Speakers at Women in Procurement & Supply Chain 2018
Jackie Aggett
General Manager Procurement
Western Sydney Airport (WSA Co)
Jackie Aggett leverages 20 + years’ experience spanning project commercial management and strategic procurement. She has transformed the capabilities of market-leading organisations across the construction, infrastructure and oil & gas sectors.
At Western Sydney Airport (WSA Co), she is the general manager for procurement. The WSA Co is a government-owned business that is responsible for constructing the $5.3B Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek.
Over many years, in a senior capacity, Jackie has executed strategies spanning commercial project delivery, procurement, category management, strategic sourcing, SAP implementation and the management of supply chain relationships.
Previously, she spent the last 4 years building the competitive advantage of construction giant, Laing O’Rourke. She brings a laser focus on mid- to long-term commercial outcomes that have involved multimillion-dollar projects, bids, contracts and procurement. She also co-founded Laing O’Rourke’s ‘Connecting Women’ Program and the industry networking event, ‘Ladies in Procurement’.
Victoria Bergman
First Assistant Secretary, Procurement and Contracting - Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group
Department of Defence
Victoria commenced as acting First Assistant Secretary Procurement and Contracting, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) on 21 November 2016.
Building on nearly twenty-years of public sector procurement, contracting and commercial experience spanning four departments, Victoria currently has responsibility for Defence’s procurement policy and practice framework and the professionalisation of the Procurement and Contracting Job Family. She is also responsible for the provision of specialist procurement and contracting staff within Commercial Division to support CASG’s materiel and Defence’s non-materiel procurements.
Leading CASG’s Commercial Reform Program, Victoria is committed to streamlining and simplifying Defence’s commercial policy framework; reducing the cost of tendering and improving procurement processes; enhancing organisational commercial capability; improving strategic supplier management and engagement; and supporting implementation of Smart buyer. She is also leading the design and implementation of CASG’s Commercial Centre of Expertise to facilitate the achievement of these reforms.
Victoria has an Executive Masters in Business Administration (Complex Project Management); a Masters in Commercial Law; a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy; and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies). In addition to supporting strategic Defence materiel procurements in Australia and overseas, Victoria has previously led procurement and contracting at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Australian Agency for International Development.
Coretta Bessi
Chief Procurement Officer
Ausgrid
Coretta Bessi is recognised as a leading procurement and business services executive. Her experience spans the mining, manufacturing, distribution, telecommunication and energy sectors. She has had consulting exposure to local, state and national public sector.
Now the Head of Procurement at Ausgrid, she leads their procurement transformation in the turnaround years. Her previous roles included the Chief Procurement Officer at NBN, and CPO and Head of Shared Services at BlueScope.
Coretta truly believes that to drive value across the supply chain, you need to build genuine and authentic relationships with internal stakeholders and external providers to the business. She is absolutely passionate about supporting women in the profession and has co-founded a network called Ladies in Procurement that brings together women to learn and share in a no-sales environment.
Christian Bloomfield
Partner
FutureYou
With a global career of 22 years spanning the UK, Australia, China and Hong Kong, Christian’s professional success is seated in his deep curiosity for people, cultures and business. He has become one of the recruitment industry’s more trusted and forthright career advisors and a highly connected Executive Recruiter in the Procurement & Supply Chain sectors. A reputation built on approachability, authenticity and knowledge.
Christian is driven to assess and analyse so as to improve commercial situations and avoid uninspired thinking and mediocre outcomes. He is passionate about understanding people and contributing to new ways of thinking and engaging within networks to ensure outstanding results.
With an LLB Hons in Law, Christian went on to further develop an already honed commercial and contracts management focus. He has been a Committee Member in Asia for both the British and also the Australian Chamber of Commerce, presenting clear conflicts of interest during the Ashes Tours!
Since 2012 he has been a key protagonist in initiatives and events for Women in Procurement. Providing support for high profile female CPO’s and eminent thought leaders who would go on to be responsible for major transformations and procurement strategies across a wide range of industries. More recently he sponsored the inaugural Ladies in Procurement, LIPS, event at FutureYou.
Since this time he has also been a Member of the NSW CIPS Committee, National Conference Speaker and Mentor as part of CIPS.
