Defence Magazine

Gillian Marks, DMO's new General Counsel, happily admits she's not a "pool-side" person. Having twice walked the Kokoda Trail, you get the distinct feeling she's not someone to shy away from a challenge.

As head of the new DMO General Counsel Division, which incorporates Contracting Policy Group, Contracting Operations Branch, Business Management and an Office of General Counsel to be established early this year, Ms Marks comes to DMO with an impressive pedigree.

Having worked in both the public and private arenas as a lawyer, she has an unusual blend of experience in management, law and project management that made her feel like the job description at the DMO was handwritten for her - "that, and I enjoy the challenge of change".

Ms Marks feels the new structure is important because it will "ensure where we are operating at a strategic level in the DMO Executive, it's not disconnecting with what we are doing operationally".

She wants to get to know the business as quickly as possible to ensure she can be a valuable resource and plans to adopt a hands-on approach.

"I do intend to work a lot outside of 'the head shed' and build good relationships with program managers and other stakeholders at different levels. It's about getting out and kicking the tyres to see what the business is, because you can't credibly contribute from a vacuum."

She acknowledges that people often expect to be "told off" if they encounter the General Counsel but is quick to stress that she is not into the blame game.

"It's more about being approachable so issues can be identified early and a solution found. It's about proactively working with people to help them get on with their job and achieve optimal outcomes," she says.

"Contracting is core DMO business. The creation of the General Counsel position will ensure a more business-like and outcome-focused way of managing that core business and help us better meet the 30 per cent increase in project work-rate arising from the Defence Capability Plan over the next decade."

Ms Marks has extensive experience in commercial law and complex commercial contract negotiations and was instrumental in framing the award-winning and highly flexible Australian Taxation Office outsourcing contract.

Putting the Apollo principle in practice

By Kathryn Fitch

Kim Gillis: "My friends told me I was crazy for taking on this job but I'm looking forward to proving them wrong."

When you walk into the office of Kim Gillis, DMO's new program manager for the Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment program, the first thing you notice is all the pictures of ships on the wall.

Not that unusual at the DMO, except Mr Gillis has personally project-managed each of the ships to successful implementation, which represents more than a billion dollars worth of contracts.

With 20 years' experience in Customs, in national drug operations and on the Bay-class patrol boat project, and then four-and-a-half action-packed years in private industry with Austal Ships and General Dynamics, Mr Gillis has more than enough experience to deliver the ambitious amphibious ships program.

"This job is every project manager's dream. Being given a task that history would say is impossible to achieve within schedule and cost and being asked to deliver it is like a red rag to a bull," he says. "My friends told me I was crazy for taking on this job but I'm looking forward to proving them wrong."

Building an alliance
The three Air Warfare Destroyers will cost $4.5-$6 billion and be constructed in Australia by a majority Australian-owned company under an alliance-style contract.
Bidders for the AWDs will be required to include Australian skills and training programs in their tenders. Defence will fund companies for extra skills generation and training benefits in the programs.

The Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment Program will acquire and support two medium-sized landing helo dock ships. The program will also deliver the replacement ship for HMAS Westralia.

"The Air Warfare Destroyer program and this program are the most significant projects in Australian defence maritime industry in the past 30 years. They represent one of the biggest steps forward in capability for the ADF."

Mr Gillis acknowledges that there will be challenges presented by the tight schedule and complexity of the program. Even so, he is up for the challenge.

"As JFK said about the Apollo space program and why they chose to go to the moon - 'not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win ...'," he says.

Schedule, schedule, schedule

By Kathryn Fitch

Warren King, who joined DMO in September last year to take up the position of program manager of the Air Warfare Destroyer Project, manages one of the most complex projects being undertaken in Australia today.

"The project will have a duration of some 14 years and we've calculated that expenditure on this project will exceed $40 to $50 million a month at the height of the program. Put another way, the project will spend $1000 from every taxpayer over its life," he says.

"This program will build and sustain ships that a nine-year-old child of today will go to sea in when they are commissioned. What's more, it's entirely possible their children will serve on the ships before they are decommissioned.

"The project will involve a very large cross-section of Australian defence industry from the shipbuilding and electronic sectors. We are also focused on building a solid base for our Australian small-to-medium enterprises.

So how do you manage a program of that scale?

"We take that responsibility very seriously, we cannot be frivolous and we must give the taxpayer value for money - that's critical. We will use our experience and well-established processes and procedures and devolve parts of the project into achievable chunks.

"We're very conscious of the DMO Chief Executive Officer's direction, particularly the three most important things for a project - schedule, schedule and schedule.

"So far, we have met all our schedules - our request for proposals are out, we will seek the Government's first-pass approval by mid-2005 and we will be back in front of the Government for second pass by mid-2007.

"... The Air Warfare Destroyer will be a multinational program so having worked in the international arena at a business level will be a big advantage," he says.

"It's an exciting project -it's leading-edge technology and it's expensive - but it is a capability that genuinely adds to the ability of Defence to defend Australia and its national interests."

Defence

Defence Materiel Organisation

Your witness, counsellor

Putting the Apollo principle in practice

Schedule, schedule, schedule