Gig Guide: Macquarie head of engineering goes global


Brandon How
Reporter

The inaugural global head of engineering at Macquarie Group is Matthew Ellis, whose responsibilities have been expanded from being head of engineering in Australia to cover the world. This year marks his 17th year with the firm, a career which he began as a Java engineer straight out of university. He will oversee 2,000 engineers working across the group.

Global head of engineering for Macquarie Group Matthew Ellis

Taking to Linkedin, Mr Ellis said he was honoured to be taking a role global.

“In my role as Head of Engineering we will work together across geographies and lines of business to align on best practices, adopt innovative solutions and deliver remarkable outcomes for our customers,” Mr Ellis said.

“I am grateful for the opportunities and flexibility Macquarie has afforded me over the last 17 years. I have been lucky to work across many different businesses, travel the world and raise a family all while working for Macquarie.”

KPMG Australia has appointed Martijn Verbree as the new national cyber lead. Mr Verbee has worked at KPMG for almost 20 years, but took a career break between 2014-2016 to found internet of things startup Localz. The professional services firm has also externally appointed three new cyber partners, Stuart Mort, Natasha Passley, and Gergana Winzer.

New-zealand auto-parts ecommerce firm Partly have found their chief strategy officer in Tony Austin, former head of eBay Motors in the United Kingdom, and global store and general manager for cross border business for Amazon in Australia. Mr Austin is also a mentor to startups through Blackbird Ventures’ Giants initiative.

The service connects buyers and sellers in 20 countries. Partly chief executive Levi Fawcett says the appointment of Mr Austin builds on the growing momentum of the company, especially after a recent NZ$3.7 million raise in venture capital.

“We’re extremely pleased to see how Tony’s wealth of knowledge and expertise across Europe and Australia will accelerate our growth across our global markets and help us to cement our standing on the world stage as a global category leader,” Mr Fawcett said.

The acting chief executive of the Australian Research Council (ARC) Judi Zielke has been appointed in the role for a five-year term. Ms Zielke began filled the role in February 2022 after the previous ARC chief executive Sue Thomas left in December 2021 following “new expectations” of the council were implemented by the acting Education Minister Stuart Robert.

Before acting as ARC chief executive, Ms Zielke was chief operating officer of CSIRO and has extensive public sector experience in the industry, trade, and Attorney-General’s portfolios.

IT and cloud solutions company TransAction Solutions has appointed Patrick Murphy as their new chief commercial officer. He joins the company from technology company Insight Enterprises, where Mr Murphy was executive general manager for Australia and New Zealand. Overall, Mr Murphy has more than 20 years in IT and cloud services, including a 15-year stint at Data#3.

The new chief executive officer of Queensland Rail is Kat Stapleton who moves from the chief financial officer role. Before joining the group in 2019, Ms Stapleton held executive roles at nbnCo and as chief financial officer for Bahrain Telecommunication Company. Former chief executive Nick Easy left in December 2021.

MedTech firm Intelicare has appointed Daniel Pilbrow as its new chief executive officer. Mr Pilbrow brings over 20 years of experience in the healthcare, aged care, and disability sectors.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

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