About a year ago Justin Pascoe was running the Penrith Panthers commercial sponsorship team.
He was then promoted to Penrith Panthers Head of Rugby League and now, a year later, Mr Pascoe is the Wests Tigers chief executive officer.
In anyone’s language Mr Pascoe has had a meteoric rise in the past 12 months, from marketing boss to club CEO, but in announcing his appointment late last night the Wests Tigers have had this to say, via board chair Marina Go:
“Justin’s experience both here in Australia and overseas across a number of positions means that he brings a unique set of skills to Wests Tigers and we look forward to him joining the club and working with us to achieve the lofty goals set out in our Strategic Plan,” she said.
In his Linkedin profile, Mr Pascoe lists his professional specialties as: “Leadership and change management, Contract negotiation, Commercial revenue generation, Reporting to boards, Fiscal management at the highest level, Marketing implementation, Global framework and organisational structure management and development and execution of strategies that create a competitive edge that is sustainable and financially valuable.’’
Mr Pascoe, who replaces former CEO Grant Mayer, will assume the role in November, having resigned his Penrith job this week.
Marina Go said she looked forward to working with him in the future.
“Justin brings a wealth of experience to the role and we’re confident that he will lead this club well into the future,” Ms Go said.
“We undertook an exhaustive search to find the best candidate for this position and were incredibly impressed with Justin throughout the entire process.
“The appointment of Justin is another step that the club has made towards building a winning culture that is focused on performance outcomes.
“We are committed to building a successful club that will compete for premierships.
“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Phil Moss for stepping into the role of interim CEO for the past few months, he didn’t hesitate when we asked him to take on the additional responsibilities and has led the club well during that time,” she said.
Justin Pascoe said he was excited about the opportunity presented at Wests Tigers.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I’m impressed by the innovative and unified approach of the current board in its direction to ensure this club is in a position where it becomes sustainable off the field and competitive on the field consistently,” he said.[/social_quote]
“I believe that as an organisation Wests Tigers has the potential to engage with its fans, develop commercial strategies and apply business principles that will differentiate it from all its competitors and create a strong and inclusive culture that builds an enviable sports organisation.”
The club in its statement last night said Pascoe brings to Wests Tigers “a wealth of experience working both in Australia and overseas, having spent time in both the United States and Europe across a number of roles. “In his six years in the United States Pascoe worked with organisations including Major League Baseball, NBA, Disney, Lucas Films and Nickelodeon, along with private equity firms.
“Pascoe has an MBA and has also spent time at Harvard University in the United States,’’ the club said in its statement.