Attaining an MBA won’t in and of itself make you a global citizen or launch your international career. Like most things in life, it’s up to you to make the most of it, and it’s as much about the experience as the end result, says Roger Woodend, who graduated from Macquarie Business School with an MBA (2009). Currently Senior Deal Lead for Strategic Customer Engagements at Amazon Web Services and based in New York, Roger has made the most of his MBA and followed opportunities wherever they have arisen in the world ...

Speaking with Roger Woodend via Zoom from his home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he commutes to New York for business, it’s clear he’s a man with not just strong Northern Irish roots, but one who has enjoyed living and working all around the world. Scotland, Manchester, London, Sydney, Hong Kong and now the US, in fact.

Behind him, there’s a poster with the word Ulster, his homeland, proudly emblazoned on it, and there’s another with the words Dare to Dream, a memento from when he watched Northern Ireland play in the 2016 UEFA European Championship in France. ‘The manager commissioned it for each of the players,’ he explains, ‘and they made another ten or so; it’s a limited edition.’

Still, even without these hints as to his origins, his characteristic lilt and laidback air mean there is no question of where he’s from. But there’s also a painting of Hong Kong Harbour, where he lived and worked for two years before moving to New York, and we’re here to talk about his time at MQ in Sydney, completing his MBA.

‘I was always interested in international business and had a strong desire to travel,’ he admits, saying he was keen to combine both, so when the time was right to undertake his MBA, having studied in Scotland and worked in the UK, he knew what he wanted to do.

‘I wanted to study full-time in the Asia-Pacific region with a university that had strong credentials and international candidates. At the time (2008), Macquarie featured highly on The Economist Global MBA Rankings, and it was also one of the few universities where you could complete the MBA within 12 months.’

Not long after, on a holiday to Sydney, Roger visited the campus at North Ryde and was impressed with the setup, so applied shortly afterwards. ‘The first day of the MBA will always hold a special place in my memories,’ he says. ‘Meeting people from all over the world, from different backgrounds, who had put their careers on hold to sign up for the full-time MBA, was a very memorable experience.’

As was the European study tour where, as part of the course, along with 12 other candidates, Roger spent two weeks in Germany, Austria and Switzerland studying and meeting executives from well-known international companies that were recognised for their sustainable leadership practices. ‘It was a stand-out,’ he says.

Of course, there was hard work involved, too. ‘One of the big things about the MBA is being outside your comfort zone and pushing yourself to learn about things you’ve perhaps avoided for years. Everyone has subjects in which they’re less comfortable than others. Accounting, finance and statistics were the challenging ones for me, but I felt it was necessary to go through the pain in order to learn new skills.’

Skills Roger says he now uses every day. ‘Whether it’s in my work or personal life, the comprehensive nature of the program is invaluable in how you think and act. Before the MBA, my career was almost exclusively in enterprise sales and sales leadership roles.

‘Completing the MBA gave me the confidence, credibility and skills to move into general management roles, the first of which was running a software start-up in Surry Hills, Sydney. We built mobile apps and mobile marketing campaigns for the likes of the ABC, the Australian Stock Exchange and Vodafone.’

Roger was in that role for three years, but the desire for international experiences was still not quite sated, so he started looking at positions in Asia. ‘As you go through your career, jobs come to you through your networks and connections. My old boss was with British Telecom (BT) in Singapore, and they were looking for people in Hong Kong, so I moved there.

‘I eventually became Vice President and ran an international division for BT Global. That particular role gave me many opportunities to use my MBA as I was responsible for a full international P&L encompassing sales, finance, marketing, HR, service and contract management.’

Seven years ago, a promotion came up in the BT New York office, and Roger jumped at it. ‘It’s very difficult to get a work permit in the US, so being able to get a company transfer and an executive visa was ideal. Moreover, in my profession, in enterprise sales, there’s no greater territory than the US. The headquarters of some of the largest companies in the world are in Manhattan – there’s no bigger patch in the world.’

Now working at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Roger says, ‘I’ve been at AWS for almost two years. AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing division, which reported $62 billion in revenue for 2021. I work in our Strategic Customer Engagements Group, leading, structuring and negotiating large deals in terms of revenue and scale with some of our biggest prospective and existing customers.’

AWS is one of the fastest-growing technology companies and is still in high-growth mode. As Roger explains, ‘AWS is the market leader for cloud computing services and many of the services you use each day, such as amazon.com, Netflix, Zoom Video, Coca Cola and McDonald’s, run on AWS. I love working in the fast-paced technology market,’ he adds. ‘It’s always changing and has a tremendous impact on consumers and businesses alike.’

Still, Roger cautions that an MBA is not a dream ticket to your next promotion, nor will it guarantee you a better job. ‘It’s a personal learning experience,’ he says, ‘and you have to realise it’s up to you to put your MBA to work by using what you learn in your role.

