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Our people

Olivia Shepherd: Empowered to build a global career in governance

In 2004, Olivia Shepherd was taking a gap year when she landed a job as an administrator with Macquarie’s Company Secretarial team. She found a passion for governance that led to a career spanning two decades with Macquarie, where she pursued a Master’s Degree in Governance and worked in Sydney, London and Singapore. Olivia’s experience has led to her current role as Assistant Company Secretary and Division Director for the Legal and Governance Group.

 

After completing high school in Sydney, Olivia Shepherd was certain about one thing; she wanted to take a gap year before commencing university.

“I didn’t know anything about corporate life,” she explains. “My mum was a teacher and my father had been a coal miner. I thought careers were linear.”

She interviewed for an administrator role in the Company Secretarial team. She enjoyed working there full-time in 2004, then continued casually as she completed a Bachelor of Commerce and Communications over the next four years.

Olivia built strong relationships in the small team, with her managers mentoring her and even helping her choose her future degree.

Taking what I thought was just a gap year role ended up being a defining moment and pivotal to where my life has ended up. It opened my eyes to corporate life."

The start of a global career   

After graduating, Olivia took a role at a leading share registry. Less than a year later, she rejoined Macquarie in the Company Secretarial team as a Senior Associate, supporting international subsidiaries in offshore transactions.

“I got a flavour of international governance,” Olivia says. “I quickly realised the breadth of learning opportunities and the incredible diversity I could experience in my career.”

She completed a Graduate Diploma of Corporate Governance and credits the support and encouragement she has received from Macquarie to facilitate her varied global career opportunities.

“In 2013, I wanted to relocate to the UK with my British husband and once a suitable role came up, the organisation helped make it happen,” Olivia says.

“It made me feel valued and I was excited by the opportunity to take my career across the globe.”

Olivia moved to London as a Manager in Company Secretarial, covering twelve jurisdictions that ranged from the UK to South Africa, Malta, Ireland and the Middle East.

Spending four years in the London office, she also completed a Master’s Degree in Corporate Governance and was promoted to Senior Manager in Global Governance.

  

A homecoming

Olivia decided to leave Macquarie in 2017, motivated by a desire to experience working in a different listed company. She spent a year working as Senior Assistant Company Secretary at a financial services organisation, a role she says provided her with new insights and skills.

In late 2017, Olivia received a call from Macquarie’s Global Head of Governance asking if she would consider rejoining Macquarie in Singapore as Associate Director and Asia Regional Head of Governance.

“I’d always wanted to work in Asia, so I jumped at the chance.”  

Despite the fact she was relocating to a new city, Olivia says returning to Macquarie after a year away felt like coming home.

“It’s the culture,” she explains. “There is a pulse that runs through Macquarie - with amazing people working for a common cause, purpose and direction.”

“After working in Australia, the UK and Asia, I gained a large global network."

Olivia spent three and a half years in Singapore when an opportunity arose to return to Sydney as the ANZ Regional Head of Governance in mid-2021.

“I had a family, and while I was enjoying working in Asia, COVID-19 had brought uncertainty,” she explains. “I was open about where I was at personally and discussed with my managers what the best move would be.”

Olivia returned to Australia shortly after taking parental leave and says adjusting back into work was a challenge, but Macquarie’s approach to hybrid and flexible working and its supportive culture helped.

In 2022, she was promoted to Division Director before then being appointed Assistant Company Secretary.

  

The variety and breadth of governance

Macquarie’s Legal and Governance Group has three primary Governance teams: Global Governance; Company Secretarial and Registry which is Olivia’s current team; and a third team, the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) Supervisory Office.

“Our corporate structure spans four regions, ANZ, EMEA, Asia and the Americas, which keeps the 80 or so people who work across Governance very busy."

Olivia says that a key aspect of corporate governance is ensuring board members or committees have the right systems and processes that support informed decision-making.

“The variety of the work and the transactions we see in governance keeps me engaged,” Olivia says. “This breadth balances with the technical aspects.”

A typical day sees Olivia attend committee meetings, support management stakeholders who need to present to committees, liaise with Chairs over agendas or consider how future regulatory development may impact the Group and legal entities. She also oversees team members and works on continuous improvement projects.  

“It’s a privileged role, building relationships with senior stakeholders,” she explains. “It also offers a bird’s eye view of the interesting work going on at Macquarie.”

 

Future focused 

Olivia says her own experience with learning and global mobility demonstrates how Macquarie prioritises governance and maintains active relationships with external governance bodies.

People come to governance at different stages and from diverse career paths and backgrounds, from those with strong administrator and project management capabilities to lawyers."

“Governance is a profession that’s in demand, with skills that are recognised and transferable globally.”

Having recently come into her role as Assistant Company Secretary, Olivia says she’s looking forward to gaining new skills to master it.

“At Macquarie, there is always change and evolution, so you need to be able to leverage it and adapt with it,” she says.

“It helps to be open-minded and say ‘yes’ to the opportunities that come your way; from a project, to a role, or a new piece of work. Quite often, it’s an entry point to many more possibilities.”

“As an organisation, Macquarie is very future focused,” Olivia says. “But when I do stop and look back, it’s hard to pinpoint a single highlight.  My whole career journey has been the highlight.”

“Macquarie took me under its wing and opened up the world for me – quite literally.”


About the Legal and Governance Group

Macquarie’s Legal and Governance Group is our global, dynamic and independent group of ~500 lawyers, governance professionals and technical specialists that protect and represent the interests of Macquarie, our businesses and our people. Our teams are at the forefront of Macquarie, undertaking the legal and governance work to support business outcomes.


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