Appointments November 1, 2019

Our weekly appointments wrap includes Peter McCafferty, Col Dutton, Andre Smit, Troy Morrison, Paige Exley,  Matej Nvota, Sam Bowles and Greg Blenkiron.

Science minister Dave Kelly has announced Peter McCafferty will be the chief executive of ChemCentre for a five year term. Mr Cafferty has been acting chief executive since June 2017 and was chosen to lead the organisation in a more permanent capacity after an extensive search. He has worked at ChemCentre since 1992, most recently as the director of scientific services. 

Col Dutton was elected state president of the Urban Development Institute of Australia WA at the organisation’s annual general meeting this month. He takes on the role of state president from outgoing president Nick Allingame. Mr Dutton has more than 20 years’ experience working in the property industry, including as WA residential general manager at Stockland for the past eight years.

Scope Systems chief operating officer Andre Smit has been promoted to managing director after Troy Morrison resigned this week to pursue a creative career. Mr Smit has over 30 years’ experience in IT including working for Computer Science Corporation, NEC, Microsoft and Singtel. Mr Morrison, who was managing director for more than 12 years, will remain on the board of directors. 

Advanced Braking Technology has appointed Paige Exley as its chief financial officer. Ms Exley has more than 20 years’ experience in financial and management accounting, including as company secretary at Zetta for one year, and as a director at Eventide Consulting for six years and at Triton Minerals for more than three years. She is in the final stages of her studies to become a chartered accountant.

Cedar Woods Properties has hired Matej Nvota to fill the newly-created position of national marketing manager. Mr Nvota has worked in marketing and communications for the past 18 years for companies including Satterley Property Group, 3 Geeks and Linc Integrated. Managing director Nathan Blackburne said the new role was growth focus, with the key objective to leverage technology and systems to boost leads sales and customer experience. 

Metallurgical coal developer Aspire Mining has announced the appointment of Sam Bowles as chief operating officer to deliver the first stage of its flagship Ovoot coal project in Mongolia. Mr Bowles is a mining engineer with experience in both Australia and Mongolia, including as Mongolia business unit head at TerraComm Resources and as general manager of its Baruun Noyon Uul coal operations for more than five years combined.

Data centre specialist DXN has appointed Greg Blenkiron as chief financial officer, replacing George Lazarou who has been acting as interim CFO. Mr Lazarou will now continue in his role as company secretary. Mr Blenkiron has over 20 years’ experience working in strategic finance, treasury and operations management. Most recently, he was the general manager of Prestige Plants in Melbourne for one year, and prior to that served as chief executive and chief financial officer at Tilling Timber in Melbourne for a combined five years.