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New Managing Director at Melbourne Water

Dr Nerina di Lorenzo

The Board of Melbourne Water has announced the appointment of Dr Nerina Di Lorenzo as the next Managing Director of the organisation.

Melbourne Water’s Chair, Professor John Thwaites, welcomed the appointment of Dr Di Lorenzo and said the Board was looking forward to working closely with her in the next phase of Melbourne Water’s history.

Dr Di Lorenzo joined Melbourne Water in July 2019 as the Executive General Manager of Service Delivery. Before this role, Dr Di Lorenzo was the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Moreland.

“In her time at Melbourne Water, the Board has been thoroughly impressed by Dr Di Lorenzo’s leadership, skills and ability to drive customer outcomes in a collaborative way,” Professor Thwaites said.

“This historic appointment – the first female Managing Director in the organisation’s 130 history – builds on previous appointments of women to senior roles in the organisation.”

Dr Di Lorenzo said she was honoured to be appointed as Melbourne Water’s next Managing Director and was looking forward to taking on the role.

“I’m particularly excited about forging stronger relationships with our customers and delivery partners, especially Traditional Owners. The sector is facing big challenges including long term water security, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, improving the health of our rivers and catchments and making greater Melbourne an even better place to live. We can only meet these challenges by working hand in hand with our customers and the community,” Dr Di Lorenzo said.

Dr Di Lorenzo holds engineering qualifications and has long experience in asset management. She has also worked in the processing environment of the oil sector on the oil rigs in the Bass Strait.

Her roles have spanned the areas of Asset Management, Infrastructure Operations, Project Delivery and Business Improvement. As well as holding Bachelor Degrees in Engineering and Business, Nerina earned her PhD on the topic of organisational change management. 

Dr Di Lorenzo follows Michael Wandmaker, Melbourne Water’s Managing Director since September 2014, who will step down from the role on 30 November 2021.

Professor Thwaites thanked Mr Wandmaker for his dedication and achievements as Managing Director over the last seven years.

“In his time with Melbourne Water, Michael has delivered significant business improvements and made great strides forward on safety improvement, increased employee engagement, innovation and optimising all aspects of our operations to keep customer water bills as low as possible. He is leaving the organisation in great shape and the Board thanks him for his service”.