Christian currently leads Executive Search for FutureYou.
Natalie Budovsky
Group Director
Macquarie University Group
Natalie Budovsky is the Group Strategic Procurement Head at Macquarie University. The role covers the university itself and its nine controlled entities, such as Macquarie Hospital, MGSM, Macquarie International to name a few. She joined Macquarie University in October 2016 with a mandate to establish a world-class strategic procurement capability.
Previously, Natalie worked for six years as the Head of Strategic Sourcing at Healthdirect Australia, the organisation established by the Council of Australian Governments to provide all Australians with access to trusted professional health information without time or geographic restrictions.
At Healthdirect Natalie led the establishment of strategic sourcing capability that enabled the company to undertake major procurement activities of national significance.
Before joining Healthdirect, she held executive operational, general management and procurement roles at American Express, Cisco and Energy Australia (now Ausgrid).
Natalie’s varied generalist background is instrumental to ensuring that the organisational sourcing strategy is closely connected to the business strategy, and is constantly evolving in support of the changing needs.
She has significant experience and a record of success in establishing organisational procurement capabilities, forming and leading high-performing teams, commercial negotiations, change management as well as outsourcing and off-shoring.
Sarah Collins FCIPS
Managing Consultant
ArcBlue
Sarah Collins has over 20' years supply chain experience, the last 18 of those in procurement, across a range of direct and indirect categories within FMCG, Financial Services, Higher Education and Government.
She was formerly the Chief Procurement Officer at Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), part of the NSW Government’s Transport for NSW (TfNSW) cluster. There she led the development and implementation of leading practice procurement strategies, policies, systems and processes to increase the maturity and value delivery of procurement within the agency.
Prior to RMS, Sarah worked for The University of Sydney in the role of Associate Director Procurement, where she was responsible for the transformation of procurement into a recognised leading practice organisation within the University sector and positioning the value of strategic procurement and category management.
Sarah has also worked for global multi-national organisations within the Manufacturing and Financial Services sectors, with previous domestic and regional roles at Unilever and JPMorgan.
Sarah Cook
Group Chief Procurement Officer
Coca Cola Amatil
Sarah Cook is a collaborative and people-focused leader with over 20 years' management experience across Supply Chain, Procurement and Sales with a proven record of delivering strong business results. Sarah’s professional experience includes management of strategic procurement teams and senior stakeholder relationships in global FMCG organisations throughout Europe and Asia Pacific.
In her 10 years with Coca-Cola Amatil, Sarah has worked in Supply Chain, Sales and Procurement roles. Now Group Chief Procurement Officer at Coca-Cola Amatil Sarah leads the team managing all aspects of the organization’s third party spend. This includes value optimisation, risk management, process improvement and supporting revenue growth.
Before joining Coca-Cola Amatil, she held senior procurement positions at Nestle, Goodman Fielder and United Biscuits.
Sarah’s strength lies in her end to end business experience enabling her to understand the whole of business impact of strategic decision making. She is passionate about the role of people and teams in an organisations ability to adapt and perform in a constantly changing environment.
Angela Donohoe
Chief Information Officer
Bpay
Angela Donohoe is responsible for leading BPAY’s technology function including business focussed strategy, architecture, solutions and operations that enable high quality and innovative technology and payments services. She was appointed to the role of Chief Information Officer in October 2016. In this role, Angela has ownership and oversight of technology governance, risk management and information security.
She is a member of BPAY’s executive leadership team, working with the CEO and her senior colleagues to design and deliver services that exceed client expectations and support BPAY in meeting its strategic and financial objectives. Angela has more than 25 years experience in senior technology leadership roles in financial services and government including Cuscal, Societe Generale and Bank of New York.
Most recently, she was CIO and Director, Information Services for the NSW Office of State Revenue. Angela is a Fellow of CPA Australia and FINSIA and is a director of a not for profit childcare organisation.
Kimberley Dripps
Assistant Director-General and Chief Advisor of Procurement
Department of Housing and Public Works (Queensland Government)
Kimberley Dripps is the Assistant Director-General and Chief Advisor of Procurement for the Queensland Government. In this role, she is responsible for the strategic policy settings underpinning the procurement system, its operation and stewardship, as well as directly for the General Goods and Services category and QFleet.
