Optus hires new SMB boss out of Paypal Australia

Optus has appointed Libby Roy as its new managing director for its SMB division, replacing Ben White.

White will continue managing Optus’ wholesale and satellite businesses, while also adding strategy to his remit.

Roy is responsible for driving sales, product development, marketing, service delivery and operations. She reports directly to Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin.

“Libby has a strong track record of leading growth and profitability in a variety of businesses including payment, credit card, financial planning, superannuation and travel,” Optus’ announcement read.

“With over 2 million small and medium sized businesses in Australia - accounting for between 30 to 40% of GDP - SMBs are a particularly important sector requiring support in these uncertain times.”

Roy was hired out of Paypal, where she was the ANZ managing director from 2015 to February 2020. She also held a number of leadership and executive roles at AMP, ipac, American Express and Booz & Company.

Optus also hired two other executives, namely Kate Aitken as vice president of human resources and Poppy Fassos as head of business risk management.