Hobsons Australia Executive Team
Georgina Driver – Financial Controller
Date Joined Hobsons: October 2006
Georgina started at Hobsons after working in private practice, and three years as Financial Controller at Hudsons Recruitment in the UK.
Georgina prefers the commercial focus of working at Hobsons, and likes managing a finance department. She says that even though Hobsons is a global company, it retains an independent and diverse culture, which is reflected in the three different divisions of the Hobsons Australia office.
As well as maintaining budgets, reporting to head office and quarterly forecasts, the finance team concentrates on new products and growing revenue for the company.
Georgina’s varied responsibilities include overseeing the day to day operations of finance, covering accounts payable, accounts receivable, cashflow requirements, finance reporting and managing Hobsons HR division.
Janee Heffernan – General Manager, Hobsons Enrolment Management Solutions (HEMS)
Date Joined Hobsons: July 1999
Janee joined Hobsons as team leader in the Service Centre and was promoted to General Manager of Hobsons EMS in 2002. Janee brings to bear a wealth of experience in managing large teams within a fast-paced environment. Prior to joining Hobsons she ran the National Australia Bank's telemarketing division.
Janee has seen the Service Centre go through several transformations and takes great pride in the strong growth and development of Hobsons EMS business and the results that are consistently delivered to the extensive list of Hobsons EMS client institutions. She believes the key to managing such a large and diverse team is having an experienced and dedicated management team.
Janee is excited about the Hobsons EMS expansion into the domestic market, and the enhancement of services to existing enquiry management services through the continued introduction of new technologies, such as SMS, MMS and chat to continue to deliver innovative and advanced solutions to Hobsons EMS clients.
Edward Lakman – Commercial Director
Date Joined Hobsons: November 2011
Edward has been working in the digital media and IT sectors for 10 years. Before joining Hobsons, Edward founded one of Australia's first email and mobile marketing agencies, which was sold in 2005. He then joined Hitwise — a digital marketing intelligence organisation — where he ran sales teams across two business units in Australia and New Zealand that were focused on providing premium digital marketing services, business intelligence software and consulting services.
As Commercial Director, Edward leads the commercial team in partnering with Hobsons’ clients to provide them with solutions to grow their business. He and the commercial team are responsible for assisting clients to attract, recruit and retain students and jobseekers through Hobsons’ highly targeted publications, websites, technology and outsourced solutions. Edward believes that the commercial team is pivotal in helping Hobsons in its quest to constantly enhance its services to remain at the leading edge of solutions for the education sector.
Edward was attracted to Hobsons by the thought of joining an exceptional team with years of experience in servicing the sector and a strong passion for being the best in the industry. He likes the fact that he works for an organisation that has a broad range of services and is able to provide solutions that assist clients to grow their businesses in an increasingly competitive market.
Garth McGiddy – Director, Strategic Development
Date Joined Hobsons: September 2000
Before beginning his career at Hobsons as Operations Manager of the EMS, Garth held various management positions at Hutchison Telecoms and Orange. Since joining Hobsons in 2000, Garth has taken on a number of roles, branching out from his initial position in the EMS to the business side of the technology division in the positions of Solutions Manager and eCommerce Manager. In 2008 Garth left Hobsons to spend two years running a digital media agency as Director of Operations, before returning in 2010 to the EMS as the Head of Operations. He took on the role of Director — Strategic Development in March 2011.
Garth was initially attracted to Hobsons by its culture of innovation, success and passion, as well as the wide scope of the business’ products and services — technology, digital, publishing and service delivery.
Garth loves the scope of his role in the organisation — working across all departments and products — because it allows him to contribute to a range of exciting initiatives. As the person responsible for innovation and change, Garth enjoys being exposed to new concepts, techniques and technologies on a daily basis. His main responsibilities include innovating the business and its existing products and services; identifying and formulating new products and services; and developing new partnerships.
Davorin Vrdoljak – General Manager, Publishing and Technology Solutions
Date Joined Hobsons: October 2000
Prior to starting at Hobsons, Davorin was pre-press manager at Pacific Access (now Sensis). He joined Hobsons as Production Manager and has since broadened his responsibility across the entire Publishing division including data collection, editorial, marketing and research services. In 2008 he took on the double role of General Manager of the Technology Solutions division.
Davorin was initially attracted to Hobsons because of the company's balance between print and online publishing. He saw that Hobsons was a company with a stable base of print publishing from which to develop an online presence.
He is proud of the fact that while Hobsons has made an aggressive expansion into the online space, the company has maintained the quality and high standard of existing print products.
Davorin can see many opportunities for Hobsons to expand within the student recruitment market, as a provider of choice of student recruitment technologies and marketing services to the education industry, while at the same time retaining its status as a trusted provider of the most authoritative information to students.