Before joining the department, Kimberley was a Principal at the Nous Group, leading the public policy practice in Queensland. In this role Kimberley has worked across Queensland Government departments, agencies and companies—including Housing and Public Works, the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, the Department of Energy and Water Supply, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, Powerlink, Origin Energy and SunWater.
Kimberley has a strong public sector background, most recently as Deputy Secretary in the Commonwealth Department of Environment. She has also worked in Victoria for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and in a number of policy and program roles across the state’s planning, transport and agriculture portfolios.
Jonathan Dutton
Director
JD Consultancy
JD Consultancy was established in Australia in 2004 by seasoned general manager and business leader, Jonathan Dutton. With over 30 years’ experience across several industries and in a variety of senior roles across sales & marketing, procurement & supply and general management, Jonathan now works as an independent business consultant helping organisations achieve transformational change and growth through applying his core values of focus, insight, reality and speed.
Jonathan's skill set is particularly strong in sales & marketing, driving top-line growth & bottom-line improvement. He uses his deep understanding of the procurement industry and buyers' mindset to develop incisive customer propositions and successful sales & marketing programmes - primarily in the B2B marketplace. He also has a contact-list second to none in the procurement sector, including many top CPOs.
Well known throughout the procurement industry, Jonathan is also available for professional speaking engagements, training workshops and facilitating strategy meetings & round-tables. He often talks from his experiences on 'both sides of the fence' in procurement or in sales & marketing.
Fleur Edgerton
Head of ICT Procurement
Ausgrid
A highly capable and driven commercial, legal and strategic sourcing executive with a depth and breadth of experience in sophisticated and complex corporate environments across various international jurisdictions.
Has over 16 years’ experience spanning a variety of sectors including technology, financial services, healthcare and aerospace and has held senior positions in legal, commercial structuring, negotiation and execution, strategic sourcing, relationship management and corporate governance roles. This has created a unique insight into and strong understanding of the complex business drivers that impact organisational performance.
A direct and inclusive leader experienced in managing geographically dispersed and multi-disciplinary teams with a focus on commercial and enduring solutions. With excellent communication skills built across a spectrum of cultures, organisations and industries, is known for building strong and constructive stakeholder relationships.
Sam Edmonds
Principal, Buyer Services
Social Traders
Sam currently works as the key liaison point with Social Traders 21 business and government buyer members. Sam has been integral in establishing Social Traders network of buyers and 200 certified social enterprises.
Social Traders provides the only service of its kind in Australia, linking social enterprises with business and government buyers. Sam is responsible for opening new markets and finding supply solutions across a wide range of procurement and new business opportunities.
Her background as leader of a rapidly growing social enterprise and previously, a small business founder, means that Sam has a first-hand understanding of the complexities of social enterprises and start-up businesses. Sam has an honours degree in Planning and Design from the University of Melbourne.
Maggie Friday
Procurement Manager
Anglicare SA
Maggie Friday is the Procurement Manager for Anglicare SA Ltd, the largest not-for-profit organisation in South Australia. Maggie’s portfolio for the past 5 years includes Procurement, Insurance and Fleet Management. With 20 years’ experience in Contract Management and Procurement, Maggie has spent the majority of this time within the Defence Industry. Over and above best price and service, Maggie is passionate about seeking innovative ways to engage with suppliers in order to enable them to achieve their corporate social responsibility objectives whilst ultimately benefiting AnglicareSA.
Jacqueline Gava
Associate Director – Capital Procurement, Commercial Services, University Services
The University of Melbourne
Jacqueline Gava is a Senior Procurement Leader who uses forward thinking and a collaborate approach to deliver innovative, best practice commercial solutions. She is practical, resilient, and adaptable which allowed her to excel in the diverse range of procurement and supply chain projects she has supported over her career. In her 10+ years of Oil & Gas experience a highlight was setting up and managing supply chain operations in Papua New Guinea for a new brownfield project in the southern highlands, and Port Moresby.
More recently, she was promoted into an Associate Director role at Melbourne University managing a new start up team to increase value, influence and delivery of an ambitious capital portfolio.
