Gary Stewart named CEO for Australia sector at QinetiQ

QinetiQ Group has formed a new Australia sector and named Gary Stewart as the sector’s chief executive, effective 1 May. Stewart will join QinetiQ from Rheinmetall Defence Australia where he was the managing director responsible for strategy and operational delivery in the Asia Pacific region. Stewart has a proven track record of transforming and growing businesses, with more than 20 years of experience within the defence industry in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and Australia. He is an engineer and served in the Royal Australian Air Force for 11 years. Stewart will join QinetiQ’s leadership team led by Steve Wadey, QinetiQ’s Group CEO. The creation of the new Australia sector, which replaces what was previously the international sector, is a further demonstration of QinetiQ’s commitment and investment in Australia and is evidence of the company’s ambition to build an integrated global defence and security company focused around our six distinctive offerings and three home countries, of the UK US and Australia. The Australia sector will be headquartered in Canberra and has more than 1,200 employees worldwide. In recent years, QinetiQ has invested more than A$100 million in Australian people, skills and capabilities. The A$53 million acquisition of Air Affairs in October 2022, the new Technology and Engineering Centre in Fishermans Bend, Melbourne and the sovereign Test & Evaluation upskilling programme are some of the ways in which QinetiQ is supporting long-term growth in the country, aligned with the Australian government’s focus of rebuilding the industrial base to create new capabilities and opportunities. The Australia sector becomes QinetiQ’s global hub for threat representation, including recently acquired Air Affairs, Target Systems (in the UK and Canada) and the company’s  German air threat representation and training business. QinetiQ’s four Sectors are now Australia, the US, UK Defence and UK Intelligence and together the company is well-placed to support the goals of AUKUS and ultimately ensure the country has the right capabilities to meet the growing strategic challenges and threats facing Australia and its partners. Wadey commented: “Gary’s extensive experience in the Australian and global defence sectors, alongside his ability to grow businesses at scale, means that he is the right leader to deliver both short-term operational performance and our long-term strategy to grow our Australia Sector at pace. Today’s announcement is another significant step in our multi-domestic growth ambition and a strong indication of QinetiQ’s commitment to the defence sector in Australia.” Stewart said “I am delighted to be joining the leadership team of a global defence and security company that will deliver growth from Australia while playing our role in contributing to national and global security. The new Australia Sector will be crucial in creating sovereign capability and further developing critical skills including becoming QinetiQ’s global leader for threat representation. I am looking forward to working with the highly skilled people at QinetiQ, dedicated to supporting our customers’ critical missions.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]