Brian Thorburn

The Swire Shipping Fijian Drua will have a new Chief Executive Officer in a few months.

This has been revealed today in a statement from the Drua stating they’ve advertised for the CEO’s position.

Current CEO Brian Thorburn, who was acting in an interim capacity, will return to his substantial role as Commercial Director of Fiji Rugby and focus on several upcoming domestic and international engagements.

This includes Flying Fijians tests, the Fijiana’s first-ever Rugby World Cup appearance, and Fiji’s campaigns for the Commonwealth Games 7s and Rugby World Cup 7s.

The Fiji Rugby Union and Board of the Fijian Drua thank Thorburn for leading the Drua through its formative months, including his extensive, successful efforts to get Fiji’s bids to join Super Rugby approved.

Thorburn will continue to lead the Fijian Drua until a new CEO is appointed, with the extensive process expected to take several months.

The search for the new CEO will be conducted by independent Executive Search firm Odgers Berndston.

The key requirements for the role include having a proven track record as CEO leading a start-up or early-stage organization, strong commercial acumen and demonstrated experience in finance, governance and revenue generation.

The successful candidate must be able to carefully develop constructive relationships with key stakeholders in Fiji and abroad, have true passion with an innate understanding for high performance sport and rugby, as well as an in-depth understanding of the Fijian and Pacific Islands culture.