Jolie Hodson (Spark)
Spark is making changes to its leadership squad, creating two new roles that will replace the current customer director role held by Grant McBeath.
As a result, and after 10 years with Spark, McBeath has decided to leave of the NZX-listed telco, Spark told shareholders this morning.
The two new customer director roles cover enterprise and government users, and the SME and consumer segments.
Spark said enterprise and government customers were increasingly seeking more complex solutions that used Spark’s investment in new technologies. It therefore created two roles to deliver greater focus and better outcomes for customers.
The development of Spark’s new technologies will be incorporated into the customer director enterprise and government role to align technology investment more closely to the needs and innovation objectives of customers.
The changes come as Spark's cloud business unit loses ground to what the telco has described as a "mix shift" towards public cloud.
In February, the company announced $350 million of further investment covering digital infrastructure, data centres and emerging technologies.
Spark’s current chief operating officer role will become network and operations director, with a focus on the continued delivery of a highly resilient, automated and secure network.
Spark’s current chief operating officer, Mark Beder, will move into the customer director enterprise and government role, bringing 20 years’ experience at Spark and knowledge of the wide range of technologies that serve the telco's customers.
Spark’s consumer and SME channels lead, Greg Clark, will move into the role of SME and consumer director.
Clark joined Spark in 2013 and has led the transformation of the telco's retail network and its SME operating model, delivering strong revenue growth and higher levels of customer engagement, Spark told shareholders today.
Spark will commence an internal and external search to appoint a network and operations director in coming months.
“As our significant investments in new technologies mature and enable new customer solutions it makes sense to unite deep technical expertise with our channels to market and service capability, to deliver the best outcomes for our customers," said Spark CEO Jolie Hodson.
Beder's wealth of business experience, technology and commercial expertise combined with experience supporting several of Spark's largest customers on complex transformation projects, made him very well placed to grow Spark's B2B and high-tech portfolios, she said.
Clark brought proven leadership capability having led the consumer and small to medium business segments for several years and delivering great results for customers and for Spark, Hodson said.
Hodson thanked McBeath for his significant contribution over the past10 years and for the transformation of Spark's retail consumer business and more recently leadership of the broader customer portfolio.
"Grant is a champion for customer centricity and a results-focused and committed people leader, and we wish him all the very best for the future," Hodson said.
The changes are effective from 1 July 2023, at which time the Spark leadership squad will include:
• Jolie Hodson, CEO
• Melissa Anastasiou, general counsel
• Matt Bain, marketing director
• Mark Beder, customer director enterprise and government
• Greg Clark, SME and consumer director
• Leela Gantman, corporate relations and sustainability director
• Stefan Knight, finance director
• Heather Polglase, people and culture director
• Tessa Tierney, product director
• To be appointed, network and operations director.
