Following a stellar career and over 20 years of experience working in London, New York, Hong Kong, Canberra and Sydney, Michelle began her Transurban (TU) journey as the General Manager of Enterprise Services.
Michelle joined Transurban in June 2021, coming in with over 20 years of experience in banking with JP Morgan and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). She spent 18 years with JP Morgan, rising from an Operations Project Manager in London to Business Manager before going on to excel in several Managing Director roles in New York, Hong Kong and back home in Sydney.
Alongside roles at CBA as the CommSec and Business Bank CIO and achieving success around the world, Michelle not only grew a career but a family, with her boys being born in America and her daughter in Hong Kong.
Tell me about your career so far with Transurban.
I joined Transurban almost 4 years ago after more than 20 years in banking and prior to that as an Economist with the Australian Treasury. My first role at Transurban was as the General Manager Enterprise Services, which included Transport Technology, PMO, Strategy, commercial and business management. Today, I lead our Customer Platforms function within the Customer & Technology business unit as Transurban’s Chief Information Officer.
I’ve really enjoyed my time so far with TU, I’ve always pushed myself to look for challenges and sought out opportunities for growth. Given my nature, when I started thinking about the idea of going four days a week for 6 months to support my son’s neurodiverse needs through his HSC, it was a huge personal adjustment for me. Moving to a four day schedule was a real internal struggle after spending my entire career thinking about my working life in a traditional full-time way. At the same time, I found TU to be highly supportive of this change and my manager encouraged me and supported me in making it possible.
I personally grew out of this experience, enabling me to travel less and cherish the milestone moments with my family especially my Year 12 son. This change also created opportunities and broader exposure for my leadership team and demonstrated to others in the organisation that it's always worth a discussion if you're considering a change to your work rhythm.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell my younger self not to worry so much, continue to be curious and open to new opportunities. There will always be risk, and risk isn’t a bad thing, it just needs to be managed. I would say “what is the risk of not doing something? What are you losing out on learning?” versus the risk of taking on something new.
What excites you the most in your work at Transurban?
What excites me most about Transurban is the size of the projects, the tangible outcomes, the ambition of the company and our future potential. I’ve been connected to work on the West Gate Tunnel Project for the last three years and I can’t wait for the opening later this year. This is a city-shaping project which will change the way people get around and experience life in Melbourne.
Another piece of work I’m excited about is the customer systems transformation we are kicking off soon. This program will allow us to focus on some of our new values and strategic pillars - starting with the customer - and driving operational efficiency by optimising the core. My Transurban career highlight so far was the Westconnex opening, followed closely by the Customer Care and Billing upgrade but I am pretty sure the WestGate Tunnel opening will eclipse them both! Clearly, I don't have a favourite child!
What would you say to someone thinking about joining Transurban?
I would say, TU is an interesting and complex business, there’s more to it than it seems. We have a huge customer base in Australia and North America and hold strong relationships with governments and stakeholders. We support our people to drive their careers, and I’ve experienced a connected and supportive culture.
And lastly, and most importantly, what do you prefer - tea or coffee?
Coffee for sure, milky coffee in the morning, then expresso in the afternoon. After 4pm it’s ginger tea.