Billie Gorman
Australian Procurement Practice Lead
Accenture
Fellow of procurement’s peek body CIPS, Billie is a strategic procurement leader with 20 years experience heading up Group Procurement teams, executing strategically aligned commercial solutions for the business, including the implementation of Ariba and outsourcing non-core functions. She was responsible for building the capability for end to end category management, vendor performance management and sourcing execution. She established the green-field procurement team responsible for IT and BPO outsourced services, banking operations, marketing and corporate services procurement.
Kate brings to GECA an extensive background in leadership, capacity building and education aimed at finding sustainable solutions for the future.
Kate previously spent six years with the Centre for Sustainability Leadership, including two years as CEO, and two years as non-executive director. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (ALCAS) and Living Future Institute Australia, as well as being an Executive Member of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC). She is also the founder of consulting firm Future Ready and a graduate of the Asialink Leaders Program.
Kate believes passionately in human potential and draws on her diverse experience in the performing arts, executive coaching, cultural change and organisational development, helping individuals, organisations and communities to create a better future. She has held a variety of management, organisational and coaching roles, and has been an ambassador for 1 Million Women and on the Advisory Board for Pollinate Energy.
Shae Howard
CT Category Director; IDG Policy & Innovation
Department of Finance, Services and Innovation (NSW)
Shae Howard is a business professional with over 20 years’ ICT experience specialising in strategic relationship management, spend optimisation, service delivery and process improvement. She recently completed her MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management with a focus on Leadership and Strategy. Shae has held a variety of global and local roles with Cisco, Gateway Computers and most recently with the Department of Finance, Services & Innovation in NSW Government. Shae has played a leading role in the creation of a diversity resource groups to attract, develop and retain female employees in STEM. In 2014, Shae was shortlisted for the ARN Women in IT Award for her work in developing female mentoring programs.
Janice Johnston
Managing Director – Delivery Executive
Accenture
Janice Johnston is responsible for Global Delivery of Accenture’s Global Sourcing and Category Management procurement operations, supplier management and contract services capabilities. A procurement transformational leader, Janice supports customers in evolving the procurement function to the future. In this role, Janice is responsible for strategy, solution development and process across the global delivery teams.
Prior to joining Accenture she has worked in various procurement leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Wyeth(Pfizer), Novartis and Dow Jones (NewsCorp). A transformation champion, Janice has nearly 20 years experience in sourcing and category management, systems implementation and transformation as has done work in more than 50 countries during her career.
Janice holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from San Jose State University and a Master’s in Sport Administration
Chontelle Kelly
Supply Chain Next Gen Graduate
Nestle
As a millennial, Chontelle Kelly has a keen interest in improving the standardisation and automation of key processes within businesses, and creating sustainable supply chain practices. Her passion for supply chain began straight from high school, when she obtained a role as a Procurement Cadet at BlueScope Steel.
After managing a full-time workload alongside study, she was awarded her degree in Supply Chain Management with Distinction in 2017. In 2017, Chontelle was named a Top 100 Future Leader by GradConnection and was a finalist for the Nestlé Supply Chain Award.
Chontelle now works as a Supply Chain Graduate at Nestlé. She recently led discussions around millennials in the procurement profession at the November 2017 Ladies in Procurement event, and is passionate about shaping businesses to attract and keep youth in procurement.
Frank Lai
Manager
State of Flux
Frank is a management consultant with expertise in supplier relationship management, sustainable procurement, risk management, cost optimisation and data analytics. He has an excellent track record of delivering positive strategic outcomes for clients, and is experienced in procurement and supply chain across a number of industries, including the public and private sector and the defence industry.
With extensive overseas experience in supplier management, contract negotiation and procurement, Frank is results oriented with demonstrated ability to vigorously assess, analyse and provide optimum solution to pressing challenges. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, investigating the application of financial risk management techniques to assess and evaluate uncertainties.
Karen Lay-Brew
Managing Director, 3Pillars Digital
President & Chair, Australian Business Software Industry Association
Karen Lay-Brew has over 30 years of C-level Executive leadership experience in multi-national corporations Microsoft, Honeywell, BHP Billiton and Coopers & Lybrand, having worked overseas for 20 years.
