Jennifer Cronin

Self employed

I am keen to turbocharge an NED career having returned from an international hotel management career to my home base in Queensland. Having successfully led a pre-pandemic workforce of almost 5,000 employees until mid-2022 I believe I am well equipped to advise and support forward thinking organisations. I have also participated in various government taskforces and led industry associations in order to elevate and position our sector for recovery and growth. In addition, I am passionately committed to my Chair and advisory board roles with Bond University and on the Advisory Council of ICHRIE. Customer service is in my DNA and I have always cultivated a passion for strategic marketing, setting my sights on regional and global roles in Asia from my formative career years in SE Queensland. This was followed with my quest for a PhD in crisis management, which supported my pathway to a C-Suite role for the last six years in HK as President | CEO of Wharf Hotels, overseeing a group of hotels across mainland China, HK and the Philippines including a development pipeline throughout Asia, with a global sales office network. Having specialised in crisis leadership research, the application of one of my PhD recommendations, a Living Manual, allowed our organisation to stay ahead of the curve during a wave of natural, man-made and social crises. My initial remit in my HK CEO role was to create a vision that would future-proof the company and establish it as a leading hotel operator. In order to achieve this goal, our first step was to develop a culture of service for both the internal and external customer, which required the development of a values-led purpose-driven framework that included our purpose, vision and mission. I am also proud of introducing EarthCheck (a Brisbane based firm) to all our hotels and operations across the group, to track our sustainability position in terms of energy and waste. Finally, it is the creation and launch of the new luxury hotel brand, Niccolo Hotels, that goes from strength to strength and competes with the best of the best that is one of my greatest achievements. My personal vision is that of empowering transformational leadership to support and guide colleagues to meet and exceed the goals and objectives of the organisation. Having worked internationally, I have a well-tuned sense of cross-cultural needs and expectations and adjust my management style accordingly. In a fast moving and fast changing marketplace, I thrive on solving problems and practice flexibility - with a dash of creativity and agility. However, it is with integrity that I have experienced career success; by practicing the highest standards of professionalism, respect, honesty and trust, from which I have set my moral compass for all that I have undertaken and achieved. Therefore, my expertise in senior leadership positions aligns with the required capabilities for an NED role, added to the fact that I hold AICD membership, graduating from the International Director’s Course in 2018