Appointments April 1, 2021

Our weekly appointments wrap includes Sev Isikli, David Buckingham, Katrina Powell, Andrew Bell, Simone Hansen, Dougal Thring, Alexandra Heaton, Clementine Crowther, Sandra Brkic, Doriena Parsons, Susanne Johnston and Chris Carman.

Australian Finance Group (AFG) has appointed Sev Isikli as the new state sales manager for Western Australia. Ms Isikli was previously the business development manager of Beyond Bank Australia, where she spent over 5 years. 

David Buckingham, former iinet chief executive and chair of recently floated Pentanet, has joined the board of Football West. Mr Buckingham is a lifelong football (soccer) supporter who used to follow his hometown club Ipswich Town all over Europe. Since moving to Perth, he has been heavily involved with his local side Wembley Downs. Football West is aiming to move into the $32.5million State Football Centre in Cannington, with Perth hosting several matches of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Katrina Powell is the new head coach of the Hockeyroos. Ms Powell is a dual Olympic gold medallist and its first female head coach since 1978. Her playing career included 252 games and 141 goals for the Hockeyroos, coaching tenures at international level since 2005, and involvement with teams at the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games and Oceania Cup. Ms Powell will focus on leading the Australian national women’s team to the Tokyo Olympics.

Andrew Bell has joined Innovation Central Perth as an executive manager. He has experience working in the energy and resources industry, and spent the last 5 years at Curtin University’s research office. He will be working closely with companies interested in utilising digital technology to optimise and automate processes.

Netball WA has appointed Simone Hansen as chief executive, following an extensive and competitive recruitment process since the departure of former CEO Simon Taylor in October 2020. Ms Hansen has almost two decades of senior leadership experience, having held key executive positions in the banking and finance sectors across Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. She was the WA state manager for Aussie Home Loans and Bendigo Bank, a member of the Western Australian Football Commission’s Women in Football Advisory Committee, and non-executive director of the Australian Institute of Management WA. 

Neuroscientific Biopharmaceuticals has appointed Dougal Thring as vice president of clinical development and Alexandra Heaton as director of operations, to support the upcoming clinical programs in glaucoma and neurodegenerative diseases. Mr Thring has over 12 years of experience in leading all aspects of clinical development of Phase I and Phase II clinical studies for numerous domestic and international biotechnology companies. He was head of clinical solutions at Linear Clinical Research, an early-phase Australian contract research organisation, where he was responsible for identifying the best clinical strategy for the initiation and completion of early-stage clinical programs for their clients. Dr Heaton holds a PhD in Neuroscience with her research work focused on anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of dietary supplementation in the brain in addition to enhancing neuroplasticity, synaptogenesis and neural signalling. She had been involved with the company’s investor relations and corporate development prior to this appointment. 

The Western Australian division of the Public Relations Institute of Australia has elected senior communications strategist Clementine Crowther as president and communications specialist Sandra Brkic as vice president. Ms Crowther is a founding partner of public relations and brand strategy firm Loam Partners which was started in 2019 after twelve years at various agencies including Sling & Stone, WPP’s The Origin Agency and WE Communications. Ms Brkic, who had also worked at Sling & Stone is an account director at Hunter Communications, and had previously been a PR manager at Crown Resorts, and account manager at PPR after relocating from the UK. Communications strategist of 16 years Doriena Parsons, and retired PRIA member Susanne Johnston, will join Ms Crowther and Ms Brkic on the newly-formed WA state council. 

Global independent professional services firm Turner & Townsend has appointed Chris Carman as project director. Mr Carman has over 30 years of experience in managing complex industrial, residential and mixed-use tourism projects. He is the founder of Benchmark Projects Australasia and was involved in the creation of Joondalup City and the multi award-winning Mandurah Ocean Marina.