From the deal room to the driver's seat, meet Sammi Murphy

Stories from the people who keep us moving: Samantha Murphy (Sammi) on swapping M&A spreadsheets for a heavy vehicle licence, and what she's learned along the way.

Two years ago, Samantha Murphy (Sammi) joined Kinetic's mergers and acquisitions team in Australia, working on deals and strategy. Today, she holds a heavy vehicle licence and has driven the 246 down Punt Road in peak-hour traffic. Not quite the career pathway she anticipated!

A head for numbers

Sammi's journey with Kinetic actually began before she officially joined the business. With a background in finance and econometrics, she first consulted for Kinetic during a stint at a consulting firm. She liked what she saw, and took the opportunity to hop on the bus.

As a Senior Analyst in Kinetic's M&A team, Sammi contributed to several successful acquisitions, alongside large-scale strategy work.

"It was so enjoyable," she says.

"We did a lot of acquisitions and a lot of large-scale strategy for the business."

But the more transactions she worked on, the more curious she became about what happened after the ink dried.

People-driven operations

"What drew me to operations was the people," Sammi says.

"I think what makes Kinetic the way we are is our people, our inclusiveness and our ability to come together and operate at a high level.

"When I was doing acquisitions, I did all the back end, but I wanted to see what it was like doing the day to day,” she said.

“Being around the bus drivers, being around the operations team, and engaging with different stakeholders across the business – I realised how much it takes to run this company, and how much it matters to have our people in place.

“You can do an acquisition, but you need your people in place to deliver it well, and that's what we have. I wanted to be around that."

Earlier this year, Sammi stepped into the newly created role of Service Delivery Development Manager (VIC/TAS).

It is part of a structured development pathway designed to build future Service Delivery leadership capability, giving her hands-on experience across every aspect of our Melbourne operations, from depot leadership and workforce planning through to network performance, safety and stakeholder engagement.

And one of the first things she did? Complete our Women Up Front program and learn to drive a bus.

Behind the wheel of the 246

At Kinetic, most of the operations team can drive a bus. It's a deliberate choice: to properly support drivers, you need to understand their world.

"After I passed my heavy vehicle licence, I felt very powerful," Sammi laughs.

"I felt like I could do anything!"

Her first route was the 246, from the North Fitzroy depot, down Punt Road, all the way to Elsternwick. On paper, a straight and simple run. In practice?

"There was a lot of traffic, a lot of passengers, a lot of stress!” she recalls.

“You just don't understand how much stress goes into the day to day.

“It's been really great and challenging at the same time, and it's been really good to understand how hard it is to be a bus driver.

“It's a really great way to bond with everyone and also understand their point of view."

Discovering the ecosystem

Sammi is now working through her induction across every corner of day-to-day operations: scheduling, dispatch, the operations control centre, rostering, people and culture, health and safety, and the workshop.

"I don't think people understand how much it takes to run a bus company," she says.

"It's like a huge ecosystem – bus driving is one part of it, then you have dispatch managing the day-to-day, the rostering, the planning, health and safety, and the mechanics, the whole workshop and the depot.

“And that's just one depot!

“It’s just a testament to what we can do. It's super impressive."

Sammi's move is part of a bigger picture at Kinetic, sitting alongside internal secondments across the business, and programs like Kinetic’s Cadetship Program, all aimed at building capability from within and creating real opportunities for our people to develop and progress.

And her advice for anyone thinking about where a career at Kinetic could take them?

"Your world's your oyster,

"I started in the commercial team, but now I'm in an operations role. Kinetic really supports young people and really tries to nurture them,” she said.

“I feel very supported, and I'm really grateful for it."