Anna Nguyen

We want to be the place where talent thrives and one way we aim to achieve this is through removing systemic barriers. We have an inclusive parental leave policy that supports people in different circumstances take the time they need at an important moment in their lives.

Anna Nguyen, National Operations Manager in our Gift Card team, has been with our business for eight years and recently returned from her second stint of parental leave. She shared some of her insights, from achieving peace with her career journey to navigating parental leave, and balancing home and work life.

What was your career journey with Scentre Group before going on parental leave?

I joined Scentre Group in 2017 as an Administration Manager at Westfield Parramatta. I had worked as a Chartered Accountant for 10 years and knew it wasn’t for me. I didn’t know what was next but the role in centre allowed me to gain some operational exposure while still leveraging my financial background.

The Parramatta team was like one big family. Being a part of this community and dealing directly with customers allowed me to be my authentic self, helping me to develop both personally and professionally.

After a few years I felt that I could contribute to the business on a broader scale. I was supported to achieve this by moving into a role supporting the Parking team with contracts and compliance.

Eventually this evolved into another opportunity in a Risk and Compliance role. During this time – which was COVID – I had my first child and took my first stint of parental leave.

In 2023, I again changed roles to join the Gift Card team where I now work as the National Operations Manager.

I love that in this role I combine my technical experience across finance and risk, with my passion for people and operations. I’m finally at peace with my career journey which allows me to now enjoy my work while prioritising being a mum.

How was your Scentre Group experience of parental leave?

The process of preparing for my parental leave was seamless. Our Employee Services team took me through the entire process and continued to support me while I was on leave.

My return was just as smooth. While I’ve returned into a slightly different role, I was consulted about the changes while I was still on leave and now have the opportunity to further broaden my skillset and continue my professional development.

Beyond my role, I’m lucky to be in a supportive team (filled with a lot of amazing mums!) and the welcome back was so nice and warm.

Since returning to work, having the ability to work flexibly is great when juggling work and the array of morning teas, Easter hat parades and Christmas concerts at daycare.

Financially the one-off childcare reimbursement is great, particularly when you rely on these services. Scentre Group also allows you to take your parental leave in an upfront lump sum payment. The ex-accountant in me still appreciates the time value of money!

I think Scentre Group’s approach to parental leave simply being part of people’s career journey is great. I’m proud of the fact that I can financially support my family by returning to full time work, while my husband takes three months off from his work as Primary Carer. It’s important to me that my daughters see that mum and dad both have careers and equal financial capability. Creating workplaces that enable people to do that is important.