Appointment of Ben Furmage as Chief Operating and Finance Officer

We are  delighted to announce the appointment of Ben Furmage as the Chief Operating and Finance Officer (COFO) of the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC).

Ben Furmage, formerly General Manager, Customer and Strategy at Melbourne Water, joined the CRCWSC on a four-month secondment in mid-January as the interim COO. As Ben’s secondment agreement comes to an end, and with him having the opportunity to understand the operation and strategic direction of our CRC, the CRCWSC offered him the role as Chief Operating and Finance Officer (COFO) for the remaining 4 years of the CRCWSC – which he has now accepted. We very much look forward to Ben’s contribution to the execution of the CRCWSC’s new Strategic Plan (covering 2016/17-2020/21), and corresponding Operating Plan.

In his past role at Melbourne Water, Ben was responsible for setting the organisation’s high level strategic direction, overseeing community engagement, and improving customer service. Ben has provided executive leadership to a range of functions across Melbourne Water including water resource and infrastructure planning, utility regulation, public affairs, sustainability, innovation, customer service, research, and development. As a member of Melbourne Water’s executive leadership team since 2008, Ben has led large scale organisational change and industry reform programs. Ben is also an active contributor to the Water Services Association of Australia and VicWater.

Prior to joining Melbourne Water, Ben worked with the National Competition Council, the Productivity Commission, and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Ben has an honours degree in Economics, a Masters of Business Administration, and has recently completed the Executive Fellows Program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Please join us in formally welcoming Ben to the CRCWSC team!