James O'Brien has a diverse work experience in finance leadership roles. James is currently serving as the Partner & Head of Asia Pacific at GrowCFO, where they connect finance leaders through a collaboration portal. James founded and served as the CEO of CFO Accelerator, providing mentoring and coaching to CFOs and senior finance professionals. James also has experience in content creation and podcasting for CFOs through their role at Real CFOs Insights & Podcast. In addition, they worked as a Mindshop Facilitator at Mindshop and as the Chief Financial Officer at LiveHire. James has also served on the advisory board of Hyper Questions and as an Executive Director at High Street Partners Pty Ltd. Prior to these roles, they held positions at CBRE Asia Pacific as the Chief Financial Officer and at Parmalat Australia in various commercial positions.
James O'Brien has a diverse education history. James obtained an Executive MBA degree from the Melbourne Business School from 2003 to 2010. During their time at the business school, they focused on various fields of study such as Leadership, General Management, Strategic Management, and Marketing.
In 2020, James attended INSEAD for a short duration to complete a program called "Leadership in a Crisis - S.E.C.U.R.E. Your Future." However, the specific field of study for this program is not provided.
Prior to their MBA, James completed their Bachelor of Commerce degree from Deakin University from 1989 to 1991. Their coursework at Deakin included subjects like Accounting, Commercial Law, and Management.
Before entering university, James attended St Joseph's College Geelong until 1988, where they pursued VCE (Victorian Certificate of Education), although no specific field of study is mentioned.
In addition to their formal education, James has obtained two certifications. In 2015, they became an Accredited Business Acumen Gauge Practitioner through Quad Assessment Pty Ltd. Previous to this, in 2013, they obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) certification from the Exit Planning Institute™ - Australia/New Zealand Chapter.
May, 2022 - present