In this week’s Get to know: Q&A with… we catch up with Shiraz Lubke, Northern Pathology Victoria Operations Manager.

Get to know her:

What’s your coffee order?

Long black! I started off half strength and have now worked my way up to full strength.

Could you tell us more about your Northern Health journey?

I started in April 2017 – I moved down from Cairns for the job. It sounded exciting and it’s been very challenging. It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of hard work, a lot of laughs, but I’ve enjoyed my time here. I was managing a small regional laboratory so I’d finished my MBA and I didn’t feel as though I had much room for growth in the job I was in, and this job came up in Melbourne so I thought why not give it a crack?

Can you tell us a bit about your career before Northern Health? 

I was a bench scientist for many years and then a supervisor – my interest lies in biochemistry. I moved around in lots of different labs. So my last stop was in Cairns as the manager there.

What do you enjoy most about your role here?

I have to say I enjoy the people. If it wasn’t for the people, you wouldn’t stay in a workplace. I love the people and I love the fact that in this job I feel like I’m giving back to the community. This particular role, bringing public pathology back into the public sector, is so against the trend and it’s something I’m really passionate about. I also love that the role is in Melbourne – I love the sport!

I was born and bred in Ipswich, went to Uni in Brisbane, but Melbourne’s always been one of those places we go to on holiday and love it. I’m a sports nut – I love the cricket, footy, tennis. I also go to the Melbourne Theatre Company – there’s just always something on. The lifestyle down here is just fabulous – I love it, so to have a job down here that’s meaningful and challenging, ticks all the boxes.

What was your biggest challenge?

I think it was coming from private to public, it’s very different. And also not having a network, because when you’ve been in a company for as long as I had in my previous role, you know who to go to for what and you’ve got all those networks. Coming down here, I didn’t know anyone, had to build all of those networks and find out who to go to for what. That was actually a really big challenge. And of course there was the inherent parts of the job which I hadn’t done before, so the role itself has been challenging, but also very rewarding.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

That my ultimate favourite job in the world would be walking dogs for a living! I’m one of those weird dog people…

What do you usually do after a long day at work?

I run – that’s how I keep my head in its rightful spot. And I also read, I love just switching off and I love paper books – there’s nothing better than going to a secondhand bookshop and flicking through a paperback book.

How would you describe Northern Health in one word? 

Community.

Who would you like to nominate next for a staff profile?

I would love to nominate Evelyne Kollaras from People and Culture!