Executive Resume Writers for SES, C-suite and Board Appointments in Australia
The resume that gets you in the room. For senior appointments where the first thirty seconds a Chair or search consultant spends with your document matter more than anything else.
C‑suite
CFO with 22 years across ASX-listed financial services, infrastructure and professional services in APAC. Has carried CFO accountability through an IPO, a multi-jurisdictional debt restructure, and three post-listing reporting cycles. Trusted by Chairs and Audit Committee Chairs for combining technical financial rigour with the commercial judgement listed-entity finance leadership requires.
Get the full Executive Career Guide.
A 47-page guide written for C-suite, SES, GM and Board candidates. Substantive enough to act on whether or not you engage us. No email required.
- The six documents in the executive set — CV, biographical CV, Board CV, LinkedIn, search-firm intake, speaking bio
- The 2026 Australian executive market and how senior recruitment actually works
- Working with executive search firms — the SHREK firms and the major Australian boutiques
- Board appointments — NED pathways, skills matrices, GAICD, the Company Directors Course
- The reference and reputation question, and the difficult-history conversation
- Salary, package and equity at senior level
Senior leaders, calibrated work.
Our executive practice serves senior candidates across three distinct tracks. Each calls for a different document set, a different recruitment process, and a different conversation.
Senior commercial leadership
CEO, CFO, COO, CHRO, CCO and Managing Director appointments at ASX-listed, mid-market, family-business and PE-backed organisations. Calibrated for the Chair and search-consultant audience.
Federal and state senior executive
SES Band 1, 2 and 3 federal APS, senior state executive equivalents across NSW, VIC, QLD and WA, statutory office holders and Deputy Secretaries. ILS-aligned, framework-precise selection criteria included where the pack asks for them.
NED, Chair and Committee roles
First-time non-executive directors, experienced directors expanding portfolios, Chair candidates, committee chairs, and advisory board appointments. Skills-matrix-led positioning.
Writing it yourself, writing it with AI, or writing it with us.
Three realistic options for an executive resume in 2026. Each works for different candidates in different circumstances. Here is what each one actually gets you, written honestly.
Write it yourself
The honest option for a candidate who writes well, reads at level, and has the ten to twenty hours it takes to do an executive CV properly. Many executives have been reading Board papers and executive briefs for years and can produce something credible if they protect the time.
- Full control over voice, framing and emphasis
- No cost beyond your time
- You see every revision, every version
- You own every judgement call about what to include
Write it with an AI tool
ChatGPT, Claude and the dedicated resume-AI tools can produce a usable first draft from a well-structured prompt. The output screens well against keyword-matching ATS, reads smoothly, and avoids obvious errors. The problem is at the next level up.
- Fast first draft from a decent prompt
- Keyword density tuned to the role description
- Smooth prose, no obvious errors
- But: reads flat, over-claims, misses sector texture
- Lacks the specific evidence Chairs look for
Work with a senior writer
A two-hour executive consult with a writer who has read at this level before. Transcript. A document calibrated to a specific target. A twenty-one-day editing window. Sustained support through the search. The reason it costs what it does is that most of the work is in the reading — the writing is the easy part.
- Written by a human writer based in Australia
- Calibrated to a specific role or shortlist of targets
- Transcript of the executive consult provided
- Twenty-one-day editing window, uncapped revisions
- Sustained campaign support once documents are settled
Six documents, one coordinated position.
At executive level, a single resume is rarely enough. Most senior candidates need a coordinated set of documents, each calibrated to a different audience and a different decision. Understanding which document does which job is the foundation of effective senior positioning.
The executive CV
Four to six pages of positioning for line executive appointments. Built around a summary, capability themes, and a chronological career section. See an executive resume example we have published for reference.
The biographical CV
Third-person narrative form for Board nominations, advisory roles, speaking engagements and prospectus inclusion. 400–700 words.
The Board CV
Structurally different from the executive CV. Governance emphasis, sector breadth, and contribution to the Board's skills matrix.
LinkedIn profile
A different document with different conventions. The search engine that decision-makers use to validate a candidate before formal contact. We write these as part of the engagement or as a standalone LinkedIn profile service.
Search-firm intake
The structured profile each search firm holds against your name. Filling these in carefully is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.
