Monash University in Melbourne hires a new Director of Business Development

Earlier this year, Society were appointed by Monash University to lead a global search for their new Director of Business Development.

Monash is Australia’s largest university and a member of the prestigious 'Group of Eight'. It operates campuses across the world and is consistently ranked in the Top 100 universities globally.

The Director of Business Development role is critical to providing targeted support across the University to develop and convert major opportunities of high strategic or financial potential from a wide range of areas to generate impact. The role has been created in support of the Enterprise Strategic Plan, and will involve understanding and collaborating with faculties (or groups of faculties) to enable them to realise their enterprise priorities and potential.

Society undertook a global search with a primary focus on Australia and the wider Oceania and South East Asian regions. Candidates emerged from within the public and private sectors in Australia and from places such as Canada, Singapore, and the UK.

The appointed candidate was Dr Elizabeth (Liz) Jazwinska from RMIT. She is currently Director of Research Engagement and Business Development and Acting Director of Research Translation. Prior to taking up her positions at RMIT, Liz held senior leadership positions at A*STAR in Singapore, the Ministry of Science and Innovation in New Zealand, the Australian Research Council, and Johnson & Johnson in Australia.

Liz trained in science (PhD), business (MBA) and directorship (GAICD), and has over 30 years’ experience, having held senior roles in industry, academia and government in Australia and internationally. She has deep experience in embedding processes, driving quality and activity and building multi-million-dollar partnerships within large and complex organisations.

Asked about her appointment, Liz commented:

"I am excited to be joining the Enterprise Team in Monash, a world leading organisation in research excellence and education. I am passionate about the development and application of research excellence for socio-economic benefit, so I am thrilled this new role will enable me to contribute to building vibrant portfolio of large-scale industry partnerships and strategic initiatives for Monash which will extend the impact of Monash's research, enrich its educational offer, and infuse the University with a culture of innovation. Many thanks to Neena and Gareth of Society for introducing this role to me and for shepherding me through the application process, they were a delight to deal with and kept me fully informed and updated at each stage. Many thanks also to everyone at Monash who so willingly engaged and provided me with so much useful background information and to Ken Sloan and Sarah Newton for giving me this wonderful opportunity to join the team."

Liz will join Monash in February 2019 and we wish her every success in her new role.