James Chisholm is joining South East Water as its new general manager – finance and technology, bringing extensive expertise across large-scale infrastructure and energy businesses.
Chisholm was most recently chief financial officer at Aurora Energy, where he oversaw significant commercial reform. Prior to that, he held senior roles at EnergyAustralia and John Holland, where he contributed to major projects in energy and utility sectors.
South East Water managing director Carla Purcell said Chisholm would be an asset to the company.
“James’ extensive experience in commercial finance, financial operations, treasury and tax, along with his leadership of major finance and technology transformations, will help take us forward in delivering our strategy for our customers, communities, people and the environment,” she said.
“We’re impressed with his strong track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering meaningful outcomes in complex, customer-focused organisations.”
Chisholm will oversee finance and commercial functions, technology strategy and operations, cyber security and procurement at South East Water, which is keenly focused on growing its digital capability.
South East Water is investing $2.1 billion between 2023 and 2028 to support population growth, climate adaptation and regulatory compliance across its catchment in south-east Melbourne and south Gippsland.
More than 14,700km of water pipes, 1500km of recycled water pipes and 11,600km of sewer pipes have been built across 2024–25 to support this.
The utility carried out critical upgrades to Pakenham East’s water and wastewater infrastructure late last year, after announcing it was completing sewer upgrades in Clyde. This involves the construction of a new pump station at Ballarto.
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