Opera CIO seeks maternity temp
The Sydney Opera House (SOH) is looking for a temporary chief information officer to replace high-profile incumbent Claire Swaffield while she takes maternity leave.
(Credit: Bbluee)
The temporary CIO will be brought in to head up SOH's Information Systems division while Swaffield takes eight months leave to care for her new baby, according to an advertisement.
A key requirement for the temporary CIO will be managing SOH's $2 million ticketing system, Unified Customer Service System, that currently serves a consortium which includes Opera Australia, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and the Seymour Theatre Centre.
Swaffield is SOH's first ever CIO and her initial appointment to the role in May 2006 was attributed to her experience in managing a consortium similar to that for SOH's ticketing system.
Swaffield has also appeared in the media due to her relationship with SOH's previous CEO, Dr Norman Gillespie. Fairfax newspapers have reported the pair also previously worked together at Optus. Last year Gillespie chose not to apply for an extension to his five-year tenure at the Opera House.
Swaffield has a more varied background than many CIOs, with qualifications in theology and accounting. The executive has said in the past that a "technical geeky CIO at the Opera House would be a complete disaster".
The successful candidate will be well paid for the eight-month contract with the role offering $165,401 to $177,450 per year — some $10,000 more than when Swaffield got the job.
SOH was unable to respond to ZDNet.com.au's questions at the time of writing.