Speaking & bio assets
Short biographies for event programs, moderator introductions, industry publications and media. Often the gap in an otherwise current professional presence.
The eight parts of a credible executive CV.
An executive resume is not a longer version of a mid-career one. The structure is different, the proportions are different, and the sections do different work. This is the anatomy of the document we write — and the one most senior candidates benefit from understanding before engaging anyone.
Two to three sentences that frame the candidate the rest of the document will prove. Not an objective statement, not a list of adjectives — a positioning paragraph that answers the question a Chair opens with: what sort of executive is this, and at what scale?
The best executive summaries name the sector, the level of accountability currently held, and the moment the candidate has been through that marks them. A CFO who has been through an IPO reads differently from a CFO who has not; a Deputy Secretary who has led machinery-of-government change reads differently from one who has held steady-state operations. The summary should establish that in the first sentence.
Four to seven capabilities, each with a one-line descriptor that is specific to the candidate, not generic to the role. "Financial acumen" is not a capability. "Owns the half-year and full-year ASX disclosure cycle across a $1.2B revenue group operating in 14 markets" is a capability.
The test of a capability line is whether it would read differently if the resume belonged to someone else at the same level. If it would read the same, it is boilerplate and should be rewritten.
For SES candidates, this section commonly maps against the Integrated Leadership System (ILS) or the SES Work Level Standards — Shapes Strategic Thinking, Achieves Results, Cultivates Productive Working Relationships, Exemplifies Personal Drive and Integrity, and Communicates with Influence — with specific agency examples attached to each.
Reverse-chronological, with the current and most recent two roles given most of the space and earlier roles compressed. Each role entry should contain scope (revenue, headcount, geography, reporting line), context (the strategic moment the role sat inside) and three to five quantified accomplishments.
Accomplishments are the hardest part. At executive level, "led," "managed," "oversaw" are weak verbs because they describe the ambient state of the job. The strong accomplishments name specific moments: the $880M debt restructure ahead of the 2024 maturity cliff; the machinery-of-government transition that absorbed 340 staff; the demerger from the parent group during the IPO window. Each should be verifiable, named at the right level, and in the candidate's own voice.
A separate section for current and past non-executive directorships, advisory boards, committee memberships, statutory authority appointments, and ministerial appointments. Chairs read this section early — it signals whether the candidate has been assessed as suitable for governance by other serious people.
For candidates building toward a first NED role, this section is often sparse. That is fine. Honest framing of what is there (committee work, pro-bono directorships, GAICD course status, Company Directors Course completion) is worth more than inflating what isn't.
MBA, CA, CPA, FCA, GAICD, FAICD, MAICD, admissions, specialist certifications. The convention at executive level is a compressed list, not a detailed education section — the Chair cares that you hold the credential, not what grade you achieved in it twenty years ago.
Current professional memberships (CPA Australia, Chartered Accountants ANZ, AICD, Law Society, relevant professional institutes) belong here. Expired memberships do not.
Published articles, conference keynotes, panel appearances, podcast interviews, industry publications. Not every executive has these, and they are not mandatory. But where they exist, they are a strong signal of visibility within a sector — which is often the signal a search firm is specifically trying to validate.
The convention is to list the title, the publication or event, and the year. Full citations and abstracts belong on a separate publications list, not on the CV itself.
Industry awards, professional recognition, honours, ministerial commendations. The test is whether the recognition is meaningful to the audience you are writing for — a Chair at an ASX-listed professional services firm cares about different awards from a Secretary of a Commonwealth department.
Internal awards from previous employers are usually not worth including unless the award is specifically prestigious (CEO Award, Chairman's Award at a Tier 1 firm) and recent.
Your resume is a precise account of your career. A pitch document — a one-page strategic narrative for a specific role — is something different. The resume lives for a search campaign; the pitch is written for a single opportunity. Public sector candidates will know this format well; it is also increasingly common in private sector senior search.
For SES candidates, the pitch frequently takes the form of a two-page APS pitch written to the role's capability requirements. For C-suite candidates, it is more often a one-page narrative framing why you specifically are the answer to the Chair's question.
We write both documents, but we never collapse them into one. The resume cannot do the pitch's job, and the pitch cannot do the resume's job.
Three axes. One executive narrative.
Most executive resumes fail because they're written along one axis: experience. We write along three — and the document only works when all three align.
