Corporate Ladder: your weekly guide to executive appointments
This week, in South Australia’s first executive appointments column, InDaily tracks the movements of those driving the state’s public and private sectors. Plus the latest executive recruitment opportunities.
South Australia’s inaugural Productivity Commission CE and Chair Matthew Butlin will leave the post later this year. Image: supplied.
Butlin to hang up his boots
South Australia’s inaugural Productivity Commission CE and Chair Matthew Butlin will step away from the two part-time roles in July.
He said the two-year post had been extended twice to allow for the handover process to his successor, who is yet to be publicly named.
The former Victorian Red Tape Commissioner took up the positions after performing similar work with the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission as Chair between 2008 and 2015.
Throughout his term at SAPC, Butlin has remained as a part-time Senior Associate of ACIL Allen Consulting, a national economic and public policy firm. He said he would continue in this role.
The 68-year-old told InDaily while he felt it was time to “hang up his boots” the importance of the state’s productivity commission remained a vital tool in providing recommendations and informing the State Government on economic and growth opportunities.
“Over the last two years … I think we have demonstrated the value of the productivity commission,” Butlin said.
“There is a real team there and I’m very proud of them and what they’ve achieved and, looking forward, it still has a lot more to achieve.
“Last year was a really busy time and I was very pleased with what the commission was able to do and deliver and I think we are getting to a point of a full-time role, whether that’s as a chair or chief executive.”
The Victorian – who has spent the past two years travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne – said he hoped to be able to use his upcoming free time to travel with his wife.
The honorary Melbourne University Enterprise Professor said he also planned to spend more time writing for the educational institution’s economic and social research institute.
Committee for Adelaide CEO departs
South Australian PR veteran Jodie van Deventer will leave the Committee for Adelaide on June 30 after five years as CEO.
Van Deventer was the economic think tank’s first fulltime chief executive.
A former BBC journalist, van Deventer spent one year with News Corp in Adelaide before moving into public relations with the SA Hotels Association and marketing firm Story Brand Image.
She remains on the Adelaide United Advisory Board and Chair of the Women’s Football Committee, and is an Ambassador for Crime Stoppers SA.
The Committee for Adelaide said recruitment for the top job would be announced in the coming weeks.
Corporate Position: the latest executive employment opportunities
For more than 100 years, Uniting Country SA (UCSA) has supported people experiencing difficulties in their lives in country SA. After 31 years of exemplary leadership and dedicated service, the current Chief Executive, Anthea Pavy, will retire mid-2021, opening up the CEO role for a proven executive to lead the not-for-profit organisation during this pivotal time of change. Based in Port Pirie, the CEO will lead approximately 300 staff providing more than 55 services across 27 sites in the northern region of SA. Community/social services sector experience will be an advantage, however candidates with leadership capabilities from comparably regulated and service delivery sectors are encouraged to apply. UCSA is an agency of the Uniting Church.
The Department for Energy and Mining is looking for a Director, Information Strategy and Delivery. Reporting to the Director, Corporate Services and as a key member of the Corporate Services Leadership Team, this pivotal role is responsible for leading the department’s digital transformation, delivering technology initiatives under the Digital Restart Program, driving cultural change and building organisational capability. Applications are sought from broad profiles of accomplished professionals with demonstrated experience leading, influencing and delivering in a complex IT environment and within restrictive budgetary and resource settings.
Bedford has been changing the lives of people with disability through employment, training and life skills development for more than 70 years. A recent restructure sees the opportunity for two talented professionals to join the Bedford Group. The Executive Manager People, Communications, Strategy & Quality reports to the Chief Executive and is responsible for developing and overseeing contemporary people and culture practices, and the quality and compliance frameworks, including the NDIS Provider status. The role will also drive the establishment and execution of effective brand, communication and marketing strategies for both internal and external audiences. The optimisation and delivery of Bedford’s new CRM falls under the Manager Business Analysis & Improvement, who will have a strong understanding of design thinking principals. Reporting to the CFO, the appointee will have experience in a CX environment in a customer centric setting and familiarity with a highly regulated sector.
Manufacturing firm assigns new leader
Adelaide-based advanced manufacturing company AML3D has appointed Karsten Bartnicki as COO.
He joins the firm after a number of years in senior executive roles, including as CEO of automotive wholesaler Rema Tip Top Industry Australia, Project Director with minerals and mining company FLSmidth, and tier one engineering and manufacturing companies in China and Germany.
Bartnicki most recently led engineering firm FCT Combustion as Head of Products and Procurement for Asia Pacific.
Social services additions
Sarah McRae has joined Centacare Catholic Family Services following the retirement of Dale West, who was in the role for 32 years.
McRae was Chief Operating Officer for the Women’s and Children’s Health Network between 2019 and 2021, following two years as the network’s Acting COO.
Across her career McRae has worked with children who sustained burn injuries as a Registered Nurse.
Meanwhile, the Australian Centre for Social Innovation CEO Carolyn Curtis has joined the board of SA social enterprise Junction.
Curtis has worked in the state’s social services sector for the past decade for a range of independent and government organisations.
Since 2012 she has helped lead the Adelaide-based social initiative The Australian Centre for Social Innovation as CEO.
Curtis is also a non-executive director for social innovation network The Social Innovation Exchange and she sits on boards for the Fay Fuller Foundation and the Difference Incubator.
Anglicare SA has made two new appointments to its leadership team, naming Stacey Northover as Head of Housing Operations and Graydn Spinks as Head of Residential Aged Care.
Northover has been named in the role after spending more than 20 years in the housing sector in the United Kingdom where she worked across tenancy management, customer experience and property services.
Spinks was previously General Manager of Aged Care Services at Baptistcare in WA and spent a decade with Southern Cross Care in several senior executive roles.
