Vodafone New Zealand's head of platforms Sharina Nisha has been nominated for the Women Leading Tech Awards, to be held in Australia next month. She is the only New Zealand based nominee to make the finalist list this year.

Nisha develops Vodafone New Zealand's mobile and fixed network strategy, including accountability for improving mobile network coverage, fixed network, international connectivity, and infrastructure and cloud capabilities.

She has worked at Vodafone for more than 25 years and holds a wealth of expertise into Vodafone New Zealand's processes, systems, and technologies.

Vodafone New Zealand wholesale and infrastructure director Tony Baird wrote in the award submission that Nisha is a key female technology leader.

“Sharina aims to inspire other women into technology and she spends a lot of time mentoring emerging engineers. This includes sponsoring the Vodafone NZ Women in Technology group, and participating in Code Like a Girl programmes, plus talking to school students about the importance of STEM subjects and getting into engineering,” Baird explains.

Baird also says Nisha is a world-class engineer with ‘impeccable' attention to detail.

“She is very systematic and organised – and has the ability to focus on the detail but then also go to the big picture and think about the impacts of technology solutions in a broader context. This includes engineering industry-leading platforms, and future-proofing our systems so that they are built for the longer team.

“The teams Sharina leads comprise of more than 350 people, and she does a great job at leading from the front and role modelling great behaviour. She is high on ethical values and thinks about how others might respond to her feedback, with a high EQ.

Finalists in the Women Leading Tech Awards:

Data science

• Anjuli Bedi - Edelman Epic
• Fiona Milne - Eliiza
• Janene Sproul - Murdoch University
• Katherine Tuinman Neal - Fire - Rescue New South Wales
• Mohadeseh Ganji - Mondo
• Stephanie Morris - Quantium

Design

• Jessa Jakovljevic - 86 400
• Julia Carter - Domain Group
• Kate Linton - Thoughtworks
• Ronnie Golec - Canceraid
• Sally Woellner - Canva
• Sarah Sweeney – Akqa

Engineering

• Ellie Shin - Canva
• Kate Andrews - Tyro
• Olena Aleksieieva - Quantium
• Paulwyn Devasundaram - Canva
• Sharina Nisha - Vodafone New Zealand
• Sijia Chen – Rokt

Entrepreneur/founder

• Alexandra Watson - Code Like A Girl
• Emma Jones - Project F
• Jodi Stanton - Sendgold
• Judy Sahay - Crowd Media Group
• Kath Blackham - Versa
• Lauren Crystal - Your Creative Agency

Executive leader

• Helen Souness - RMIT Online
• Joanna Wong - 90 Seconds
• Kate Quirke - Alcidion
• Kathryn Carter - Snap Inc
• Michelle O'keeffe - Engaging.io
• Rachelle St Ledger - EML Payments

Marketing

• Danielle Grant - Paypal Australia
• Jade Meara - F5
• Liz Mckenzie - Canva
• Rachelle Mcdermott - Blackmores
• Sara Palmieri - Lenovo
• Stephanie Brown - Intuit

Mentor

• Claire Bath - The Opportunity Collective and City Of Newcastle
• Hayley Smith - Verizon Media
• Jessica Box - Girls in Tech Australia
• Jo Gaines - Salesforce
• Lisa Miller - Canva
• Miranda Kovacic - ANZ

Product

• Christine Sou - Transferwise
• Georgia Vidler - Canva
• Greer Ambrose - Foxtel Media
• Inga Latham - Siteminder
• Kimberly Dowsett - Tyro
• Sarah Anderson - Telstra Corporation Limited

Sales

• Annie Lemaire Brooks - Playground Xyz
• Brooke McGregor - Quantcast
• Kristine Celona - Verizon Media
• Natasha De Mallet Hawes - Pubmatic
• Sophie Hicks Lloyd - Network 10
• Stephanie Famolaro - The Trade Desk

Advocacy (for technology companies that have demonstrated a holistic and long-term commitment to females in the business)

• ANZ
• Canva
• Carsales.com LTD
• Domain
• Sourced Group
• VMware ANZ.