She completed MBA at University of Warwick UK, and before that a Bachelor of Applied Science at Queensland University of Technology on information systems and services. Karen is a trusted advisor, executive coach and mentor to senior leaders and women in leadership, and strives to build organisation cultures of meritocracy to overcome biases and discrimination.
As an independent director, Karen brings governance and engagement skills in highly complex environments, and presents objective viewpoints to facilitate and intervene on highly charged issues.
Mallika Lheritier
Manager, Strategy & Management Consulting
Accenture
Having worked in London, New York, Paris, and Sydney, Mallika Lheritier brings 15yrs of experience in major financial markets in global financial institutions working in wholesale / institutional / global banking with global Fortune 500 clients at the C-suite level. In the Workforce Transformation field, she is leading the thinking around Adaptive Workforces and their implications for our Australian clients. Practitioner of a collaborative client service, entrepreneurial, can-do approach, she has successfully delivered complex projects around People, Clients, Process, and Organisation, in cross-functional, , multi-country environments - enabling her clients to realize business strategy, monetize opportunities, and drive revenue growth, and/or establish a leadership position in their field.
Libby Lyons
Director
Workplace Gender Equality
Libby Lyons was appointed Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency in October 2015. She oversees a statutory reporting process which gathers gender equality data from over 11,000 employers and cover more than 4 million Australian employees. Libby is focused on working closely with employers to create workplaces in which the skills, experience and ambitions of employees are equally recognised and rewarded, regardless of their gender.
Prior to joining the Agency, Libby had a distinguished career in corporate affairs and government relations, most recently BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam corporate affairs division. Before this, Libby was General Manager of External Relations at Atlas Iron and held senior roles at CITIC Pacific Mining, Alcoa Australia, the Western Power Corporation and Telstra. She started her career as a primary school teacher and has served on the boards of non-profit organisations.
Sandra Nagels
Head Of Procurement, Corporate Centre, Finance & Commercial Services
Australia Post
Sandra Nagels has been working within Procurement for over 15 years and has experience in a range of different industries that include automotive, FMCG, distribution and is currently extending her Procurement experience within the services industry in her role at Australia Post. Sandra started her career in Belgium with Anixter Logistics, a global distributor of Wire & Cable, Communications products. Having grown within the organisation she was offered the opportunity to move to London (UK) 4 years later to develop further in the Procurement department. Having gained strong Procurement experience, led training courses and complex project teams and having she was asked to lead the integration of the Procurement team within the Product team in Manchester (UK) in 2006. The successful integration led to some welldeserved time off spend travelling in New Zealand which eventually saw Sandra finding a new place to call home in Melbourne (Australia).
Once established, Sandra found herself with some great opportunities and strong learning curves at Nissan Motor Company in the capacity of Procurement and later as the National Logistics Manager. Following up with new eSourcing capabilities in the FMCG space at Carlton United Breweries. 2012 saw a move to Australia Post with great opportunities across multiple large projects in divestment, risk management, core product tenders and Supplier Relationship Management, leading all to form a new team as Head Of Procurement, Corporate Centre.
Having led complex Procurement projects and teams, Sandra has developed into a flexible leader and quick thinker with a love of a communication, people and strong commercial outcomes. Her particular passion is in a people development capacity, working with people to help them achieve in their roles, and make them part of a successful team. She believes in the power of relationships and communication to drive success in business as well as on a personal level. Sandra has a Bachelor in Interior Design, the degree launched an unsuccessful relationship with minute detailed floor plans and came to the realisation that this was not going to deliver work satisfaction. Procurement has been the preferred career choice due to the continuous challenge to deliver value to the business in a fast changing world.
Adam Pase
Head of Procurement, Vendor Management & Facilities
Cbus Super
Adam Pase is an experienced high-performing procurement leader with a proven track record in transforming value delivery in procurement teams and categories. Hs is building a new corporate procurement function for one of Australia's largest industry superannuation funds.
Lynn Penny
Group General Manager, Procurement
Mirvac
Lynn Penny is currently the Group General Manager of Procurement and Premises at Mirvac. In the GGM role, she is accountable for procurement strategy across the group, and ensuring Mirvac’s own premises are maintained with two key focus areas in 2017.
This focus involves refining the supplier relationship management strategy, and ensuring innovation is at the hub especially in the area of automation. The other focus is enhancing employee experience in the workplace, and enhancing behavioural change within a changing built environment.
