Ex-Edelman client chief Amber Scotto Di Perta joins Optus
amber scotto di perta
Former Edelman Australia chief client officer Amber Scotto Di Perta has joined Optus in a communications leadership role, eight months after leaving the PR agency amid an industry-wide wave of layoffs.
Scotto Di Perta has assumed the role of Optus associate director of media and corporate affairs, filling the maternity position of Nicole Higgins, reporting to Jane McNamara, executive general manager of external communications and stakeholder engagement.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Scotto Di Perta said she deliberately took time to find the right role, doing fractional marketing work and studying at the Marketing Academy in the meantime, before deciding an in-house position was the next step.
“I’ve really had some time to reflect in the last few months, and what I missed most when working agency-side was the ability to have deeper conversations within an organisation and be part of work that leads to effective change,” she said.
“It was a challenge, but I had a feeling I should stick to my guns, and I’m so grateful that the opportunity came up with Optus. It was a longer process for me, as it often is for senior roles, but it’s worth being patient.”
In a statement confirming her appointment, an Optus spokesperson said: “Amber will play a key role in communicating Optus’s role as critical digital infrastructure, how we show up for customers every day, and the responsibility that comes with supporting millions of Australians who rely on our network.”
Scotto Di Perta was previously with Edelman Australia for almost a decade, having joined in April 2016 as a director, rising through the ranks to become chief operating officer in 2022, before taking on the chief client role in 2024. She was also acting head of Australia in 2022, managing the agency before Tom Robinson’s appointment as local CEO.
Her departure came amid a swathe of senior leadership and team cuts across marketing and communications last year.
Speaking candidly to Mumbrella at the time, Scotto Di Perta called for an industry-wide reframing of layoffs and redundancies to destigmatise the terms.
She said that the terms “suggest being useless or superfluous — a definition that rarely reflects reality ”, stating that a lay-off usually reflects the condition of a business rather than the capability of the individual.
“Why are we saddling these professionals with a label that is debasing, negative, and simply wrong?” she said.
