Scyne Advisory appoints ex-PwC partner Jane Quodling to board

Jane Quodling has been appointed to the Scyne Advisory board as the firm’s internal business representative – leaving just the one non-executive vacancy to fill.

Public sector consulting breakaway Scyne Advisory has appointed former PwC partner Jane Quodling as an executive director to its advisory board, with much of the upstart’s senior leadership team now in place after the firm’s ticks off its first month in official business.

In addition to those previously named as part of its interim executive, many former PwC leaders have taken on fresh roles as heads of various practices and functions at Scyne Advisory.

Quodling is however a relatively new face among the mix, having only joined PwC as a partner in early 2022 after more than a decade in the public service, including most recently as the Australian Signals Directorate’s first assistant director of general people and portfolio management. Before that, she spent eight years as a special advisor with DFAT, and also time as a director of cybersecurity policy in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

As the Scyne Advisory business appointee, Quodling’s task will be ensuring the interests of the consulting team are reflected at board level, which also recently added John Mullen as its inaugural chair; “There are not enough adjectives to describe how I’m feeling about this amazing opportunity,” Quodling stated. “Suffice to say I’m excited to play a part in the business with our clients and people and at the board table to support the growth of Scyne.”

Quodling is one of approximately 120 former PwC partners to cross to Scyne, after the Big Four consultancy ran into a bit of trouble and sold its $650 million public sector business to private equity firm Allegro Funds for the grand total of $1. Other current board members include the aforementioned Mullins as chair, alongside retired federal court judge Andrew Greenwood as an early shaper and Allegro reps Adrian Loader and Fay Bou.

Understandably, Scyne Advisory has placed a great deal of importance on the organisation of its leadership structure, with the aim of instituting ASX-level governance. As such, the consultancy’s six-member board is to be made up of three independent non-executive directors, including one as chair, two Allegro reps, and one Scyne appointee, with an advisory board committee covering conflict and ethics, people & culture, audit & risk, and cybersecurity issues.

Scyne has also now installed a C-suite around interim managing partner Richard Gwilym, including financial, operations, people, information and risk chiefs, the latter, Sarah Niederle, the only non-Allegro executive drawn from PwC. In addition, PwC’s former national infrastructure strategy and economics leader Mark Thompson has been appointed to oversee Scyne in South Australia, with Jamie Briggs to focus on his role as head of corporate affairs.

“While it’s been a challenging year, I’m very excited about this opportunity to be part of an at-scale public sector advisory,” Quodling said upon the firm’s launch. “It's pretty easy to get behind our vision of being the public sector specialists, focused on helping governments and their agencies build more resilient, secure, equitable and prosperous communities. We have a big job ahead of us, but one I get to share with a fantastic, passionate and committed team.”