Before joining Mirvac, Lynn spent time working with Microsoft in an APAC role at Westpac. Although the key area of expertise is in procurement, she also has a strong general management background, having been responsible for corporate real estate, risk, audit and operational outsourcing.
Jacqui Priestly
Executive Manager, Capability
ArcBlue Consulting
Jacqui Priestly has worked in the procurement industry for more than 10 years, joining ArcBlue from a resourcing background. Since joining ArcBlue, Jacqui has led capability engagements, assessing the capability of procurement and contract management professionals and designing bespoke development programs. Having worked with a diverse client portfolio, she brings a macro view of procurement structures, methodologies and deep knowledge of procurement capability.
Michelle Robinson
Manager Procurement Contracts and Supplier Relationship
Department of Justice (NSW)
Michelle Robinson is the Manager Contracts and Supplier Relationships at the Department of Justice and is an expert in developing and monitoring complex procurement and governance frameworks, increasing procurement capabilities across NSW Government and implementing partnerships and systems that enable improved service delivery across NSW Government.
As a senior commercial and financial specialist who has worked in finance and public administration for over 8 years, Michelle provides expertise in developing, governing and executing tailored Procurement policy and governance, working in Agencies to establish Procurement as a strategic business partner as well as increasing Procurement capabilities across the private and government sectors.
In recognition of her contributions to the Department of Justice, Michelle was elected by her peers as the recipient of the Department of Justice Staff Excellence Award for Demonstrating Excellence in Leadership in 2016. Most recently, she was involved in the CASME Australasia Roundtable for procurement organisation and infrastructure as the NSW Government delegate. She was a keynote speaker at the Indonesia Government Procurement Conference speaking on Fraud Prevention Techniques and Technology and has been a panel member on several forums on Sustainability in Procurement.
Mary Sabin
Technology Advisory - AI Lead A/NZ
Accenture
Mary Sabin is a Senior Manager in Accenture's Technology Advisory practice with experience in delivering over a dozen AI strategy projects and implementations in the US, Australia, South Korea, Japan and India. Mary partners with clients to help them envision how AI can be applied to the most significant business challenges companies face today while driving business outcomes. Mary takes a human-centred design and agile approach by leveraging a multi-disciplinary team and a vast ecosystem of external partnerships with leading AI companies.
Lucia Schiavo
Sourcing, Procurement & Supply Chain Services Lead ANZ
Actew AGL
Lucia Schiavo has been worked in the procurement and contract industry for 7 years. She has had various roles ranging from construction and civil works, to panel management. Her focus has been in specialised procurement, including nationwide gas and chemical supply, as well as major changes to contestable works in the utility industry.
More recently, she was tasked with streamlining the inventory and warehousing division for ActewAGL. This transformation has seen the centralisation of procurement and contracting roles into one function.
She enjoys the challenges that centralisation and transformation pose, including initiatives that focus on how things are done, and cross-collaboration across teams.
Karen Sutton
Chief Procurement Officer
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Karen has over 25 years' experience within the sourcing, category management and outsourcing industries. Her experience spans technology, non-technology and insurance claims expense categories within the financial services, government and retails sectors.
She is currently leading the Technology Procurement and Partnerships team through the establishment of an end to end category management approach to Enterprise Services supplier/partner network.
Key to the team’s success is;
• building strong commercial and SME across the categories of software, hardware and services;
• establishing effective key stakeholder engagement across platforms and ES leadership
• understanding the industry/supplier strategies and bringing insights into the Bank
• establishing and delivering to the productivity targets of the Bank across demand and supply initiatives
Prior to this Karen worked at Suncorp where she was responsible for the sourcing and category management of all personal and commercial insurance claims spend across all brands within the Suncorp Group. The areas of expenditure span the motor, property and services categories.
She was also based in Singapore for 3 years, while responsible for demand management and sourcing functions across both IT and non-IT categories including market data services. Karen was responsible for regional and country procurement teams and the establishment of a captive regional procurement operations function operating out of the Philippines.
