New regional PR hire at Trellix

Strategic communication, engagement, and reputation advisory, SenateSHJ, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointments of Amy Watson as Partner and Isabel Zhang as Consulting Partner, Research, and Intelligence.

Amy will lead the firm’s circular economy expertise, working to build trust for a range of infrastructure developments in Australia. She returned to SenateSHJ in 2023 as Associate Partner, having started her career as an intern with the firm.

Isabel joins SenateSHJ to lead its research and intelligence offering, including working on evidence-backed communication and insight-driven cross-cultural engagement. She brings more than 23 years’ experience working across Asia Pacific, navigating complex policy, stakeholder, and business challenges.

Darren Behar, SenateSHJ’s Chief Executive Officer, said the appointments reflected the consultancy’s continued investment in specialist expertise and cross-sector capability.

“Amy’s promotion recognises the value she has created for our clients and our business, while Isabel’s appointment will allow us to embed research and intelligence more deeply across our work.

“Strengthening our circular economy and research and intelligence expertise will help clients respond to these challenges with greater clarity and confidence.”

Supercars has brought in Nick Raman as Head of Communications. He was at BMW Group Australia for seven years as Communications Manager. Prior to this, Nick was at Lexus Australia. 

Jay Pleass has joined construction group, Built, as Head of Group Corporate Affairs. He was General Manager Government Relations and Public Affairs at Ventia. Prior to this, Jay held senior communications roles at LendLease, Ethical Strategies and within the government sector.