Capability
What you actually do at executive depth — operational mastery, financial judgement, cultural stewardship, Board engagement. Pitched at the level a Chair or CEO assesses, not the level a recruiter screens.
Industry
The sector context — listed financial services, professional services, healthcare, infrastructure, government, resources — and the language each one expects. A CFO resume for a Big Four bank reads differently from one for a mining major. We write the difference.
Level
EL2, SES Band 1, SES Band 2, MD, GM, C-suite, Chair. The classification dictates scope, complexity, and the language of accountability. An EL2 example won't carry an SES Band 1 application. We pitch every example at the level of the role.
"When all three axes align, the resume becomes the shortest path to the conversation that matters."
Page one earns the rest.
At executive level, your resume is read in three passes — a 30-second scan, a 90-second review, and a deeper read only if the first two land. We write each pass deliberately.
Overview
Your personal brand distilled into two to three sentences. Sets the frame for everything that follows.
Page one
A strategic snapshot — the six executive capabilities that matter most, anchored to your strongest evidence and outcomes.
The evidence
From page two onwards — each accomplishment proves the page-one claim. Selective, deliberate, never padded.
What makes the CFO example strong.
The Catherine Mortlock example at the top of this page is a representative first page from an executive CV we produced. Names and details have been changed; the structure and the proportions are real. Here is what is doing the work.
Six themes pitched at director level
Not a generic list of CFO skills. Six capabilities calibrated to a specific Group CFO target — listed-entity accountability, capital raising, debt structuring, Audit Committee engagement, M&A, and function build. Each reads as something a Chair would assess, not something a recruiter would screen for.
Each highlight quantified at organisational scale
A $2.1B IPO during a demerger. An $880M debt portfolio restructured ahead of a maturity cliff. A 22% market cap uplift across the post-listing reset. Each highlight names the moment it sits inside — the strategic context, the texture, the outcome — not just the headline number. The reader can verify each claim mentally; nothing requires taking the candidate at her word.
Organisational complexity made legible
Multi-billion-dollar transactions, ASX 200 listed entity, multi-jurisdictional financing, syndicate of nine lenders, Board and ASX disclosure cycles. The scale of what Catherine has been doing is established quickly, without bragging about it.
Measured, not self-promotional
The strongest executive CVs read as if written by a senior consultant describing the candidate — considered, evidenced, slightly understated. Overclaiming at executive level is more damaging than at any other level, because the audience reads applications professionally and notices. Catherine's CV avoids it.
The same architecture, calibrated for SES.
Senior public sector candidates face a different reading audience, a different capability framework, and a different recruitment process. The anatomy of the document stays the same — summary, capabilities, career section — but each part shifts in emphasis.
What the Deputy Secretary example does differently
Dr David Chen's CV is calibrated for an SES Band 2 Deputy Secretary role in a federal line department. The structure is the same as Catherine's; the texture is entirely different. Where Catherine quantifies in dollars and basis points, David quantifies in staff numbers, budget envelopes, machinery-of-government changes, and the Ministerial submissions, Cabinet documents, and federal and state APS frameworks the role sits inside.
The capability section maps against the ILS classifications for SES Band 2 rather than a Chair's six-themed assessment. The career section emphasises the delegations held, the reporting line to the Secretary and Minister's Office, and the specific reform agendas led — because that is what the SES selection panel reads first.
- FrameworkCapabilities map to the Integrated Leadership System (ILS) at SES Band 2.
- ScaleBudget envelope, FTE, machinery-of-government changes, portfolio reach.
- GovernanceDelegations held, committee memberships, ministerial reporting lines.
- Reform agendaNamed policy programs led, not generic "change management".
- Supporting pitchTypically paired with a two-page APS pitch for the specific vacancy.
Deputy Secretary with 18 years in the Australian Public Service across three Commonwealth line departments and one central agency. Has led two machinery-of-government transitions, delivered a $4.2B reform program through Cabinet, and acted as the principal departmental interface with the Minister's Office on three successive portfolios. Recognised with a Public Service Medal in 2023 for sustained contribution to Commonwealth policy delivery.
How we write for each C-suite role.
Each C-suite function has its own vocabulary, its own Chair-level questions, and its own evidence conventions. A CFO resume is not a CEO resume with the numbers changed. These are the eight most common engagements and the framing shift each one requires.
