18 Tamboon Dve, Greensborough VIC 3088

m: 0466 48 38 13 e: dacole007@gmail.com

RÉSUMÉ David Cole BE(Aero) BTech(Aero)

Professional AspirationsI seek to apply my strategic leadership, broad engineering and sales experience to strategic level growing-the-business challenges. I take a particular interest in listening to and understanding people; combined with patience and a positive expectancy, this often leads to opening minds and doors that were previously shut tight.

SummaryI am a people-focused engineer with broad engineering and leadership experience, ranging from project management to technically complex systems engineering, with proficiency across the entire spectrum of lifecycle logistics.

Experience most relevant to the Project Manager – ASDEFCON position includes different roles in the Defence Aviation Technical Regulator, from leading small teams focused on continually improving maintenance & engineering regulations (impacting the safety of thousands of personnel & $billions of Defence equipment), to engaging directly with the head technical regulators for maritime, land and aviation in the pursuit of identifying a tri-Service and multi-domain best practice model. My contribution involved project managing the schedule of changes on time and within budget. Performance in the earlier process re-engineering roles led to being selected for the latter role. Working for an organisation covering lifecycle logistics for aviation support & test equipment, I performed in a variety of roles working with the ASDEFCON documentation suite. These included leading teams in systems engineering, sustainment and acquisition (>$250M of assets). Key tasks were leading teams to develop Function & Performance Specifications and conduct tender evaluations; I was also involved in verification and validation activity for the Airfield sweeper fleet acquisition. A major achievement included assembling and leading an acquisition program working group to extract the essential requirements for new ground support equipment and translating those into function and performance specifications. The CEO of the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) asked me to document my cost benefit analysis and proposal for changing the terms of DMO acquisition contracts to save millions of dollars per year.

Other relevant experience includes project management of Defence Logistics Information Systems integration and the structural upgrade for the FA-18 Hornet Fighter, and also systems engineering in the Defence Aviation Technical Regulator making design decisions on aircraft maintenance processes, technologies and standards, including battle damage repair and oxygen component cleaning.

While I have spent 6 years in ‘project management’ designated roles, project management methodologies (control of tasks, schedule and resources) were at least partially employed in every role I’ve had in Defence.

Recently transitioning from the Air Force to industry, I am now a consultant in engineering and management. My last contract involved working in a team of three to develop a high level business case for a Capability, Acquisition and Sustainment Group SPO within the Department of Defence.

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Each stage of work was delivered early or on time, a satisfying achievement given the short duration and pressure inherent in producing material for consideration by a two-star committee.

My last Defence role involved leading a multi-disciplined team of 12 to organise recruiting events and mentor candidates applying for approximately 200 different jobs across three national organisations. My contribution has been to work with the team to decide on best business practice and then drive standardisation. Identifying areas with spare capacity enabled the business to re-balance and increase output in a sustainable way.

My first role in the RAAF was as a maintenance manager for 18 x FA-18 Hornet aircraft (>$300M of assets), responsible for 40 personnel including technical trades in aircraft structures, propulsion and mechanical systems, explosive ordnance specialists and vehicles.

Personal DetailsDoB: 4 Sep 1972 Nationality: Australian Family: Married, 3 kids

Experience – 17 years in the Royal Australian Air Force

CharterMason Pty Ltd, Consultant Apr 15 - present

Defence Force Recruiting, Specialist Recruiting & Careers Promotion Manager

Jun 12 - Mar 15

Technical Regulator, Secretary for the Technical Regulatory Authority Committee

Dec 11 – May 12

Technical Regulator, Aviation Materiel Regulations Manager Jun 11 – Nov 11

Technical Regulator, Maintenance Management Policy Manager for all Defence Aircraft

Feb 10 – May 11

Aviation Materiel Systems Program Office, Special Projects Apr 09 – Jan 10

Aviation Materiel Systems Program Office, Acquisitions Manager Jan 08 – Mar 09

Aviation Materiel Systems Program Office, Sustainment Manager Nov 06 – Dec 07

Aviation Materiel Systems Program Office, Engineering Team Leader Jan 06 – Oct 06

