His Honour Justice Jeffery Shepherd holds degrees in law and anthropology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is admitted to practice in the High Court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, and the Superior Courts of Papua New Guinea. Formerly a senior partner with the litigation and intellectual property teams at the Port Moresby office of Ashurst Lawyers, Justice Shepherd was appointed a judge of the Supreme and National Courts of Justice of Papua New Guinea on 31 October 2016. He commenced judicial duties on 27 January 2017.

Xavier has been with Suez since 2011, first as the director of LyRE, the research and development (R&D) center of Suez in Bordeaux University dedicated to water management research. In 2017, he became the Scientific Director of the Suez Group, in charge of intellectual property, standardization, and scientific partnerships across all activities. In 2019, he was appointed Chief Research and Science Officer, in charge of the R&D centers in addition to responsibilities under his previous role.