Downer launches mission engineering practice

Australia’s largest sovereign Defence partner, Downer, has launched a dedicated Mission Engineering Practice – a specialist division of the Downer Professional Services business – committed to the delivery of end-to-end Mission Engineering services. The move reinforces Downer Professional Service’s commitment to accelerating Defence’s capability realisation in a timely and cost-effective manner to address strategic risks – imperatives outlined in the 2023 Defence Strategic Review. The new Practice will be led by veteran Air Force officer Rachel Hatton, who has stepped into the newly created role of Head of Mission Engineering. Hatton said “Downer Professional Services delivers outcomes that put Australia’s interests first, and Mission Engineering will be pivotal to Defence realising the imperatives of the Defence Strategic Review. The formation of this Practice highlights our clear understanding of and commitment to our role as a steadfast partner to the Australian Government, delivering complex projects that safeguard Australia’s future.” Mission Engineering represents a transformative methodology which seeks to align Defence’s capabilities with specific mission objectives – prioritising mission effectiveness over individual platforms or technologies. The methodology emphasises the importance of incorporating operational context and mission requirements into the capability lifecycle – including operational employment – to achieve a holistic Defence capability. Downer Professional Service’s dedicated cross-functional Mission Engineering Practice will serve as a central hub for the delivery of mature end-to-end Mission Engineering services, comprising: Mission Thread Development: Development of Mission Threads, Mission Engineering Threads and Mission Architectures to establish a hierarchy of mission objectives, operational needs, capability requirements, and optimised solution design, linked to national objectives. Capability-based Assessment & Integration: Functional based capability analysis investigating and assessing current, planned, and future capabilities to understand capability advantage, gaps, and/or opportunities. Digital Engineering: Integrating digital engineering principles, digital tools and environments, and data across the capability lifecycle, to enable technical and non-technical users to design, develop and deploy capability in a collaborative environment, with a single source of truth. The Practice also supports Downer’s commitment to uplifting workforce skills in Defence and Defence Industry, with the formation of a dedicated Mission Engineering and Digital Engineering training capability. This will see Downer offering targeted training programs to Defence and Defence Industry professionals, ensuring the Defence workforce is equipped to adopt Mission Engineering practices quickly and effectively. “Our goal is to meaningfully contribute to the design and delivery of a force that seamlessly aligns with Australia’s strategic priorities – supporting a resilient and mission-ready Defence Force,” Hatton continued. “To do this effectively, we want everyone in Industry to have access to the training required to support adoption of this transformative methodology.” Conway Kosi, Managing Director of Downer Professional Services says: “To best support the strategic imperatives of Defence, it is critical we take on an industry leadership role, remaining at the forefront of new innovations, technologies, and capabilities. The launch of our Mission Engineering Practice and ensuing commitment to industry-wide training supports this and is a natural extension of the services Downer has proudly provided to Defence for over 80 years.” Hatton is joined by an experienced team of Defence Industry specialists, who are already delivering several critical Mission Engineering projects, including a Defence Pilot Program, to Downer’s customers. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]