Real estate powerhouse REA Group has appointed Tomas Varsavsky as its first chief engineer.
Formerly a ThoughtWorks executive, Mr Varsavsky has been with REA Group for seven years, where he was most recently chief technology officer.
He said his new role would allow him to set the strategic direction for the group and lead teams around data, security, enterprise technology, infrastructure and architecture.
He’ll be part of REA Group’s executive leadership team reporting to CEO Tracey Fellows.
“We have a really sizeable technology team,” Mr Varsavsky told The Australian. “We have 500 people in tech and that’s about one-third of the company.
“We have more than 500 systems. It’s lots of traffic and lots of sites. The thing that keeps me up at night is making sure we’re investing knowledge in the right places and in the right architecture for the future.”
Ms Fellows said the chief engineer role builds on REA’s strong foundations in technology and data.
“We’re excited about the deep technical expertise Tom brings to the executive leadership team, which will be important so we can continue our future success,” she said.
The company has also elevated Val Brown to executive manager, consumer experiences. Ms Brown has been with REA for eight years, and will drive its digital consumer strategy and build REA’s product road map.
REA Group is 62 per cent-owned by News Corp, publisher of The Australian.
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