People on the move – June 2022

Welcome to People on the move – June 2022, Insight’s monthly bulletin to keep the Australian ophthalmic sector updated on new appointments and personnel changes.

If you’d like to tell the market about a new person in your company, practice, or clinic, please send the person’s name, position, image and a short description about their role to editor Myles Hume for consideration at myles.hume@primecreative.com.au.

Alison Middleton – ProVision

Alison Middleton joins independent optometry network ProVision as its South Australia Business Coach, bringing a strong retail optical background that includes Sunglass Hut, OPSM & Luxottica. She also has experience as an optical dispenser and is qualified with Cert IV. Middleton has created and delivered state training programs and was the state One Sight Clinic leader for Indigenous and local school clinics.

Sabina McDonald – ProVision

Sabina McDonald joins ProVision as a Business Development Executive with over 30 years of experience in the optical industry. She has worked with major companies such as Bausch & Lomb, Marchon, and Hoya. McDonald previously worked with ProVision as a Business Coach, and for 6.5 years successfully recruited over 45 optometry practices while coaching and mentoring over 40 practices across Victoria.

Avril Miranda – Zeiss

Avril Miranda has recently joined the Victorian Zeiss Medical Technology team as a product specialist in surgical ophthalmology. An optometrist by trade, Miranda has several years of international experience managing a refractive based clinic in Dubai for almost seven years. Miranda was previously achieving great success in a similar role in Queensland’s Medical Technology and, after relocating to Melbourne with her family, is now excited to make use of her clinical experience in Victoria.

Belinda Mah – Safilo

Belinda Mah joins the Safilo team in Australia as trade marketing manager. Mah brings with her extensive trade marketing experience, working with premium and luxury brands across various industries, in Australia, the UK and the US. Her areas of expertise include strategic planning, brand management, promotions, communications, pricing, visual merchandising, research and analysis, point of sale, data analysis and team leadership.

Goran Majstorovic – Specsavers

Specsavers Australia New Zealand has boosted its growing marketing leadership team with the addition of three industry experts following a stream of significant growth for the Specsavers brand. Following an extensive search and selection process, it announced Goran Majstorovic as its head of brand creative for ANZ. He brings more than 20 years of brand strategy, marketing and advertising experience in both in-house and agency roles to the Specsavers position. His career has seen him work across a broad range of industries and categories, including financial services, consumer technology, sport, gaming and retail. Previously, Majstorovic was at Coles Supermarkets, where he spent 10 years leading the major retailer’s marketing, media and design functions. He was instrumental in driving the brand strategy for many memorable Coles campaigns during this time.

Heather Murphy – Specsavers

Heather Murphy steps up as the head of marketing – Special Projects in Australia and New Zealand. With 18 years experience in communications roles, nine of those with the Specsavers brand, she has previously led the PR strategy for Specsavers in Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. Murphy returns to Australia from her years spent with Specsavers covering the five Nordic markets as public relations director, and is excited to bring her learned skills and experience back to the Australian and New Zealand markets. Her career has seen her at the front line of crisis communications across Northern Europe, building communications strategies and implementing the plans at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before heading to Europe, she worked to sign Australian designers including Carla Zampatti and Ellery to work with the Specsavers Style division. Murphy was also responsible for the CSR partnerships with The Fred Hollows Foundation, establishing the successful fundraising Limited Edition frame range which continues today.

Carley Swan – Specsavers

Carley Swan has been promoted from senior CRM manager to head of CRM for Specsavers Australia and New Zealand. She has worked with Specsavers and the CRM team for over five years supporting and owning local and global MarTech, data and CX projects. Previously, Swan worked across marketing positions, launching successful campaigns and partnerships with Coles and its Flybuys loyalty program. Her background with critical loyalty and customer experience principles have been integral to developing the Specsavers customer journey.

Mela Bilyk – Cylite

Mela Bilyk joins Cylite as Clinical and Applications Manager. She is responsible for helping lead clinical trials, as well as developing clinical training and support on Cylite products. Her experience as an orthoptist has ranged from working at Macquarie University Hospital’s ophthalmic department and Focus Eye Centre. She has also provided clinical education as a Practitioner Teacher at the University of Technology’s Discipline of Orthoptics, and more recently in surgical ophthalmic sales at Alcon. Bilyk’s clinical experience and keen interest in emerging health technologies has provided a strong foundation for her new role, growing her passion for lifelong learning and clinical support to improve patient outcomes and health care delivery.

Dr Baskar Arumugam & Dr David Hammond – CooperVision

CooperVision has announced expanded roles for two prominent researchers. Dr Baskar Arumugam, B.Opt., Ph.D., FAAO, (left) has beenappointed Senior Lead ClinicalScientist, and Dr David Hammond, BAppSci(Microbiol), BAppSci(Optom), Ph.D., COT, (right) has been appointed Lead Clinical Scientist on the CooperVision myopia research and development team. Both play integral roles in research and product development in myopia control, including in-depth analysis of seven years of data from the MiSight 1 day clinical trial, the longest-running soft contact lens study among children. Images: Linkedin.