Logistics Information Systems Projects, Project Officer Jan 04 – Dec 05

FA-18 Hornet Aircraft Structural Upgrade, Project Officer Jan 03 – Dec 03

Technical Regulator, Design Engineer Team Leader Dec 00 – Dec 02

3 Squadron (FA-18 Hornets), Aircraft Maintenance Manager Jan 99 – Nov 00

481 Squadron (FA-18 Hornets), Special Projects Manager Jul 97 – Dec 98

Blueprint 2020 (Engineer Workforce Restructure), Project Officer Aug 95 – Dec 95

Defence Flying Training School, Student Pilot Jan 95 – Jul 95

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Education

Bachelor of Engineering – Aeronautical UNSW (ADFA campus) Jan 96 – Jun 97

Bachelor of Technology – Aeronautical UNSW (ADFA campus) Jan 91 – Dec 94

Professional Development

Company Directors Course

Regular presentations to engineering associations, including the Australian Youth Aerospace Association and Youth Without Borders (Spark Engineering Camp)

Jan 15

Jun 12 – Nov 14

Technical Regulation Development Workshop (Six Sigma methodology) Apr 13

Aeroskills Risk Management - refresh Mar 11

7 Habits of Highly Effective People Signature course Aug 10

Project Management – MS Project May 10

DMO Business Acumen May 08

Simple and Complex Procurement (ASDEFCON) Aug-Sep 07

Project Management (PMBoK course) May 04

Contract Management course Apr 04

Four Powers (USA, UK, Germany & France) Aircraft Battle Damage Repair Conference - presented

Aug 02

Detailed Experience:

Project management – Technical Airworthiness Regulation Development (2 yrs):

o worked as part of a senior team engaged in project managing Defence technical airworthiness regulation and maintenance management procedural changes;

Acquisition of replacement aviation ground support equipment (12 mths):o responsible for a team generating the function and performance specifications

(ASDEFCON document) for new equipment acquisitions. This involved working with a diverse and dispersed range of Defence and OEM stakeholders to establish an accurate set of requirements. For this role I completed the Complex Procurement course that focused on the proper use of the ASDEFCON suite, and was involved in multiple verification and validation, and tender evaluation activities.

Defence-wide consolidation of Logistics Information Systems (2 years):o this project predominantly scoped the existing Defence landscape for sea, land and

air maintenance and engineering management systems and provided recommendations for an acquisition methodology for improved functionality and integration. My task was to project manage consultants and guide them in the

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development of the required ASDEFCON suite of documents to build a case for achieving first pass funding approval.

Structural Modification Program for the FA-18 Hornet (12 mths):o work involved performing sensitivity analysis on a number of structural modification

program options, and on a number of different fleet ‘draw downs’ scenarios. This was tricky work as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) was approximately 14 years away, and required making heavily qualified assumptions and estimations. These have so far turned out to be extremely accurate. This process provided significant experience in risk identification and management, as well as an introduction to the ASDEFCON suite of documents. I also learned a great deal about tight project management and adhering to schedule from the project and program managers.

High Level Business Case for Whole of Defence Gas Agreement Project (2 mths):o short duration, high pressure development of business case for presentation at a

Defence two star committee. Each stage was delivered early or on time, even with several client-initiated scope changes.

Strategic management – FA-18 Hornet Fleet and Maintenance Management (18 mths):

o involved in classic Hornet (FA-18) fleet management and maintenance management. The fleet management work included the review and comparison of aircraft fleet management applications such as VIPER and locally devised Excel spread sheets, and the review of other logistics management programs. The maintenance management work included the base-wide implementation of an upgraded maintenance management program, and the review of other logistics information systems with the intent of optimising business practice;

Ground Support Equipment Acquisition Project (12 mths):o assembled and led an acquisition project working group to extract the essential

requirements for new ground support equipment and translate those into function and performance specifications (ASDEFCON documentation). These events were held away from the normal work places of all stakeholders in an effort to ensure undisturbed concentration into this critical work;

Ground Support Equipment Stakeholder Management (12 mths):o managed relationships with senior representatives of all Defence ground support

equipment stakeholders to inform them of progress of acquisition projects, identify problems in each of the fleets of vehicles, devise a common solution and monitor the progress of remediation programs and design changes;

Personnel Director (2 years):o as a secondary duty, acted as a human resources director for roughly 50 military

people advising them on, and taking action on, issues ranging in diversity from disciplinary, to leave, to housing, and to general job entitlements.

Maintenance management – Hornet Weapons Range Supervisor (6 mths):

o work involved supervision of a team of 5-10 explosive ordnance technicians responsible for FA-18 Hornet weapons range maintenance;

Aircraft Maintenance Manager for FA-18 Hornets (2 years):o was responsible for the maintenance teams working on FA-18 Hornet structure,

engines, hydraulic systems, and other mechanical systems, and the maintenance team working on the Hornet’s ground support equipment. Work included leading defect investigations, the strategic management of airframe life to ensure balanced

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draw-down, performance management of personnel, monitoring of technical authorisations and maintenance procedure compliance.

