Georgina Gaussen

Role: Chief Operating Officer

Company: Fairfax Media

Working pattern: 0.90 FTE In the office Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, work remotely on a Thursday. Thursday mornings I volunteer at my children’s school, providing reading support to children. Obviously, I find this time of the week very rewarding and am able to show my face at school!

Career path: Georgina Gaussen is the Chief Operating Officer of Life & Events at Fairfax Media. Prior to this she spent three years at News Corp as Chief Procurement Officer and Head of Transformation. Georgina’s extensive portfolio includes 12 years at Qantas at numerous roles including CEO Qantas Foundation, Head of Strategy and Head of Supply Chain. She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and has extensive finance, business improvement, operating model redesign, strategy, HR, procurement and change management experience, as well as leadership skills through managing sizeable teams.

What needs to change? Invest in smart technology that allows staff to dial into video conferences easily, share documents easily and work remotely. Senior female leaders need to lead by example and set the trend. Reward based on delivery rather than physical presence.

What could government do better? More formalisation of targets set in relation to women in senior roles or Board positions. Measurable metrics i.e. .ASX listed companies to report back on statistics re number of females interviewed, offered roles, number of flexible arrangements in place.

Join Georgina at the 20th Women in Leadership