Greater Brisbane Area
A strategic interim executive, GM and COO with a diverse background in leadership centred on fixing complex and interconnected issues, my strength is in stabilisation and transformation. With the perspective of someone who has worked across industries, I’m best described as a connector, able to rapidly assess and rewire systems and processes to optimise performance through structural and cultural uplift. I deliver much more than temporary fixes - the results I achieve last long after the initial go-live. I see organisations not as individual pieces, but as interconnected systems that must be continually re-set and realigned, using first principles thinking and flexible leadership that adjusts to changing priorities and evolving landscapes. This success is in part of an ability to thrive in challenging and high-risk environments, calmly surveying the landscape, then acting quickly to stabilise by bringing clarity, structure and momentum. I leverage military leadership training and on-the-job learnings to make sure transformation lands with the ones who are most affected, and who will ultimately be wearing the results. I bring stakeholders on the transformation journey, ensuring initiatives are driven through to completion, bridging the gap between strategy and operations by aligning people, structure and delivery. Please feel free to connect.
Over a succession of priorities, I have successfully uplifted the administrative framework, before pivoting to drive new and higher standards in administration and governance while also holding assistant secretary and supervising officer appointments across multiple regimental associations, including governance roles with financial administration and compliance oversight. Importantly, I developed a leadership training weekend with 40 junior leaders to discuss failure, small team leadership and the importance of trust through story-telling, helping the Army to optimise leadership capabilities and create talent pipeline.
I came back to the Army as a consultant to help plan training requirements across all states and develop an effective plan to maximise attendance and rationalise costs. I delivered national stakeholder engagement to support training assurance, sustainment and long-term service delivery objectives. I also held sponsor delegated authority to lead a national training strategy for vehicle fleet rollout. I identified gaps in existing enterprise policy and developed a paper for Army HQ outlining the risks and offering suggested treatments. I was also tasked with auditing a second unit for its training capability and provided a detailed report to Army HQ on culture, processes and standards.
Promoted three times in six years (typical timeframe is 15 years) and assessed as top 2% of trade leadership based off annual reporting. I held numerous roles across logistics planning, training, WHS management and hazardous chemicals management. I also deployed as a Road Movements Subject Matter Expert to the entire Middle Eastern Area of Operations and served several acting appointments leading training and logistics planning outputs. I managed maintenance governance, operational availability, driver currency and logistics support. I managed teams ranging from a low of six to as many as 40 people. Supervised training for 350 personnel per year and led transport planning for 1,000+ people and materiel in the UAE, including VIP transportation. Of note, I drove the enterprise-level transformation of a large asset management program, designing training and change management for 5,500 people during large-scale fleet renewal.
I was headhunted to support a long-term Defence client in determining its requirements for an infrastructure program management contract. I defined a systems approach to guide the client on immediate observations related to process, budget allocation and alignment between operations and strategy. I ensured alignment on client and Forge expectations of engagement by developing a change management and education program for in-house engineers and building relationships within client facilities. I led preparedness for Forge’s ISO 19443 internal certification efforts by aligning quality standards with global benchmarks and enhancing organisational maturity. I developed a proprietary systems approach called the FREEDOM Framework to guide clients in identifying systemic misalignment between strategy, operating model and execution in complex organisations. Additionally, I took on and expanded a large government contract service offering from one day per week to 2-3 days per week with project fundamentals training services and a PMO initiative to reduce risk.
I was engaged to conduct an integrated logistics system feasibility analysis for the Australian Government and report to inform on sovereign industrial capability. I conducted framework analysis to determine supply chain feasibility and provided strategic logistics knowledge to the PGM Manager and Government representatives to inform on constraints, challenges and understanding of current state/future state.
This was a mentoring role to lead three Change Managers and the PGM Change Manager and help the organisation to expand its service offerings. I conducted mentoring sessions with the PGM Change Manager and supported increased understanding of change beyond academic training on change-resistance. I improved project delivery by building effective working relationships with senior leadership to uplift people through analysis of cultural and individual change factors. I also repositioned change from a process-driven function to a strategic lever, transforming practitioner capability to drive real organisational outcomes beyond frameworks and tools.