Engineering management – Ground Support Equipment Sustainment (12 mths):

o responsible for the teams providing technical advice on aviation ground support equipment including elevating aircraft loaders, elevating work platforms, ground power units, tow motors, air start carts, ordnance loaders, catering trucks, and more. Advice included interpretation of maintenance manuals, assistance with defect investigations, parts advice, fleet replacement plans, and proposals for design changes to rectify technical problems such as deficiencies in manufacturer’s maintenance or operating procedures.

Design Engineering – Granting of Maintenance Waivers for FA-18 Hornets (2 years):

o made non-safety critical decisions about whether to permit an aircraft to fly missions with known structure, hydraulic and other mechanical system deficiencies. Also made judgements in relation to extending maintenance intervals within prescribed limits for the purposes of improving maintenance program stagger and immediate mission sortie availability.

Aircraft Maintenance Processes, Technologies and Standards (2 years):o involved following a design approval process within Defence’s Aviation Technical

Regulator for making changes to aircraft processes, technologies and standards relating to:

battle damage repair techniques, weight and balance, wheels, tyres and brakes, general structural repair procedures, welding, general oxygen component cleaning, surface finishing (painting and other corrosion control methods), the control of hazardous substances.

Structural Modification Program for the FA-18 Hornet (12 mths):o this work involved the review of modification proposals and the assembly of repair

packages customised to the structural condition of individual aircraft.

Strategic Recruiting – Engineer recruiting for all of Navy, Army and Air Force (12 mths):

I was part of a team of three engineers engaged in the sale of engineering careers, and in providing a mentoring service to engineering applicants. Sales included delivering presentations and answering enquiries face-to-face on engineering (and other job) options at universities, high schools, careers fairs and other related recruiting and influencer events. I’d like to use this experience as a stepping stone into higher level technical sales team management.

On the lighter side – one of the more significant ‘secondary duties’ I performed was leading the social club for 120 people and performing several committee roles for a 6 month period. Before leaving that organisation, I garnered the support of the Directors to fill all vacant social club committee positions and trained all new members.

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Major Achievements Assisted the optimising of a Hornet squadron’s maintenance stagger to conserve hours for

jets with high flying hours and to increase usage of jets with lower flying hours. This required buy-in from the pilots and compromises to the flying program, which was a big deal.

Authorised approximately 20 maintenance level design decisions, permitting the aircraft to be flown with minor deficiencies without impacting on the airworthiness of the aircraft, and with no adverse impact on personnel safety.

Successfully managed the performance reporting of 45 people, and played a significant part in the promotion of several of my team. They did the hard work, but writing reports that stand them out from many others is a bit of a knack and takes extra effort.

As a junior maintenance manager, contributed to successful deployments to Thailand, New Zealand and the Northern Territory.

Drafted a paper including cost benefit analysis proposing changes to contracts to align with policy on government furnished equipment that would have saved the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) millions of dollars per year.

Worked as part of a senior team to devise a common set of business procedures on how to do technical airworthiness regulation and maintenance management procedural change. This work precipitated the creation of a much larger scale project on technical regulatory reform across the maritime, land and air domains.

My strength has been in positions where sincere listening, relating and negotiation is required, particularly on long-standing complex problems involving very knowledgeable and strongly opinionated people. Achieving meaningful results has meant tapping into each member of the team and extracting their contribution, particularly important with the quieter ones;

Influenced leaders, peers and workers through thorough research on difficult topics, including regulatory reform across the air, sea and land environments and pragmatic implementation of Workplace Health & Safety (WHS) regulations.

MembershipsAustralian Institute of Company Directors Dec 2014-present

InterestsMountain biking, home brew, food, animation, coaching Auskick, cars, home renovations.

ReferencesProfessional Ben Marshman Partner, CharterMason 0409 121 484Terry Saunder Head of New Air Combat Capability Project 0418 676 483James Hood Head of Defence Technical Regulation for Aviation 0488 061 230Guy Adams Director Unmanned Aerial Systems 0414 562 437Nick Stanton Head of Defence Technical Regulation for Land 0459 844 426Matt Kennedy Senior Manager Logistics Capability 0402 454 382

CharacterGuy Adams, 0414 562 437David Crooks, 0412 116 608Clinton Beattie, 0488 243 532

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