Confirmed: Jason Paris is switching teams

Former Spark No 2 Jason Paris is going Vodafone, the company confirmed today in an internal announcement to staff.

Mr Paris' move was first reported by NBR on February 22.

He has now been named Vodafone director of convergence, a global position that will see him working from an office in London.

The role will see him working with Vodafone AMAP (Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific) chief executive Vivek Badrinath.

NBR understands a six-month restraint-of-trade clause in his Spark contract will see Australia and New Zealand left off the list of countries Mr Paris oversees in his new position (the two countries are part of the AMAP group).

Perennial bridesmaid Mr Paris (he also held No 2 roles at TVNZ and MediaWorks) announced his resignation from Spark on December 18.

He has made no public comment on his new job beyond saying it is "a leadership position with a large global business, based offshore." 

Mr Paris's family will move with him to London. In a LinkedIn update, his wife, Rachel Paris, says she has resigned as a partner at Bell Gully, where she specialised in fintech, to found Blockchain Boutique, "a legal practice focussing on blockchain and crypto."

For Spark, corporate relations general manager Andrew Pirie had no comment on Mr Paris's next role, bar "Jason has done a terrific job at Spark and we wish him well for the future."

And MD Simon Moutter shaped it as a compliment, tweeting "Quite an acknowledgement of Spark’s success from Vodafone global - they needed to poach someone from Spark NZ to figure how to do digital convergence!."

A recent restructure at Spark saw the elimination of Mr Paris's old role of chief executive home, mobile and business.

Quite an acknowledgement of Spark’s success from Vodafone global - they needed to poach someone from Spark NZ to figure how to do digital convergence!!

— Simon Moutter (@simonmoutter) March 22, 2018

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