Australia Post’s head of technology for network and infrastructure engineering Shane Hazim has left the organisation.

Hazim featured prominently in Australia Post’s long-running network transformation, a multi-year project that took the top prize in the 2022 iTnews Benchmark Awards last week.

The software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) implemented on Hazim’s watch cut downtime by 70 percent and costs by 40 percent.

In mid-2020, Hazim told a webinar Australia Post had 1000 sites on the SD-WAN, reaching 5000 sites by 2021.

Hazim announced his departure on LinkedIn, saying, “To our partners and team members that made a lot of the successes possible, thank you for an amazing eight years.”

An Australia Post spokesperson told iTnews: “Shane is leaving Australia Post to take an external opportunity and we would like to wish him well for the next chapter in his career.

“Shane has been with Australia Post for eight years and has been a contributor to drive and deliver a range of key projects including our recent telecommunications transformation project.

“This is a role which is a part of our extended technology leadership team.

“We are in the process of recruiting for Shane’s replacement and the successful candidate will continue to drive and accelerate the pace of change established to date.”

Originally joining Australia Post from Jemena in 2014 as a contractor working on incident management, Hazim joined full-time in August 2015 as service delivery manager, networks and industrial mobility.

In 2018, Hazim was appointed head of technology, network and workspace, and in 2020 he became head of technology, network and infrastructure engineering.

Earlier this year, a number of Australia Post IT personnel departed for retailer Coles, joining former Australia Post executive general manager of transformation and enablement John Cox, who made the same shift in 2021.