‘An MBA can at times be overlooked and underestimated, but again, it’s up to you to give examples of how you’ve used your MBA in your career and how it has impacted your decision-making and performance, especially when being interviewed, for example.’

Since finishing his MBA, Roger has kept in touch with other alumni and says he has met up with them all around the world, including in the US, Canada, Chile, the UK, France, Thailand, Vietnam and India. An MQ US Alumni network leader, he is also involved in organising social events in New York.

‘I’m a strong advocate of the power of human networks. The MQ US Alumni brings people from many countries and industries together, which can lead to job, network and friendship opportunities. It’s amazing how many alumni we have in the New York area and how diverse the alumni is.’

So, is it enough for this global citizen to finally put down roots? It’s too early to tell. ‘We’ll be here for another three or four years, then either the UK, Europe or Asia. Or maybe we’ll stay, we’re not sure yet. My wife is from Thailand, and that’s an option; we’ll see.’

‘Nowhere is perfect. Every country has its opportunities and challenges, but culture is the biggest thing you need to learn and respect wherever you live and work. I like to think I’m a global citizen,’ he says, ‘always have been, and want to bring my son up in that environment, too.’

It would seem the world is still his oyster, but home, an entirely different concept, will always be where his heart is – Northern Ireland, as the posters in the background attest. As he says, even though he has lived and worked in some of the world’s great cities, visited almost 80 countries, and hasn’t lived in Northern Ireland for nearly 30 years, ‘the north coast of Northern Ireland will always be home.’

Wherever you are in the world, stay connected to Macquarie University. To get in touch with the Macquarie Alumni Network – United States, connect via LinkedIn.

Roger Woodend graduated from Macquarie University’s MBA program in 2009 and has been the MQ US Alumni network leader since 2017.

Currently the Senior Deal Lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Roger is an experienced enterprise sales leader and general manager with an aptitude for leading diverse teams and achieving outstanding results. He is responsible for large, complex global deals with AWS Enterprise Customers across multiple sectors.

Before joining AWS, Roger served as Executive Vice President of BT’s global business, leading BT’s global sales vertical focused on Media and Technology customers. His international experience spans living and working in the UK, Australia and Hong Kong. He moved to the US in 2016.

Roger earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. A keen global traveller, he has visited almost 80 countries yet still finds time to support various community and charitable initiatives in his home country of Northern Ireland.

As a young girl growing up on a farm outside Canberra, with family trips to the South Coast her only connection to the sea, Dr Vanessa Pirotta dreamed of one day working with whales. A Masters and PhD in Biological Science from Macquarie University later, marine biologist Dr Pirotta has well and truly exceeded her childhood ambitions. Still, at the heart of her research, her pursuit of innovative technologies and her passion for communicating science – not to forget her many accomplishments and blossoming career – is a deep commitment to wildlife conservation. And a love of whales, of course. The only question remains, where to next for Dr Pirotta?

Whether sharing her research on using drones to collect whale snot at TedX, teaching computers to look for illegally smuggled wildlife or harnessing the power of citizen science, inspiring schoolgirls in STEM or launching her new book, Dr Pirotta’s enthusiasm for science and wildlife conservation, both marine and terrestrial, shines through in everything she does.

You can hear it in her voice and see it on her face as she discusses the multiple projects she has on the go and the energy that accompanies everything she does. ‘Caring about the things I’m working on allows me to not only achieve great outcomes for the project but, most importantly, for wildlife,’ she says with a gentle – and lifelong – conviction.

You can easily imagine a young Dr Pirotta in front of the television, watching the videotape her mother had given her of Free Willy over and over. ‘It was the closest I got to the sea,’ she remembers, ‘and my first introduction to whales and dolphins. I wanted to be a dolphin trainer.’

And so, while completing an undergraduate science degree at the Australian National University in zoology, evolution and ecology, specialising in marine science and ‘hassling the marine scientists’ for more knowledge, Dr Pirotta worked at the zoo in Canberra. But it was still a long way from the sea and, as she recalls, ‘I was desperate to find my place in marine science; it was where I was meant to be.’

After a volunteer placement at a facility in Coffs Harbour working with dolphins and sea lions, incredibly, Dr Pirotta was offered a position to become a dolphin trainer and jumped at the chance to move north. But, she was only there for a year when her mother passed away suddenly. ‘My life completely turned upside down,’ she says of this time and her decision to return to Canberra to be close to family.

Dr Pirotta soon found work as an environmental assessment officer in the federal government but remained committed to her ultimate dream. ‘I was still hassling academics,’ she explains with a laugh, ‘including my future PhD supervisor at Macquarie, Professor Rob Harcourt, to see if there were opportunities to further my education in the marine space.’

