
BAE Systems Australia’s Chief of Future Business Keane joins the South Australian football club’s leadership team after a decade in senior government advisory roles across industry, superannuation and defence policy.
Cooper is a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair of high-tech company Nova Systems. She is also a Non-Executive Director for Credit Union SA, a member of the Sarah Group’s Advisory Board and a Divisional Councillor for the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Adamson, a former Seven Network presenter, spent more than two decades in television and has sat on the board for Breakthrough Mental Health. She has also been an ambassador for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and CanTeen.
Adelaide Crows forward Fogarty joins the board as the men’s team representative, replacing Kyle Hartigan.
In a statement, the club said Fogarty had been a “long-term supporter of the Adelaide Crows Foundation through its breakfast programs and the Crows Care program”.
Adelaide Crows Foundation chairperson Kate Thiele said the new members would all be integral in assisting the Foundation to grow and pursue new projects.
“The Foundation is passionate about using the power of sport to engage, enrich and inspire children and youth in our community, and I believe our new board members will be critical in helping us reach this goal,” she said.
“Garry Winter will be retiring from his Board position in May and we thank him for his outstanding contribution, since the Board’s inception in 2005.”
Property movements
Renew Adelaide has appointed former company project manager Gianna Murphy as its Head of Property and Operations, replacing Andrew White who was named the new CEO in March.
Murphy has been with the not-for-profit property group for the past five years, following a Property Coordinator role with housing and employment charity SYC Limited.
Since 2019 she has also run a speciality bakery, Motherdough, and previously spent three years as head of communications and marketing for Murphy’s Café Bakery.
Meanwhile, PowerHousing Australia, an affordable housing advocacy and education organisation, has named AnglicareSA Executive General Manager of Housing Michelle Gegenhuber as Vice Chair.
Gegenhuber has spent a number of years across the property industry in not-for-profit, the private sector and government, including more than a decade with the City of Onkaparinga in senior project roles.
She has spent the past nine years with Anglicare SA overseeing social housing strategies and advocating for homelessness reform.
Climbing the legal ladder
South Australian firm Lynch Meyer Lawyers has added Daniel Idema as a Partner to its commercial team.
The firm said the addition was part of a recent growth, which also included three associates, a solicitor and two law clerks.
It welcomed Idema in a statement, saying his experience aligned with the firm’s corporate focus.
“Daniel is an extremely talented commercial lawyer who strengthens what we deliver for our clients” it said.
“We are excited to welcome another young, dynamic lawyer to the firm’s Partnership.”
Idema has spent the past decade as a commercial lawyer across a handful of mid-tier and boutique firms, most recently as a Senior Associate with Lynch Meyer.
City council CEOs quit
City of Prospect CEO and former lawyer Nigel McBride has resigned from his role with the northern Adelaide council.
The City of Prospect said McBride would continue in the position for the next three months while it sought his replacement.
McBride joined the City of Prospect’s leadership team in 2019, after seven years leading South Australia’s business and employer industry body Business SA as Chief Executive.
It followed more than a decade as Managing Partner and CEO with law firm Minter Ellison Lawyers.
Meanwhile, InDaily last week reported Adelaide City Council CEO Mark Goldstone had stepped away from the role citing health challenges, with Acting CEO Clare Mockler taking on the position until a replacement is found.