Optus has today announced the appointment of Pieter van der Merwe who will be joining Optus as Chief Security & Risk Officer.
Optus CEO Stephen Rue said in a message to all employees that the appointment would enable the company to further strengthen and protect the security of Optus and its customers.
Pieter is currently the Chief Security Officer at Woolworths and has also held senior leadership positions at KPMG, IBM, and Dimension Data.
“Pieter’s appointment marks an important milestone in structuring our business to support our strategic needs and the championing of our customers,” Mr Rue said.“Pieter brings extensive experience leading security efforts for organisations trusted by millions of customers, where privacy, data protection, compliance, and governance are non-negotiables.“As Australia’s second largest telco, we have a commitment to safeguard data and privacy, support digital inclusion and uphold trust with our customers and key stakeholders.“I am confident Pieter’s appointment and the extensive experience he brings will strengthen our business and further enhance our security posture across all actions that can damage our business and impact our customers.”
Pieter will report directly to Stephen Rue when he joins Optus later this year.
His appointment follows the addition of former NBN Co executive Kathrine Dyer to the Optus leadership team as Chief Operating Officer earlier this year.
