Former SBS boss joins Telstra in management shake-up

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn is optimistic about the future of the telecommunications industry, despite replacing almost half his executive team, including chief financial officer Warwick Bray, as part of a radical shake-up on Monday.

As part of the sweeping changes, SBS boss Michael Ebeid will join the telco, while Telstra's head of technology Stephen Elop, wholesale boss Will Irving and chief marketing officer Joe Pollard will leave.  Mr Irving has been with Telstra since 1997 and has been developing its infrastructure division InfraCo, which Enterprise head Brendon Riley will lead under the changes.

Former SBS boss SBS boss Michael Ebeid will run Telstra's Enterprise team.Credit: Daniel Munoz

Last month, Mr Penn flagged future changes to the management team as Telstra repositions itself amid strong competition for mobile and internet customers and the disruption of the National Broadband Network.

The new strategy, called "Telstra 2022", includes slashing 9500 jobs while creating 1500 roles in software engineering and cyber-security, and increasing cost-cutting plans to $2.5 billion.

"I think the industry is going through a very challenging period," Mr Penn told Fairfax Media. "We are taking a much more radical approach."

Since early-2015, Telstra has shed more than $40 billion in market value. Despite this, Mr Penn said he looks at the industry with "great optimism".

"The importance of telecommunications has never been more significant," he said.

I think the industry is going through a very challenging period ... We are taking a much more radical approach.

Andy Penn, Telstra CEO

Former SBS chief executive and managing director Mr Ebeid, who announced he would leave the public broadcaster after 7½ years in mid-July, worked at Optus for a decade and will join Telstra in October as head of enterprise.

Under Mr Ebeid's leadership, SBS launched three free-to-air television channels and the streaming service SBS On Demand, which has about 5 million subscribers. Streaming and video content, particularly live-streaming popular sport, has become increasingly important for telcos trying to differentiate themselves to customers.

Mr Ebeid said in a statement that "like the media sector, the telecommunications sector is going through major change and disruption, but it is also on the cusp of bringing Australians the latest technology to connect to each other and the world".

Former executive vice-president of networks for Reliance Jio in India, Nikos Katinakis, will join the telco as the lead for networks and IT, while another external hire is yet to be announced.

Current chief operations officer Robyn Denholm will be moved into the role of chief financial officer and head of strategy. Ms Denholm is a former CFO of Juniper Networks and is a board member for Tesla.

Telstra enterprise group managing director of global services and international, David Burns, will become head of Global Business Services, while group executive for human resources Alex Badenoch will be leading the transformation with a focus on employee experience.

Employees speaking on condition of anonymity say they are "uncertain" about the recent changes, characterising them as "disruptive".

Telstra's share price closed up 1.81 per cent to $2.81.

Mr Penn declined to speak specifically about individual employees who were leaving but said the changes had, in part, come about after talks about each staff member's aspirations and noted he was "immensely grateful" for their contribution to the business.

Telstra's highly-regarded networks boss Mike Wright recently resigned from the telco after almost 40 years.

A note from Mr Penn to staff said the company’s “size and legacy that served us so well in the past are now getting in the way of what we need to be today and in the future, given market dynamics and the rapidly changing needs of our customers” with the new structure to be simpler and more streamlined.

“We will only be successful if we collaborate and work together differently and fundamentally change the role of leaders,” he said.

Consumer and small business executive Vicki Brady and group general counsel Carmel Mulhern will continue in their current roles.