The Qantas Group has announced a number of changes to its Group Management Committee as part of its CEO transition and continued focus on renewal.
The changes include senior appointments to roles made vacant by retirements and promotions, as well as structural changes to increase the focus on areas of major investment, including human resources and customer experience.
In summary, the changes are:
Creation of a dedicated Chief People Officer – this role will bring together human resources and industrial relations functions, which are currently split. This comes as the Group expects to create 8,500 new jobs in Australia within the next decade and ramps up training as it takes delivery of new aircraft. An executive search process is underway to fill this role.
New Chief Financial Officer – current Qantas Group Executive of Strategy, People and Technology, Rob Marcolina, will move to this role, made vacant once current CFO Vanessa Hudson takes on the Group CEO role. The CFO will also take responsibility for Strategy and Transformation. Rob has been with the Group since 2012 and has a deep understanding of the business, having been closely involved in core decisions on capital allocation, commercial strategy and transformation.
New CEO of Qantas Domestic – following the retirement of Andrew David in September, current Chief Customer Officer, Markus Svensson, will take on this position. Markus has been with Qantas for over a decade and has broad experience across revenue management, network, sales, alliances, offshore operations and strategy.
New Chief Customer and Digital Officer – Catriona Larritt, who has been with the Group since 2015, will take on this position. Responsibility for Technology will be added to this portfolio, reflecting the role of digital in improving customer experience. Catriona is currently Executive Manager of Qantas Freight and was formerly Chief Commercial Officer at Jetstar.
New CEO of QantasLink – current CEO of QantasLink, John Gissing, will retire from this position in November after almost 25 years in a number of roles within the Qantas Group. An executive search process is underway to fill this position, which has responsibility for regional and some charter market operations. John will remain available to the Group CEO for a further 12 months as an adviser.
Creation of a Chief Risk Officer – this will bring together risk management for the Group as a whole, to provide the highest level of oversight and governance. Current Qantas Executive, Andrew Monaghan, will step into this role. Andrew is currently Executive Manager of Safety and has deep operational experience gained during a 17-year career at the Group, including as Chief Operating Officer for Qantas and QantasLink, in addition to roles in audit and HR.
Announcements on appointments to vacant positions will be made once finalised. All of these senior executive roles will report directly to the new Group CEO, Vanessa Hudson, when she steps into the position in November 2023.
All other positions on GMC – including dedicated CEOs for key business units – remain the same and its total size increases by one to 13 people.
COMMENTS FROM CEO-DESIGNATE
CEO-designate Vanessa Hudson said the changes brought renewal but also achieved a level of continuity.
“We have a deep bench of experience at Qantas, which means we’re able to recruit internally for many senior executive roles when they come up, and that makes transition a lot smoother.
“The structural changes announced today are about increasing our focus on a few key areas as we move from recovery to growth, especially when it comes to things that matter most to our people and our customers.
“We have a lot of expansion planned in the years ahead and that will translate into thousands of new frontline jobs and millions of hours of training. Keeping our team engaged and supporting them to deliver for our customers is critical, and so is the dedicated Chief People Officer role.
“Investing in digital is a huge part of our plans to keep improving customer experience. Through the website and app, we can put a lot of power in people’s hands to control their journey and access real time information. That’s why we are adding responsibility for Technology to the Chief Customer Officer’s portfolio.
“The success of our recovery plans means we’re in a strong position, and that will only stay true if we get the balance right for our customers, people and shareholders in the years ahead.
“On behalf of the Group, I’d like to sincerely thank John Gissing for his massive contribution over nearly 25 years with us and almost 40 years in Australian aviation. We’re fortunate to have access to his experience as an adviser after he formally retires from his current role at the end of this year,” said Ms Hudson.
NEW GMC STRUCTURE
The Qantas Group Management Committee will progressively transition to this structure from July onwards and be fully in effect by November 2023.
* new role/new to role