Wine Australia appoints new General Manager of Research & Innovation

Wine Australia has announced the appointment of Paul Smith as General Manager of Research & Innovation. Smith is stepping into the new role following the recent promotion of Liz Waters to Chief Operating Officer. As General Manager of Research & Innovation, Smith will be responsible for overseeing the co-investment of industry and Commonwealth funding into research, development and adoption activities. 

“I am excited to bring my experience in leading research projects, teams and managing a portfolio of complementary projects to this role,” said Smith. 

“I’m particularly passionate about maximising the innovation aspects of the investments we make by realising value from the research that forms a foundation for practical, profitable outcomes for the Australian grape and wine community.”

Paul Smith has been appointed to the position after almost seven years as Wine Australia’s Senior Research & Innovation Program Manager. Prior to this, he spent more than 14 years working at the Australian Wine Research Institute in various Research Manager positions. 

Paul Smith’s resume also boasts post-doctoral research at CSIRO Molecular Science and the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Flinders University and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Flinders University.

Reflecting on the appointment, Wine Australia’s CEO Martin Cole said, “I’m delighted to announce Paul’s promotion into this critical leadership role at Wine Australia. Over the past few years, Paul has been instrumental in guiding continued advancement of the research and innovation responses to the critical issues identified by the sector. His leadership within Wine Australia’s team will be important to delivering valuable outcomes to levy payers across the breadth of R&I priorities and ensuring that these outcomes are adopted in the practices along the sector’s value chain.”

Wine Australia is currently recruiting to backfill the role vacated by Smith, which has since been re-titled Research Impact Manager. The reframed position will now focus on delivering and executing business investment plans to drive innovation in the grape and wine sector. If interested, contact Wine Australia now.