Your Trusted Advisors

James Harkness

James was appointed Chief Financial Officer in December 2017. James leads financial strategy, reporting, analysis, compliance and advice across Opteon.

James has a proven track record engaging with progressive leaders who thrive on delivering results in high growth businesses.

With a combination of financial, commercial and operational experience, James contributes to Opteon’s leadership through developing and executing financial, commercial, cost leadership, operational efficiency and people development strategies.

Before joining Opteon, James was Chief Financial Officer at the ASX listed Capital Health Limited, and held senior executive roles at CareerOne, Jetstar, Nu Energy and Acciona.

James is a qualified Chartered Accountant, graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne.

Johan Wikman

Johan joined Opteon in October 2022 as Chief Technology Officer and is responsible for the company’s products and technology. Johan has over 20 years’ experience in leading high performing software engineering teams.

Prior to joining Opteon, he spent 10 years at Appen leading the engineering team as CTO and VP of Engineering implementing technologies that evolved the company from a service to a tech led business. During his time on the executive team, the company experienced revenue growth of more than 1,400%, the engineering team grew from 3 people to over 100 and he was part of the team that took the company public in 2015.

In 2010, Johan founded Kontribune, an online publishing platform for communities to share and inspire through the power of story, which was acquired by Appen in 2012. Before that, he was founder and co-founder of multiple startups leading the development of technology teams in B to C and B to B solution. His career also includes engineering leadership roles at Autodesk, Zynga and Lithium.

Johan spent his formative years in Stockholm, Sweden before locating to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chris Knight

MBA, M BUS (PROP), AAPI CPV, MRICS

Chris is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Opteon’s global operations. Chris has been with Opteon since 2006, and, prior to Opteon’s integration, was previously CEO of the largest member firm.

During his time as CEO, Chris has led the Opteon team in successfully transitioning to a new business model, including the acquisition of 17-member firms resulting in the integration of 90% of the total revenue into a wholly owned company, along with 3 other acquisitions throughout Australia and New Zealand.

He is currently executing an ambitious business plan for Opteon designed to deliver further growth through organic means, strategic acquisitions into other non-property sectors, and international expansion.

Chris is focused on consolidating Opteon’s position as a technology leader through innovation, particularly in the areas of property technology, professional services software solutions and diversifying business and product lines.

Chris has qualifications in Accounting, Real Estate, Valuations, a Master of Business (Property) and Master of Business Administration (MBA). He is a Certified Practicing Valuer with the Australian Property Institute (API), a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and more recently an API Board Director since May 2018.

Scott Chapman

AAPI CPV

With many years’ experience establishing and leading large-scale businesses, Scott has significant expertise across the property sector with a career spanning over 20 years in the broader property industry and 14 years within valuations.

With a proven track record of strategy execution, building high performing teams and delivering business growth in complex environments, Scott brings a breadth of expertise across the end to end business value chain including sales, client relationship and account management, leading projects, customer service delivery and product development.

Scott has been with Opteon since 2009 and holds an MBA from Deakin University and a Masters in Property (Valuations) from RMIT.

Lisa Billington

Lisa commenced with Opteon in 2016, playing an important role in Opteon’s transformation to an integrated structure in early 2017, and Opteon’s 27 acquisitions since her commencement.

Lisa is responsible for Opteon’s global legal, risk, compliance, quality and secretariat functions, leading a team of 25 professionals to support Opteon’s strategy and growth in a way that balances opportunities with risk.

Lisa is a senior corporate lawyer with significant experience across a wide range of areas including mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance and general commercial law. Prior to joining the Opteon team, Lisa worked at law firms Clayton Utz and Maddocks and in-house for an education and media company.

Lisa holds a current legal practising certificate, a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Science (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and has completed the Governance Institute of Australia’s Certificate of Governance Practice. She was included in Australasian Lawyer’s 2022 in-house leaders list.