And so began her connection with Macquarie University. ‘Fortunately, I was able to lead a research project looking at trying to prevent whale entanglement in fishing as part of a collaboration between MQ, the Department of Primary Industry and Energy, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Taronga Zoo, which I’m still affiliated with 10 years on through the Marine Predator Research Group at Macquarie.’

She also developed this work into a Masters of Research project, which involved travel to the Kingdom of Tonga and has since informed whale swimming guidelines. ‘This work then went into my PhD on whale conservation and the application of new technologies to assess whale health, harnessing citizen science to mitigate some of the big epigenetic impacts on whales like shipping.

‘It was a very broad PhD with great practical applications,’ she says, noting she has been able to take the skills she learned during her PhD and apply them to a diverse range of projects and work in both marine and terrestrial wildlife conservation.

‘Skills in project management, being able to work with a variety of collaborators and different stakeholders, managing environmental issues, and learning to speak to the media and present ideas, are skills I use every day, and it all started at MQ. It has also led to so many new opportunities – it’s exciting being able to make a difference in new areas that I’m passionate about.’

Currently leading the MQ-affiliated citizen science project Wild Sydney Harbour, where the general public can gather information about wildlife and connect with scientists, Dr Pirotta is also running multiple other projects while continuing her whale research, which focuses on Migaloo the white whale.

‘In everything I do,’ she explains, tying her work together, ‘there’s the theme of using and adapting innovative technologies to ask questions about animals to aid conservation. So, for example, how do we interact with whales in ways that aren’t going to hurt them, or how do we get ahead of wildlife traffickers by using 3D technologies?’

It’s a career she couldn’t have envisioned for herself, sitting in front of the television before the advent of social media. Now an official Superstar of STEM and one of the Australian Financial Review’s top 100 Women of Influence to boot, she thrives on communicating science to the general public and championing STEM for young women and girls, as well as STEAM. ‘I give a nod to the arts,’ she says, as a lot of her work is visual and very artistic.

Being visible in her field is particularly important to Dr Pirotta. ‘Growing up, I don’t recall seeing anyone do what I’m doing, especially not a woman,’ she explains. ‘The only person I remember was David Attenborough – I’ve written to him three times and he’s written back to me; he’s great,’ she adds with characteristic enthusiasm.

But, during her studies, Dr Pirotta suddenly found people wanted their daughter to see her doing different things, like driving a boat, for example. ‘That really struck me,’ she says. ‘I thought it was just what I did, but it’s become an opportunity to connect with young people, showing them what scientists look like but also that scientists can be adaptable, work in challenging environments, and do great things.

‘It has become really important to me to be a role model for the next generation, highlighting that the jobs of tomorrow don’t even exist yet, and by having those transferable skills, which I gained at Macquarie, you don’t have to be locked into one role – you can surprise yourself and have a dynamic working life.’

One that now also includes being an author, with the recent release of her first children’s book, The voyage of whale and calf. Australian libraries have been quick to pick up the beautifully illustrated story that is the first to document humpback whales migrating, breeding and feeding from Hervey Bay, down through Sydney and on to Antarctica.

‘Based on my work in the field, it documents a year in the life of a humpback calf, and the realities and challenges the mum faces, subtly touching on pollution, the different environments and changes in climate,’ she says of the topics close to her heart, especially as an Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassador.

With so many incredible projects on the go already, it would seem the world truly is her oyster. So, what’s next for Dr Pirotta? ‘I like to let the passion lead what I do,’ she says with a bright smile. ‘I’m not sure what the future holds, but as long as it has the key theme of wildlife conservation with a marine focus, whales especially, watch this space because saying yes to new opportunities is something I’m always excited for.’

Dr Vanessa Pirotta graduated from Macquarie University with a Masters of Research (2015) and PhD (2019) in Biological Science, and is an honorary postdoctoral researcher at MQ. She is a wildlife scientist, science communicator and woman in STEM. Her research uses innovative technologies for wildlife conservation, and her most well-known research involves using drones to collect lung bacteria from humpback whales to assess whale health.

In addition to whale research, Dr Pirotta is the chief investigator on a major illegal wildlife trafficking detection program using artificial intelligence and X-ray technology, a collaborative research program with the Australian Federal Government, Rapiscan Systems and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.

A passionate science communicator who loves making science accessible to everyone, Dr Pirotta’s work as an early career researcher has been recognised by the Australian Financial Review as one of the top 100 Women of Influence and is one of Science & Technology Australia’s Superstars of STEM. 

She is an Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassador and leads Sydney’s newest citizen science marine program, Wild Sydney Harbour, which aims to connect the community with the marine life in their blue backyard. An emerging author, her first children’s book, The Voyage of Whale and Calf, is available through CSIRO Publishing.