Chief Financial Officer
Listed-entity disclosure, Audit Committee engagement, capital raising, debt structuring, M&A, Treasury, FP&A, finance transformation. Chair reads for ASX experience, Audit Committee stewardship, and the capital moments the candidate has carried.
Chief Executive & Managing Director
P&L accountability, strategy ownership, Board partnership, shareholder stewardship, operational transformation. Chair reads for the specific commercial moments owned end-to-end — the acquisition integrated, the strategy reset delivered, the market entered.
Chief Operating Officer
Multi-site operations, service delivery, operational risk, supply chain, operational technology. Candidate strength shows in named operational transformations with measurable throughput, safety or margin outcomes.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Executive remuneration, Board HR Committee partnership, enterprise bargaining, workforce transformation, culture during restructure. Chair reads for the hard moments — EBAs delivered under pressure, culture rebuilds after governance incidents.
GM, Commercial & Business Unit Leader
Full P&L for a business unit or division, often sitting one layer below C-suite. The CV emphasises revenue delivered, EBITDA improvement, team scale, and the strategic bets the candidate owned within the broader portfolio.
Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel
Board advisory, regulatory engagement, major litigation and transaction oversight, in-house team leadership, external counsel panel management. Chair reads for the regulatory moments carried and the sensitive matters handled discreetly.
Chief Risk & Chief Audit Executive
Risk Committee reporting line, three-lines-of-defence maturity, APRA / ASIC engagement, internal audit plan ownership. The CV must demonstrate independence, judgement under contested pressure, and credibility with external supervisors.
Chief Data & Chief Technology Officer
Enterprise technology strategy, data platform modernisation, cyber posture, AI governance, Board technology risk reporting. The CV must land equally with technologists and with Board members who are not.
Working with someone who reads at executive level.
Most resume writers can describe leadership work. Marc has lived inside the documents that drive it — change management, regulatory reform, government frameworks, Board-ready briefs. He brings background as a researcher, change manager, service delivery leader and project manager, and writes selection criteria, executive resumes and cover letters that stand up to the scrutiny of Chairs, Boards and CEOs. Read more about Marc and the team.
- 01 Reads at level. Marc has interpreted government frameworks, executive briefs and Cabinet-level submissions. The reading is the writing.
- 02 Writes the difference. A resume isn't a pitch isn't a Board paper. Marc treats them as separate documents and writes each to its own audience.
- 03 Confidential. Senior career moves are sensitive. Every engagement is handled with the discretion the appointment requires.
Six steps, three weeks, calibrated work.
Our process for executive clients is structurally different from our standard service. Longer consult, more research, more iteration, sustained support across the campaign. The full process page has the detail.
Discovery call
A 15–30 minute conversation, no charge, no obligation. We scope your situation, your target roles, your timeline. From this, we provide a quote calibrated to your specific scope.
Executive consult
90 minutes to two hours via Microsoft Teams. Word-for-word transcript provided. Most candidates describe this as the most useful conversation they have had about their own career.
Drafts in 7–10 business days
Executive drafts take longer than standard ones — calibration is more substantial, research is more extensive. Drafts arrive in Word and PDF, unwatermarked, for your full review.
21-day editing window
Uncapped revisions, processed within three business days. Most executive clients iterate through several rounds; the longer window is built for this.
Coaching, if scoped
Narrative articulation, difficult-history conversations, specific-role preparation, Board interview prep. Scheduled around your interview activity rather than on a fixed timetable.
Sustained campaign support
Once the documents are settled, we stay engaged through the rest of your search. Target-specific calibrations, search-firm submission support, quick updates as new roles emerge.
Scope and investment.
Every executive engagement is quoted individually after a discovery call, because the right scope depends on the role and the campaign. Here is what a typical engagement contains, and the investment range to expect.
A representative engagement
The scope below is what most C-suite and SES candidates engage us for. We quote lower for a single-document engagement (CV only, or LinkedIn only); higher for a multi-document package with coaching across a search campaign of several months.
- 90-minute to two-hour executive consult, word-for-word transcript
- Four to six page executive CV, calibrated to the target role
- One-page strategic pitch (or SES two-page pitch where applicable)
- LinkedIn profile rewrite, Open-to-Work settings guidance
- Biographical CV for Board or speaking use (if scoped)
- 21-day editing window with uncapped revisions
- Sustained campaign support for subsequent target-specific calibrations
A different ballgame.