Ben Tulloch
Manager, Contracts & Procurement, Commercial Services
Accenture
Ben leads Accenture’s Sourcing, Procurement & Supply Chain Services business in Australia / New Zealand, with responsibility for over $9 billion of spend under management, 30 clients, and a large team of Strategic Sourcing & Value Architects and Operational staff. Ben’s team provide Category Strategy, Strategic Sourcing, Middle Office Support, Technology and operational services, leveraging a globally integrated procurement practice.
Ben has had 25 years of experience in a number of procurement & supply chain transformation roles internationally and locally, including as Hewlett Packard’s Global Indirect Procurement transformation lead in California, IBM’s Supply Chain Transformation lead in Australia, Head of Procurement at TruEnergy and Hewlett Packard in Melbourne.
Ben holds a Master of Business & Technology from University of New South Wales.
Karen Walker-Jones
Assistant Director, ICT Contracts and Procurement
Department of Agriculture and Water Resources
After a career in the private sector and running her own small business Karen joined the Department of Agriculture in 2008 implementing grant programmes. Since then she has gained experience in grant and procurement policy, operations and process improvement. She is responsible for the procurement framework and capability building in the department, providing advice and support to programme areas and coordinating department wide reporting on procurement. Karen will bring her practical experience of implementing the Indigenous Procurement Policy into the department to the event.
Jane Wood
Assistant Secretary, Non-Materiel Procurement
Department of Defence
Jane is the Acting Assistant Secretary Non-Materiel Procurement in Defence. She brings 20+ years as a procurement specialist in Defence, primarily in Materiel Procurement, to this role; coupled with experience in the private sector and the US Defense Department. Jane has expertise in procurement contracting, as well as commercial, financial and project management experience and expertise.
She has provided commercial leadership in many of Defence’s major capital materiel projects, and sustainment activities ranging in value from a few thousand dollars to over $1 billion. She has guided complex, high risk procurement activities, to identify and manage potential issues, and provided the commercial leadership needed to ensure delivery of capability outcomes to Defence. It's this experience and expertise that has led Jane to being chosen to lead a number of critical areas in procurement and contracting in Defence such as Major Programs, Electronic Systems and Submarines, and Procurement Policy.
Jane works in large and complex environments, leading teams who are charged with delivering complex procurement and commercial support to major capital procurements: including electronic systems such as the OneSky program; maritime capability such as Landing Helicopter Dock and Air Warfare Destroyer; land systems such as Land field training activities: and Aerospace platforms like Airborne Early Warning and Control. She has recently led development of Defence-wide procurement policy that meets the needs of Defence whilst working within the Government Procurement Framework.
As the Commercial Manager in Rapid Prototyping Development and Evaluation (RPDE), a Defence and Industry Program, Jane worked closely with many Defence suppliers during the early stages of capability development. She has also worked in the United States as a Project Analyst in the Heavyweight Torpedo Project, a joint US/RAN submarine project.
Jane has private sector experience working in the Queensland Mining Industry for 7 years.
Nina Younes
Contracts Manager, Procurement
Western Sydney Airport
Nina Younes is a results driven, highly motivated procurement professional with over 20 years’ experience in diverse procurement and travel industry roles. Nina has a track record of program delivery, significantly reducing costs and improving organisational processes and procurement functions.
Nina’s passion is people and believes a team with diverse talents along with a leader who nurtures and develops people’s talents is fundamental to achieving great results.
In her recent role as Category Manager, NSW Government (NSWG), Nina reformed the travel category. This was achieved by reinvigorating relationships across all departments resulting in greater engagement, increase in contract spend and reduction of contract leakage. Nina achieved substantial savings for NSWG by challenging suppliers to treat NSWG as it would a large, commercial customer.
Speaking opportunities are still available for Women in Procurement & Supply Chain 2018
Introduce your company, showcase your leadership and demonstrate how you can help by speaking to this senior gathering of procurement and supply chain executives from across sectors including civil construction, government, healthcare, manufacturing, utilities, EPCMs, oil and gas, mining, aviation, defence and more.
Use this unique forum to voice your opinions on the most important issues facing procurement and supply chain management today. Speakers will assert themselves as advocates for the future success of the sector.
For sponsorship opportunities at Women in Procurement & Supply chain 2018, please contact, Nischal Aryal on +61 (0)2 8488 9948 or email nischala@questevents.com.au