Practical Management Consulting and Project Support.
Strategy & Planning
My Air Force experience has instilled in me a strong appreciation for the power of a clear vision and practical planning to set goals and inspire teams. I bring that same clarity and focus to help you define strategic goals and actionable steps for success.
I am a fan of Roger Martin’s “Playing to Win” approach to strategy which is excellent for establishing the conditions for success and identifying the necessary capabilities to get there. Roger also emphasises the distinction between strategy and planning in his popular video “A Plan Is Not a Strategy”.
For planning, I take a systematic approach to ensure we establish clear goals (aligned with strategy) achievable timeframes and realistic budgets. A plan that looks good on paper but lacks practical value won’t drive real results. I work with you on realistic, actionable plans that support sustainable success.
Some examples of my approach to strategy and planning are:
CITY PROJECTS STRATEGY. I collaborated with a City Projects team through a series of workshops to clarify their core capabilities and how they contribute to council’s key value areas. This process helped identify their target customers and the support they required, creating a clear vision for prioritizing high-value projects for both the team and the council.
SICK HAPPENS. Over a series of coffee meetings I worked with Small Business “Sick Happens” to help uncover their unique value and core customer groups. This led to the refinement of product and marketing strategies, enhancing sales and reducing stress through a focused and a clear plan.
Project Management
I am an experienced project manager who can support you with project plans, budgets, risk assessments, scheduling, delivery, and reporting to keep everything on track and aligned with your goals.
I take a structured approach to project management and can adapt to various methodologies, including Waterfall, Agile, and Lean. My experience ranges from using formal systems with detailed templates to employing flexible, user-scaled tools for less formal projects. This adaptability allows me to tailor my approach to meet the unique needs of each team and project.
When leading projects, I focus on realistic, achievable planning and delivery that balance cost, risk, and performance outcomes. I leverage strong collaboration skills and the ability to draw on the strengths of specialist team members to ensure effective and successful project completion.
Some notable projects I have led are:
SMART BEACHES. The Smart Beaches Project was a $2 million initiative jointly funded under the Federal Government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs Program. By combining smart infrastructure with advanced data analytics, the project provided real-time and forecasted insights into beach visitation and conditions, enhancing beach safety and activating coastal precincts. This collaborative effort involved 16 industry, government, and not-for-profit partners and won the 2020 ‘Future of Place’ award from the Australian and New Zealand Smart Cities Council.
AIR FORCE GPU. I led the project to design and development a new Air Force General Purpose Uniform to distinguish Air Force personnel and promote esprit de corps. With a $5.5 million budget over three years, the uniform was successfully introduced in 2014 and remains in use today. My work on this project was recognized with a Chief of Air Force Gold Commendation.
Data Analysis
As a manager myself, I understand the day-to-day challenges managers face when they want to leverage data but lack the time or resources to do it effectively. I know how difficult it can be to carve out time for data analysis, especially when there’s pressure to have everything set up perfectly, with data neatly arranged. In fast-paced, ever-changing environments, this level of perfection just isn’t feasible for most managers.
I don’t push for complex data overhauls or costly new software; instead, I work with the data you already have—no matter how messy—to extract practical insights that drive your business forward. Using familiar tools like Excel, Power BI, and QGIS, I deliver results that you can understand, trust, and replicate.
My goal isn’t just to analyse data, but to provide you with clear, actionable recommendations that align with your business priorities.
Some data analysis examples are:
LIFEGUARD SERVICES. This project analysed data on budgets, visitation, and lifeguard activity across NSW Council Lifeguard services to provide valuable insights into each service’s performance. I highlighted raw data comparisons and calculated relative ratios, such as budget per rescue and rescue per visitor, comparing each service to state, metro, and regional averages. This allowed services to benchmark their performance accurately and identify opportunities for improvement and standardisation.
COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT - PEOPLE MOVEMENT DATA. As part of a Community Infrastructure Audit, the client selected 57 locations consisting of community facilities and open spaces. Data was collected for each location from January to December 2023, and was normalized to account for user variation and duplicate visits, resulting in a sample of 1,609,682 unique observations. The report provided insights into the most popular locations, seasonal visitation patterns, and user profiles. This helped differentiate local and regional visitors and informed future development and investment decisions.
Supply Chain & Asset Management
As a Logistics Officer in the Air Force, my core role was managing warehouses, supporting remote area deployments, designing integrated logistics support systems, and overseeing the asset management of complex, diverse, and expensive assets.
This experience instilled in me a deep appreciation for the importance of well-designed support systems, realistic planning, data, documentation, and the flexibility to adapt when things don’t go as expected. I understand that asset management isn’t just about maintenance—it’s about resilience and readiness to meet organizational needs in changing conditions.
With the release of the ISO55x suite of asset management standards, the importance of assets and associated support activities has only increased in the pursuit of organizational objectives.
My structured and logical approach to problem-solving owes much to my Air Force experience, and I continue to apply these skills across diverse industries. From Aircraft to Artillery, Light Rail, Pools, Beaches, and Community Buildings, a well-thought-out and aligned support system can make all the difference.
Some examples of my Asset Management experience are:
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE. As a Logistics Officer I gained diverse experience in supply chain and Asset Management experience including:
Managing warehouse operations and spare parts modelling for P3-C Orion aircraft
Planning, executing, and sustaining logistics for a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan
Management of Integrated Logistics Support for the PC-21 Aircraft acquisition project and for an E-7 upgrade project
BILLABONG PARKLANDS ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN. The Billabong Parklands is a new outdoor recreation destination with pools, interactive water play facilities, landscaped areas, and amenities on a four-hectare site. I developed a holistic Asset Management Plan (AMP) to inform Council’s long-term financial planning and help them adopt a proactive approach to maintaining the facility to community standards. This AMP was developed using IPWEA templates and aligned with Council’s community planning, maintenance policies, and objectives.