HESTA recruits chief growth officer

Sam Harris
SAMUEL HARRIS
HESTA - Chief Growth Officer
APPOINTMENT
HESTA
Date: 15 June 2022
Position: Chief Growth Officer
By Elizabeth Fry

HESTA has promoted customer experience leader Sam Harris to chief growth officer.

An integral member of the $68 billion super fund dedicated to Australia's health and community services sector, Harris was appointed head of insights and customer experience in 2019.

In this role, he helped transform the HESTA member experience using advanced business intelligence, analytics, and insights.

Specifically, he led the development of a cloud-based advanced analytics platform that provides all HESTA employees with real-time insights and intelligence.

Harris also oversaw the design of multiple initiatives to enhance the fund's product and digital capabilities and ability to provide omnichannel financial advice.

Before joining HESTA, Harris held various product, operations, and relationship management roles with Superpartners, the fund administrator.

He was also a senior manager at REI Super, responsible for delivering customer, administration, financial advice, and digital and insurance services.

HESTA chief executive Debby Blakey said she was thrilled that Harris had agreed to lead the growth team as the fund surges ahead with its new three-year strategy.

"HESTA has begun a growth evolution, with Sam's appointment continuing to build our capabilities across the business to achieve strong member growth, delivering benefits of scale to members," she said.

"With close to two decades in the super industry, Sam brings a wealth of experience to the chief growth officer position and has been influential in transforming our member experience, using member insights and segmentation to pave the way for strong member acquisition."

Harris added that HESTA is undergoing an extraordinary period of growth and transformation and that he was "very excited" to work with the growth team.

"Our members are incredibly hard-working and spend their lives caring for others, so it's a real privilege to be able to give back by helping look after their retirement journey and improving their financial confidence."