Manuela Spiga

Scholar background

Manuela has more than 20 years of experience working in education, communication and project management. She is the Regional Senior Manager for the Careers, Alumni & Industry Relations Department at RMIT University in Vietnam. RMIT Vietnam is the Vietnamese branch of the Australian research, university the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. It has three campuses located in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. Manuela is based in Ho Chi Minh City.
She is responsible for implementing strategic development plans in Southeast Asia and helping students develop soft skills. Before moving to Vietnam, Manuela was a Career Service Manager at Istituto Marangoni in London. Prior to that, she was the Head of the Press Office at the EVE PR Agency in Italy. She began her career as a Teaching Assistant at the European School of Trieste and the International School of Trieste in Italy.

She earned her Bachelor’s of Media and Business Communication from the University of Trieste in 2004 and completed her Master of Global Trade at RMIT University through the Hinrich Global Trade Leader Scholarship Program in 2022.

Personal statement

My professional background is in international education, communication, project management and marketing. I have over 20 years of experience working for organizations with offices and colleagues located in different parts of the globe. I have studied, lived and worked in Italy, the United States, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Colombia and, in the last six years, in Vietnam.

I am currently the Regional Senior Manager at RMIT University where I oversee three areas: career development, industry and alumni relations. I lead two teams between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and I am part of the Asian team with colleagues based in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia. I plan and consult with them, and deliver several projects in Southeast Asia.

The reason why I have joined the Master of Global Trade program is its uniqueness. It has been co-designed with managers, human resource directors, CEOs of industries across different fields from logistics to FMCG, consultancy and finance. The program is current and different from all the other postgraduate courses.

Furthermore, my peers represent some of the most successful businesses and/or international governmental institutions, such as the United Nations, European Union and World Bank. This gives me the chance to extend my professional network.

I strongly believe the MGT will support me to expand my knowledge of trade and commerce, upskill and equip me to be better prepared, and succeed at a higher position in my current company. It can also provide me with the fundamentals for a new future career journey in the global trade or logistics sector. It is an honor to have been awarded the HF scholarship.