Telstra has announced a new topline organisational structure and leadership team. They include the arrival of outgoing SBS chief executive Michael Ebeid and the departure of marketing and media boss Joe Pollard.
CEO Andrew Penn said the changes, effective from October 1, 2018, were an important step in delivering its Telstra 2022 (T22) strategy.
“Last month I announced the T22 strategy to the market and today I am making further announcements on Telstra’s structure and leadership to ensure we deliver rapidly and effectively on all of the commitments we made to our customers, the market and our team,” said Penn.
“At the heart of these changes is the simplification of our products and services built on new technology. By mid-next year we will have fully rolled out our market-leading products and services. To help deliver these changes, we are announcing a new end-to-end products and technology division of Telstra. It means we will significantly increase our technical capabilities around product development and management.
“The changes I am announcing today will ensure we continue to deliver market-leading innovation in networks and support the build-out of 5G and Internet of Things.
“Ultimately the simplified and streamlined structure will remove duplication, hierarchy and silos across the organisation. It will help us improve the service that we provide to our customers, the efficiency of the business and our competitiveness, as well as increase our productivity and reduce costs,” said Penn.
Telstra’s new structure and the Group Executive team:
• Product & Technology will drive an integrated product and technology roadmap for all of Telstra to deliver innovative and simple product experiences that lead the market and drive profitable growth. An external appointment has been made for this group executive role and the person will be announced shortly.
• Michael Ebeid joins Telstra to run the Enterprise team servicing Australian and international business and government customers with market-leading solutions and services. Ebeid will start at Telstra on October 8.
Telstra has also announced four senior leaders will leave Telstra: Warwick Bray, Stephen Elop, Will Irving and Joe Pollard.
Joe Pollard joined Telstra in 2014 initially as group managing director marketing and media before becoming chief marketing officer and group executive media the following year. She has been instrumental in evolving Telstra’s brand and the experience provided to customers including through the Brand 3.0 work. Pollard has also been responsible for building Telstra’s extensive portfolio of digitally enabled media assets. She will leave Telstra on August 30.