The man who led Telstra's cost and job cutting initiatives over the last five years has resigned from the telco to search for other non-executive opportunities.
Robert Nason has been Telstra's head of business support and improvement since February 2010 when he joined the telco from Tabcorp, where he was head of its wagering business.
During the past five years, Nason cut more than $4 billion from Telstra's overheads as well as thousands of jobs across the organisation.
Outgoing Telstra CEO David Thodey today thanked Nason for taking on such unwelcome tasks.
"Robert has taken on many of our large, complex, difficult opportunities during the past five years and made them into strategic opportunities for Telstra and tangible benefits for our customers and shareholders," he said in a statement.
Nason's successor will be appointed before he leaves Telstra in October, Thodey said.
The executive was also responsible for the adoption of the net promoter score at Telstra in 2012 as part of its increased focus on customer service.
Nason said after five years he felt the time was now right to consider other opportunities.
"While the task can never be regarded as completed, Telstra has made strong progress on the productivity and service agenda," he said.
"It has a deeply entrenched focus on improving the experience for our customers and a strong team capable of taking it forward."
The telco has outlined plans to cut $1 billion in costs each year for the next five years.