Following the unexpected resignation and departure of former chief executive officer Eddie Sheehy in January, Australian forensic software provider Nuix has filled the top spot with its chief operating officer and head of Asia Pacific operations, Rod Vawdrey (pictured), effective 1 May.
Vawdrey joined Nuix in 2015 from Fujitsu, where he was corporate senior vice president and president of international business (he was CEO of Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand before that.) Having taken over the COO role from Morgan Sheehy, Vawdrey quickly became a key part of the global leadership team, overseeing the Sydney-headquartered software company’s business activities globally, including sales operations, information technology, human resources, training, facilities, and strategic projects and partnerships.
As Nuix prepares to float on the Australian Stock Exchange, Vawdrey will be assisted by a leadership team that has recently been bolstered by the appointment of two regional CEOs. Ethan Treese joined from Dun & Bradstreet in September 2016 as CEO of North America, while Jonathan Rees joined from Western Union Business Solutions in November and is CEO of EMEA, based in London.
Vawdrey will relinquish his role as head of the APAC region and Nuix will shortly announce a new leader for the region.
Following Eddie Sheehy’s departure – which raised eyebrows in legal circles thanks to its lack of ceremony – Nuix made it clear that it was looking for a replacement who had the global IPO skillset to lead Nuix through the next phase of its growth and development.
“Rod has made a significant contribution to Nuix’s Australian and international operations over the past two years in his role as chief operating officer and head of Nuix’s Asia Pacific operations, and has established strong relationships with our employees, customers and partners,” said Nuix chairman and co-founder Dr. Tony Castagna. “He has grown the company’s customer base, expanded our geographic presence, strengthened business processes to support operations, and introduced an enterprise level focus for global sales and delivery.
“Rod will lead Nuix through a year of transition, from its Australian foundation and heritage as an innovative software technology company with great people and unique capabilities, to a world leader in solutions for enterprise risk management, compliance and security.”
“Our organisation represents an amazingly talented group of the world’s best engineers and subject matter experts,” said Vawdrey. “Together with our regional sales and support capability, I see a significant growth opportunity to add new customers to an already impressive footprint in some 65 countries. Nuix counts many of the world’s leading organisations as customers and I am confident in our ability to continue to become a major force in understanding data and providing the insights and intelligence that help protect and secure our world.
“It is very special to be a member of the Nuix team as we become one of the world’s leading software companies that showcases the best of Australian and overseas innovation and software engineering leadership.”
