Appointments Follow Organisational Restructuring
The new CEO for NIOA Australia and New Zealand, Ben James, has announced his executive team with a commitment to ‘double down’ on world-class support to the company’s sporting, defence and law enforcement customers.
Mick Ahern CSC, formerly NIOA’s Lethality Program Director, is the new General Manager of Weapons & Munitions, heading up a raft of new appointments which also includes Owen Paulson as General Manager of Operations. Paulson joins NIOA after a career including global security operations, expansive programme management and strategic leadership roles, in addition to a key role in support of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority following the devastating floods of 2010-11.
Effective 2 February, the management lineup is:
- Mick Ahern, General Manager, Weapons & Munitions
- Brad Johnson, General Manager, Sporting
- Fraser Winskill, General Manager, New Zealand
- Rudi Bekker, General Manager, Engineering
- Owen Paulson, General Manager, Operations
- Ferdi Kluever, Director – Bids & Proposals
- Shane Huby, General Manager, Commercial
- Garth Jones, Chief Financial Officer
“The leadership team we have assembled across NIOA Australia and New Zealand possesses the knowledge, capacity and expertise to continue to deliver the world-class service and support for which NIOA is known […] It will be important that we look for synergies across the NIOA Group to ensure we are best harnessing resources and capacity to serve our domestic and international markets,” stated James.
NIOA Australia is the largest supplier of non-guided munitions to the ADF, and is delivering the first tranche of the Australian Army’s LAND 159 Lethality System Program to modernise ADF weapon systems. Its Australian operations include management of a significant portion of the Australian Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated (GOCO) munitions manufacturing facility at Benalla, and delivery of key munitions programmes.
The appointments follow changes to NIOA’s organisational structure to better align with its growth strategy and geographical expansion. This included a new group structure encompassing NIOA Australia, NIOA New Zealand, the Australian Missile Corporation, joint venture company Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions and newly acquired Barrett Firearms (USA).
