Recently departed secretary of the NSW Department of Digital and Customer Service, Emma Hogan, has landed at critical infrastructure, asset management and services provider Ventia.
She takes up the key senior management role of group executive for strategy and corporate affairs.
The recruitment of the highly regarded corporate leader who moved from being head of customer experience at Foxtel to do a five-year stint in the state public service leading key service delivery reforms, as well as being neck deep in the pandemic response, is a coup for the recently listed services firm. Several corporates and agencies were known to have been keen to recruit Hogan.
A statement from Ventia on social media said: “Em will drive Ventia’s business strategy, investor relations, client relations, community engagement, innovation and sustainability functions”, which is a pretty broad remit ranging from dealing with government both at a policy level and as a client, to wrangling shareholders and their expectations.
Ventia is a key domestic ‘prime’ services and equipment supplier to Defence, delivering base services and maintenance, running the uniform store and kitting out services, maintaining guns and vehicles, as well as graders, cranes, loaders and heavy plant.
But the company also has a strong foothold across state and tertiary education, telecommunications, energy and electricity utilities, health, industrials, local government, property and maritime sectors.
In terms of workforce, the company is as big as the largest government agencies or corporates, with a headcount of 35,000 across 400 sites, which is about the size of Services Australia but a lot more complex. The split is about 15,000 employees to 20,000 contractors.
There’s certainly a lot to get your head around, and Hogan certainly doesn’t appear shy about her appetite for learning the ropes and the many parts of the business.
“I’m really excited to be here, and have had a terrific first week getting to know my teammates, and starting to understand our business, our customers and the communities our services impact,” Hogan said in a post outlining her new role on Friday.
“I’m heading into the weekend with a full head of new information and look forward to sharing more about this new adventure as I learn more.”
Hogan’s career path is one of the more stellar examples of how younger senior executives who make their way up in the corporate sector use a strategic move into public service to broaden their skill set, experience and ability to influence.
“I’m really excited to be joining the Ventia team and being part of its growth journey. I really value the diversity of its customer base and the impact the work Ventia and its customers have on the community,” Hogan said.
“Ventia’s commitment to sustainability in its broadest possible sense – environmental, social and governance – very much fits with my own core values.”