Google boss Nick Leeder to leave for French role

Leeder

Google Australia is searching for new MD after the decision of current boss Nick Leeder to take up a role running Google in France.

In a statement Leeder said: “My time with Google Australia and New Zealand has been one of the highlights of my career. The team here is doing tremendous things to help local partners, advertisers, and users. It’s been an honour to be part of it. I look forward to watching Google’s contribution to Australia and New Zealand grow in the coming years.”

Leeder has been in the role for just over two years, before that he was deputy CEO of The Australian and COO of Fairfax Digital.

He studied his MBA at one of the world’s leading and largest graduate business schools INSEAD in France and his wife is also French.

During his time as the head of Google Australia there has been much public discussion about the small amount of tax paid in Australian by Google, in spite of posting revenue of more than $1 billion a year.

Google Australia has already advertised Leeder’s former role as managing director seeking someone who can manage their Australian and New Zealand operations, including “the development and execution of the overall strategy.”

The new country director, or managing director, will also be “responsible for defining what Google must do to deliver on its mission for local advertisers, publishers and partners.”

“(Be) the primary advocate for Australia/New Zealand within Google, you’ll help all of Google understand the market opportunities, and gain alignment on the product priorities for the market. You’ll do this by establishing transparent, shared objectives and then driving accountability for results.”

Nic Christensen