Adaptability and resilience key for PwC Managing Partner

In July 2017, Liza Maimone (BE(ChemEng)(Hons) 1993, GDipEnergy&ResLaw 1998) was appointed Managing Partner of PwC Consulting in Australia. Having worked more than twenty years in consulting, Maimone has a wealth of experience and career advice to share.

“I think every individual has the power to define how their career progresses,” Maimone says.

“It’s about being clear about your priorities and making the choices that are right for you.”

It’s an outlook that Maimone, who graduated from a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1993, adopted early on in her career.

After several years working in an engineering firm, and then in the energy and resources industry with a focus on environmental advisory, Maimone found herself looking for a better understanding of the law. It was from there that she decided to study a Graduate Diploma in Energy and Resources Law at Melbourne Law School.

“The Graduate Diploma gave me a depth of understanding in the law to complement my engineering degree and work experience,” Maimone says.

“Having an insight into the legal basis underpinning a client’s issue really enables me to bring the best to my client.”

Maimone’s career path has led her to work for a global engineering firm, an oil and gas company and other professional services firms, before joining PwC in 2008 as a Partner and Sustainability & Climate Change Leader.

Climate change has formed a common thread in Maimone’s career, and it is something she has a long-standing professional commitment to.

“Organisations that view climate change as an opportunity rather than a risk, and focus on that opportunity as a means of improving productivity and efficiency will be the most successful,” she says.

“More than that, the issue of climate change can be seen as an opportunity to innovate.”

Prior to taking on her new role as Managing Partner of PwC Consulting in Australia, Maimone held several leadership positions within PwC and has experience in risk management, sustainable development, government, energy and resources. Most recently she served as Managing Partner of the Canberra office, where she led the firm’s 21st Century Government agenda.

“PwC’s purpose is to help our clients build trust and help solve their most important problems, whether those problems are ones being faced directly by our clients, by their customers or in the community at large.

“In Canberra, PwC has been leveraging this mindset to help the Federal Government solve important problems that have a huge impact on the community.”

One of those agendas is welfare reform and another is reforming the vocational education sector.

“PwC is involved in determining the key skills employers will need from employees in the future, and in helping to define how vocational education needs to evolve to meet that demand,” she says.

Maimone’s new role sees her take responsibility for the Australian arm of PwC’s regional consulting business, which extends to New Zealand and South East Asia.

As she reflects on her career thus far, Maimone’s advice is clear: embrace change.

“It’s important to take the opportunities that present themselves, and be adaptable and agile,” she says.

“Resilience – a term that is talked about a lot today as critical for our children in navigating the world – applies equally to adults as they progress their career.”

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