Bakers Delight’s long-standing CIO, Joanne Stubbs, has been made redundant. Stubbs had been in the role since August 2008. The Australian-owned bakery franchise chain’s CFO, Debbie Dowling, has also been made redundant with both Dowling’s and Stubbs’ positions being rolled into a dual role. Bakers’ Delight founder and joint-CEO, Lesley Gillespie, confirmed both roles are being combined but declined to expand further on the leadership restructure. Stubbs told CIO Australia she doesn’t want another full-time role. She started her career in IT in 1989 as an IT training manager at now defunct airline, Ansett. Over the past year-and-a-half, Stubbs has been a non-executive director at Scope, an organisation that supports children with cerebral palsy. “With the changes to the NDIS, they [Scope] need to change an enormous amount of their systems to cater for that,” Stubbs said. She also sits on the board of engineering consultancy and 3D printing specialist, Select 3D. “They are a fairly new startup … I am not earning anything from this at the moment but I am helping in terms of directing where their efforts should be,” Stubbs said. Stubbs is also looking for some paid directorships, and added she plans to spend time doing UN peacekeeping work in Africa. Stubbs and her team of 33 technology staff have rolled out several innovations at the retailer in recent years as part of a technology transformation project. One of the challenges was to find computing equipment that would last in a baking environment where there’s flour and water in the air for most of the day. The industrialisation of tablet technology enabled the team tablets and fan-less proprietary point-of-sale (POS) units. Stubbs and her team also created a centralised reporting system for bakers to access via the Internet, implemented a global WAN, and negotiation and implemented integrated payments with payment providers. Stubbs admitted the role at Bakers Delight had been quite stressful in recent months. In the past four months, she had accrued three-and-a-half months of time in lieu. Lesley Gillespie told CIO Australia Stubbs’ record speaks for itself but that the organisation needed a different role. Meanwhile, Lesley and her co-founder husband, Roger Gillespie have handed over the CEO role to their son Aaron Gillespie, who has run the company’s Canadian operation since 2014. Lesley Gillespie told CIO Australia that the Australia and New Zealand CEO roles have also been handed to her daughter, Elise Gillespie and son in law, David Christie. Elise and David are general managers of the organisation’s Australian operations. “As much as you’d like to think you can live forever you don’t and you have to set things up for the next generation,” said Lesley Gillespie. Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Follow Byron Connolly on Twitter: @ByronConnolly Related content Feature How culture and strategic partnerships help fuel transformation Marc Hale, CTO for AIA New Zealand, recently spoke with Cathy O’Sullivan, editor for CIO New Zealand, about navigating the complexities of digital transformation, and focusing on culture to enable healthier outcomes for customers. By CIO staff Mar 22, 2023 7 mins CTO Digital Transformation Change Management Feature 10 things CIOs wish they knew from the start Go slower. Network. Tell stories. Get training. Be kind. CIOs have plenty of advice they’d give to their younger selves if they could. By Martin Veitch Mar 22, 2023 7 mins CIO Careers IT Management Interview CIO Karriem Shakoor on harnessing the power of data democratization The UL Solutions tech chief aims to empower business stakeholders and improve marketing and sales effectiveness through comprehensive data transformation. By Martha Heller Mar 22, 2023 5 mins Data Management IT Leadership News Nvidia accelerates enterprise adoption of generative AI Nvidia’s AI Foundations as-a-service offering aims to help enterprises build and run AI models that generate text, graphics, and even proteins. By Peter Sayer Mar 21, 2023 5 mins Cloud Management Infrastructure Management Artificial Intelligence Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe