QBE Australia hunts for new CIO

Listed insurance company, QBE Insurance Group, (ASX:QBE) is looking for a new chief information officer following a review of its IT functions that led to about 200 IT staff redundancies, mainly from its Sydney office.

According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, the company has appointed an executive search firm to help it recruit the new hire who would fill the vacancy left by general manager of strategy, Pranav Pasricha, who left QBE in May 2011 after four years with the company. Pasricha joined Indian financial technology company, Polaris Software Lab, as global head of insurance, based in Sydney.

Due to a change in reporting lines, the new appointment will answer to an Asia-based executive rather than the local chief executive.

In a statement, QBE Australia said that the company has implemented a new operating model aimed at providing “more effective and robust” IT services for its staff and customers.

“Unfortunately, this process has resulted in a number of IT roles being made redundant and QBE remains committed to redeploying staff where possible,” the statement reads.

According to QBE, it maintains a “significant” IT presence in Australia, with more than 400 IT staff employed across the country in NSW, Victoria, ACT, WA, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

CIO Australia has contacted QBE for comment.

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