Sarah Thom

I’m the CFO of Cochlear. I am passionate about doing work that helps make people’s lives better. I serve on the Board of Children’s Medical Research Foundation and am a member of Chief Executive Women. Prior to Cochlear, I was a Managing Director and Partner with BCG. I worked with health care and aged care payers, providers, policy makers, regulators and investors; medtech businesses; R&D organisations; state and Commonwealth government agencies; and across a range of highly regulated, capital-intensive businesses in energy, water, infrastructure, and resources. I helped organisations lift performance through major reforms, growth strategy, cost optimisation, digital transformation & support function excellence, strengthened risk & controls, frontline productivity improvement, major transactions and crisis management. I have deep experience defining and delivering large-scale change and innovation across complex organisations and ecosystems. I have recognised expertise in strategy development & delivery, major investment evaluation and whole-of-business transformation. I hold a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in physics from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining BCG I was a research scientist awarded a US National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California.