Australia Post has announced Woolies exec Paul Graham as its next Group CEO and Managing Director. The business enterprise made the announcement five months after former boss Christine Holgate resigned amid the wake of criticism over the Cartier watches controversy.
Graham will begin the new role in September. Before joining Australia Post, he headed Primary Connect as Chief Supply Chain Officer at Woolworths Group and has had an extensive career working in eCommerce and supply chain, with global experience in digital marketing and retail.
Australia Post Chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo said Australia Post undertook a thorough global search before choosing Graham to lead the business through the next phase of its transformation program.
“On behalf of the board I am so pleased to announce Paul as the next CEO of Australia Post – an outstanding candidate with strong logistics, digital and retail experience both here and overseas, including as a senior executive at Deutsche Post DHL,” Di Bartolomeo said.
“Paul has a demonstrated track-record of delivering results in large, complex organisations and is a proven leader managing large teams,” he said.
He continued that the Board was impressed by Graham’s 40 years’ of deep industry experience working in supply chain in Australia, Europe and Asia and are confident his community and customer philosophy is a perfect fit for AusPost.
In a statement,Graham said he was proud to be appointed as CEO of such an iconic Australian brand and looked forward to getting started in the role later this year.
“Australia Post has proven itself to be one of the most resilient and successful postal businesses anywhere in the world,” said Graham.
“I feel fortunate to be joining at a time when we can truly capitalize on the extraordinary growth in eCommerce experienced in the past year and continue developing our retail and digital offerings while keeping letter deliveries strong,” he said.
He continued that he is most looking forward to meeting the team across the country – the posties, Post Office workers, mail processors and delivery drivers that kept the country operating during COVID19.
He also said he was looking forward to getting out into regional Australia where Australia Post has an enormous presence, as well as meeting with the thousands of Post Office licensee partners who play a critical role every day serving the country.
Commenting on his previous role at Woolworths, Graham said that he has been so privileged to run the group’s supply chain for the past five years and it has shown him how important it is to keep customers at the centre of everything we do because “without our customers we don’t have a business.”
Graham’s remuneration has been set at $1,456,560 fixed annual total remuneration and the potential to earn incentive payments of up to $1,456,560, according to the parameters set by the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal.
The Australia Post Board today also confirmed that Rodney Boys will continue to lead the business through the CEO transition period until Paul Graham takes over in September.
Source: AusPost