Gordon began his career in the UK with Nestlé, Cadbury and the Imperial Group before joining Frito-Lay, the snack food division of PepsiCo. Over 10 years with Frito-Lay in the USA, Australasia and Europe, he held roles including Director of International Marketing, Director of Operations, CFO and, ultimately, Managing Director of the Australian snack food business. This combination of commercial, operational and financial leadership laid the foundation for his later CEO and chair roles. 

He subsequently joined Lion, an ASX 50 beverage business, initially as Managing Director of the Australian beer business and then as CEO for seven years. Under his leadership, Lion was transformed into a purpose- and values-led organisation with a widely admired culture, strong growth mindset and total shareholder return in the top quartile of global beverage companies. His focus on clarity of purpose, customer-centricity and culture as a performance driver became hallmarks of his leadership approach. 

After stepping down from his executive career, Gordon built a substantial non-executive portfolio. He served on the boards of Westpac Banking Corporation (nine years) and Macquarie Group (six years), and as Chairman of Origin Energy (seven years) and Woolworths Group (seven years), bringing board-level insight across banking, energy and large-scale retail. He also has extensive advisory experience with CVC and Archer Capital, as well as with McKinsey and Luminis Partners, supporting CEOs and investors on strategy, leadership and value creation. 

In the not-for-profit sector, Gordon has served on the boards of Good Return, a microfinance provider to low-income communities in South East Asia, for 15 years, and Opera Australia, where he chaired the Audit Committee. Across all these roles he has maintained a consistent focus on purpose, stakeholder trust and long-term, sustainable performance.