Board recruitment is structurally different from executive line recruitment. The document is different. The audience is different. The conversation about your contribution to the Board's skills matrix is different from the conversation about delivering against a P&L. We write for Board candidates as a distinct practice — biographical CV, Board CV, governance positioning, and the narrative for the interview with the Chair.
- NEDFirst-time and experienced non-executive directors
- ChairChair candidates building toward principal Board roles
- CommitteeAudit, Risk, Remuneration, Nominations, ESG committee chairs
- AdvisoryAdvisory Boards, statutory advisory bodies, ministerial appointments
- StatutoryGovernment Business Enterprises, statutory authorities, GAICD pathways
Marc didn't just write my resume — he interrogated my career. Two weeks of careful questions, then a document that read like the version of me I'd been trying to articulate for years. I walked into the final interview already knowing how to answer the hard questions, because we'd answered them on the page first.
Before you reach out.
How confidential is this?
Completely. We routinely work with executives who are still in role, exploring opportunities discreetly, or moving between competitor organisations. Nothing leaves our team. We don't use client documents in marketing, don't name clients without permission, and won't reference your engagement in any public material.
What does an executive engagement cost?
Every executive engagement is bespoke — pricing depends on level, complexity, the documents required, and turnaround. Engagements start from around $1,500 and scale from there according to scope. We'll provide a custom quote after the discovery call. Executive engagements typically include a CV, a one-page pitch, a LinkedIn profile, and sometimes a tailored selection criteria response or biographical CV for Board work.
How long does it take?
Two to three weeks from discovery call to final draft is typical for an executive engagement. The consult itself is the deepest interview most clients have ever had about their career. Drafts arrive within a week of the consult, and we revise iteratively within a 21-day window until the document reads exactly the way you'd want a Chair to read it.
Do you write for SES Band 1, 2 and 3 roles?
Yes — the SES track is roughly half our executive practice. We write ILS-aligned capability content, SES pitches (one-page and two-page formats), and the supporting CV. Marc's background in Commonwealth frameworks means the documents read as if they were written inside the service. Starting points are our SES pitch writing and the federal and state APS guide.
Do you write for Board appointments?
Yes — non-executive director roles, advisory Board appointments, and Chair positions. The document for a Board candidacy reads differently from an executive resume; the emphasis shifts from operational accomplishment to governance contribution, sector judgement, and the value you bring to deliberation. We handle Board CVs and biographical CVs as a distinct practice.
What's included in the standard executive engagement?
Typically: a two-hour executive consult with transcript, a four-to-six-page executive CV, a one-page strategic pitch, a LinkedIn profile rewrite, and 21 days of uncapped revision. We add a biographical CV, Board CV, or additional pitches on request. The exact scope is set after the discovery call.
What if we're not the right fit?
We'll tell you. If your role calls for sector expertise we don't have, or your timeline doesn't fit our capacity, we say so on the discovery call. Our work depends on doing every engagement properly — taking on the wrong one helps nobody.
Do you use AI?
No. AI writes resume copy that screens well and reads flat — exactly the wrong combination at executive level. Our work is written by human writers based in Australia, end to end. We don't outsource and we don't ghost-feed AI tools.
How do executive search firms actually use the documents?
The CV goes into the firm's internal database as the structured record of your career; the LinkedIn profile is what the search consultant checks first to validate the CV; the biographical CV is what gets shared with Chairs and selection committees once you make the shortlist. Each document has a specific point in the pipeline it is read at. We write them to work together.
Can I just engage you for the LinkedIn profile?
Yes — a standalone LinkedIn profile engagement is one of our most common entry points, especially for candidates who have a current CV they are happy with but know their LinkedIn is not working hard enough. We also write cover letters and selection criteria responses on their own.
Is the Executive Career Guide useful even if I don't engage you?
Yes — it is written to be. The 47-page guide covers the executive document set, the 2026 Australian executive market, search firms, Board appointments, reference and reputation dynamics, salary and package conversations. It is substantive enough to act on whether or not we work together. No email is required; download directly above.
A confidential conversation, first.
Every executive engagement begins with a discovery call between you and Marc. Tell us about the role, the level, and the timing. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit — and what it would take to do this properly.