Paul Griffiths is a Managing Director at The Asia Group, where he leads the firm’s Australia presence from Canberra. A former senior Australian diplomat with more than three decades of government and executive leadership experience, Paul advises CEOs and senior executives on how to navigate Indo-Pacific geopolitical, trade, and national security developments, translating insight into actionable business strategy.
Before joining The Asia Group, Paul spent more than 30 years with the Australian Government, including in senior leadership roles at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Most recently, he served as First Assistant Secretary for the Geostrategy and Partnerships Division, managing Australia’s key relationships with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and South Korea and driving institutional alignment across critical groupings including the Quad.
A veteran of geopolitical crisis management and frontline statecraft, Paul has helped shape Australia’s foreign policy, defence, and economic engagement across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. As First Assistant Secretary for the Middle East and Africa Division, he directed Australia’s political and commercial response to major security crises during a period of regional upheaval and helped secure the historic Strategic Partnership with the UAE. As Head of the Political Branch at the Australian Embassy in Washington, he helped steer a foundational foreign policy and national security reset with the first Trump Administration.
Paul’s career also includes significant regional assignments across Asia, with postings in Indonesia, the Philippines, and South Korea, where he led market analysis and access on energy, resources, and agriculture. As Australian Ambassador to Israel from 2020 to 2022, he led commercial, security, and diplomatic operations in a highly complex geopolitical environment.
Paul also brings deep corporate strategy and governance experience to the firm. As DFAT’s Chief of Risk and Performance, advisor to the Executive Board, and First Assistant Secretary of the Executive Division, he oversaw the redesign of DFAT’s Enterprise Risk Management Framework and Anti-Fraud and Corruption Strategy. Earlier, as Head of the Budget Branch, he reset a multi-billion-dollar international development portfolio and delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in organisational efficiencies.
Paul also brings private-sector experience, having served as a Consultant Advisor to Palantir Technologies in London. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tasmania, a Master’s in International Trade and Finance from Deakin University, and executive training from Harvard University. He has professional language competency in Indonesian and Korean.