Team Downer partners with ICCPM

Team Downer is a Major Service Provider (MSP) for the Department of Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), and a new Corporate Partner to the International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM). CASG is the part of the Department of Defence that acquires and sustains materiel for the Australian Defence Force. It moved to the MSP model in 2018 to acquire industry support for the strategic delivery of complex projects and sustainment.

Team Downer is a consortium with Downer as the prime, and Providence Consulting, DXC Technology, and Systra Scott-Lister as member companies. It is one of four MSPs that provide above-the-line services for CASG including as workforce planning and management, program and project delivery, supply chain management, and more.

“It means that we can provide end to end delivery of services
in support of projects and sustainment activities more effectively — so that Defence
can focus on the big picture.

‘We work in partnership with Australian small-to-medium enterprises to provide specialist and highly experienced personnel to CASG,’ said Team Downer’s General Manager, Chris Lovejoy. ‘It means that we can provide end to end delivery of services in support of projects and sustainment activities more effectively—so that Defence can focus on the big picture.’

Australia’s strategic defence environment has become increasingly complex, and so too have the capability and sustainment needs of the nation’s armed services. During the past two decades Australia’s sovereign defence industry has continued to grow and mature in its role as a strategic partner to the Australian Defence Organisation, while Defence has relied more on industry to effectively deliver their strategic objectives.

One of these objectives is greater engagement between the Defence and industry. The Government has demonstrated their ongoing commitment to further integrating the defence industry as a fundamental input to capability for Defence in recent policy documents such as the Defence Strategic Update and Force Structure Plan. This means more projects, and greater complexity as the materiel used by the warfighter has itself become more sophisticated and integrated across multiple platforms; the more advanced the technology, the greater the complexity of the project to acquire or sustain it.

Team Downer takes its role as an industry steward for Australian defence sector small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) seriously and strives to develop them so that they may realise their full potential as part of the Defence supply chain. As part of this long-term commitment, Team Downer have partnered with the ICCPM to access upskilling, training and development opportunities for SMEs as well as the uniformed and non-uniformed personnel that the MSP works alongside in CASG. ICCPM was established by Defence as the international peak body for Complex Project Management and is the custodian of the Complex Project Leadership Competency Standards on behalf of the Commonwealth. ICCPM is an independent professional body dedicated to helping organisations build their capability in complex project management.

“We are excited at the prospect of passing on our knowledge to the industry workforce that are working on some of the nation’s most challenging projects.

‘Given our strategic relationship with CASG, and the increased complexity in the operating environment, the partnership between Team Downer and the ICCPM is an important one,’ Lovejoy said. ‘Through this partnership we will use our existing industry experience and draw on the skills and knowledge of the broader ICCPM community to infuse thought leadership, best practice, innovation and enduring organisational capability across the Australian defence industry and CASG.’

‘ICCPM welcomes Team Downer as a Corporate Partner, and we look forward to a long and productive relationship,’ said Collin Smith, the CEO of the ICCPM. ‘We are excited at the prospect of passing on our knowledge to the industry workforce that are working on some of the nation’s most challenging projects. We are also delighted to be working with Team Downer to upskill Australian SMEs and help position them to deliver more complex projects and programs successfully.’

Team Downer is set to embark on its first steps in skilling up its people by sending five employees to attend ICCPM’s Certificate IV in Responding to Organisational Complexity—an important qualification for any project manager working on a CASG project.

For more information or comments about this news story, please contact Team Downer at teamdownerMSP@downergroup.com or ICCPM at admin@iccpm.com. For more information on Team Downer, please visit their website at www.teamdownermsp.com.au