Advisory panel

Official Event Advisory Panel


Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for all stakeholders working in the Government procurement space. 


Stephanie Black
Executive Director Government Procurement
WA Department of Finance

Stephanie is the Executive Director, Government Procurement in the WA Department of Finance. She has been working in WA Government since 2009 and led the successful commissioning of ICT at Perth’s new Fiona Stanley Hospital and the decommissioning of WA’s Shared Services. Prior to joining the WA public sector, Stephanie worked in the financial sector where roles held included Chief Executive Officer at United Credit Union. Stephanie is a member of the Board of Activ Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation providing services to adults with intellectual disability.


Mike Blanchard
Chief Procurement Officer
Sydney Trains

Mike , General Manager (CPO) heads up Procurement within Sydney Trains running the Strategic Procurement Group within the finance, IT and Corporate Services directorate. He is responsible for Managing the spend ($1.7BN AUD) through enabling valued business outcomes via cost effective supplier solutions. His Team of 66 delivers direct categories to all stakeholders and is also for managing the interface with Transport Shared Services who deliver the indirect categories for Sydney Trains in an outsourced model.

Mike is the Process Owner for Procurement for Transport NSW in the delivery of the new SAP environment and is a member of the Global Practice Advisory Board for Public Sector Procurement for CIPS.


Jonathan Dutton
Director
JD Consultancy

Jonathon Dutton was the founding Managing Director of CIPS Australasia for over eight years up until February 2013. He was responsible for all aspects of CIPS activities as the global peak body for professional procurement & supply management in the region. He represented the profession and its standards to the highest levels of business and government.

As a former qualified procurement manager himself, as well as sales manager turned marketing director, Jonathan can easily draw on experiences from both sides of the negotiating table. Jonathan has worked in senior positions for British Airways, QANTAS, Regus & CHUBB, and is a fellow of four institutes covering procurement, marketing, management and the royal society of arts. He is also a graduate diploma member of the institute of company directors, and has a degree in economics with accountancy and business law.

Jonathan is married with two young children and lives in Melbourne, and can be reached easily through LinkedIn or his website.
www.jdconsultancy.com.au | @JDTheBuyer


Marea Getsios
Coordinator Procurement
Georges River Council

Marea Getsios is a high-achieving procurement professional, who is experienced in implementing procurement processes. Her procurement background coupled with her sales and marketing background make her highly creative, intuitive and innovative.

Having worked with both Local & State government departments over the last 20 years, Marea has successfully developed a high level understanding of client and supplier expectations and a high level ability to form and maintain positive relationships in business, which she sees as key for developing a strong supply chain. In  her most recent role Marea has proven to be a forward-thinking leader who mentors and motivates teams to achieve a common procurement strategy across the organisation.


Ian  Rudgley
Chief Procurement Officer
City of Sydney

Ian Rudgley is currently the Procurement Manager of the City of Sydney, a role which he took over in January 2005. Prior to his role with the City of Sydney Ian has held a number of senior procurement roles in the manufacturing, health and retail fields. Ian has over 30 years’ experience in procurement and is tertiary qualified, Ian is committed to elevating the stature and importance of procurement in local Government and feels that the sharing of knowledge is paramount to achieving this.

Ian is in constant demand to speak regarding his experiences and the procurement journey that the City of Sydney has taken.


Jennie Vickers
Director Australia and New Zealand
International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM)

Jennie is IACCM's Director for Australia and New Zealand. She is responsible for corporate and individual members in the region including membership, learning, certification, research and advisory services. Jennie has a degree in law, is qualified as a lawyer in New Zealand, England and Wales and Australia and has over 25 years legal and business experience in corporate as well as 'Big Law' firms in the UK, NZ and Australia.

Jennie has a wealth of experience in contract and commercial management in both sales and procurement. Jennie's commitment to building stable, respectful, long-term contract relationships delivering value to all concerned has been a feature throughout her career.


Paul Kruspe
Assistant Commissioner
Australian Taxation Office

Paul Kruspe is an experienced senior executive of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and has worked broadly across the organisation since 1999. Paul has been the driving force behind some of the recent dynamic changes made to ATO debt collection and lodgement capabilities. Some of the initiatives Paul has overseen include; the introduction of lodgement performance requirements for the tax profession, the development of diversity programs; the incorporation of behavioural economic principles to debt and lodgement strategy; and the introduction of external collection agencies.  Paul has partnered extensively with external bodies and has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars.

Paul’s current role as Assistant Commissioner Procurement is responsible for leading the agency’s procurement branch and is accountable for the integrity of procurement, contracts, accounts and travel. ATO procurement represents over $1 billion dollars of spending per year, and requires oversight of complex contracts. Paul is also responsible for enhancing commercial contract management capability across the ATO and contributing to cost and efficiency savings. Paul represents the ATO in a number of external forums helping to drive whole of Australian Government initiatives by engaging across the broader industry to understand commercial trends, across various suppliers and across the broader community to understand impacts of contractual decisions.

Reference: 
Government Procurement 2016