Appointments July 7, 2023

Pioneer Credit has appointed Ian Brunette as its chief information officer, replacing Joe Terribile who left the company on June 30. Mr Brunette joins Pioneer from chemical company Tronox, where he held roles including as director of business readiness and regional IT director. He was chief infrastructure and operations manager at HBF Health from 2014 to early 2018. Mr Brunette has been a non-executive director at not-for-profit aged care, disability and mental health services provider Chorus for more than eight years.

Former Under Treasurer and Mental Health Commissioner Tim Marney has joined the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia as its chief economist. He was chief economist at international management consultancy Nous Group until January this year. In April, Mr Marney was appointed to implement a newly developed model of care at Banksia Hill Detention Centre, joining the Department of Justice. CMEWA also recruited Aaron Walker as its new manager of industry competitiveness and economics. Mr Walker has more than a decade of experience across financial roles, including as senior economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia, and project analyst at Wesfarmers.

Lavan has welcomed practitioner Leith Ayres as a partner in the law firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency team. Mr Ayres’s career spans more than 30 years, with experience in complex insolvency matters, dispute resolution and corporate finance. Mr Ayres specialises in insolvency and reconstruction. He was previously a partner at Hopgood Ganim, leading the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution practice in Perth. Prior to Hopgood Ganim, Mr Ayres was at MinterEllison.

Financial advisory and accounting firm HLB Mann Judd has recruited Gaurav Chitnis and David Healy as partners. Mr Chitnis, who is a chartered tax advisor, joins the firm as a tax consulting partner. He joins from MKT Taxation Advisors, where he was a principal for four years. Mr Healy has been part of the HLB Mann Judd’s Perth team since 2009 and will step up to a partner role in corporate and audit services later this year. David Prescott has also been promoted as a director of Business Advisory Services in the HLB Mann Judd’s Perth office, having been a senior manager.

National cold meats supplier D'Orsogna has appointed CBH chief marketing and trading officer Jason Craig to be its managing director, starting next year. Mr Craig has more than 25 years' experience in the food supply industry and has been with Australia’s biggest grain exporter, CBH Group, since 2012. Mr Craig has also been a part time director of Sydney-based Grain Trade Australia since mid-2015. He will join D'Orsogna in early November in a transitionary role before starting as managing director on January 1.

South Perth accounting firm William Buck has announced its first leadership change in 37 years, with co-founder Mark Collins stepping down as managing director. Mr Collins will take up a new role as executive chairman, while audit partner Conley Manifis will be managing director. Mr Collins was a founding member of the William Buck Group board in Australia and helped drive its national expansion. Mr Manifis will be managing director of WA and a director of the William Buck Group while continuing to head up audit and assurance in the Perth office. He joined William Buck 11 years ago after previously working with PKF and Deloitte.

Core Lithium has hired Pierre Malan as its executive general manager of development and exploration, and Paul Benjamin as executive general manager of commercial and marketing for the miner’s new head office in Perth. Mr Malan will start his role in August while Mr Benjamin is set to commence this month. Mr Malan is a mining executive with more than 30 years of experience leading operations. Mr Benjamin has more than 25 years of experience in managing commercial and strategic relationships in the rechargeable battery materials industry.

Nick Hunt has started as general manager of WA, of real estate funds company Centuria Capital Group. Mr Hunt joins from Mimaro where he was head of real estate, focusing on real estate acquisitions and development. He was previously the group executive – head of the Australian and New Zealand office at 151 Property for five years. Mr Hunt’s 20 year career in the property industry includes being general manager of property and assets at Wyllie Group, development manager at Clough, and regional portfolio manager WA at Charter Hall.