Amanda MacKinnell combines 16 years operational service as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, with program and project management experience gained in a number of Industrial sectors, particularly maritime, autonomous systems and digital transformation. She is presently engaged with the French Classification & Engineering company Bureau Veritas as the Project Manager for the Australian Naval Classification Framework Development and Implementation Project.
Until July 2021, Amanda was a Defence Business Adviser with the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, acting in direct consultation with over 40 Australian SMEs; drawing upon the experience gained as the Australian Industry Capability Manager for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Aerospace and Mission Systems project lines. Additionally she has worked in increasingly evolved roles in the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in ships safety, standards and regulatory policy, before becoming a consultant with the New Zealand owned Beca Pty Ltd, shaping maritime and government policy, business systems, processes and strategy.
She has also worked as a Capability Developer for C2 projects within Capability, Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG) and has been responsible for projects in excess of $300million. Amanda’s experience in operational and project environments is complemented by academic qualifications and certifications: she holds a Master of Business Administration (AIB) as well as a Master of Global Project Management (Torrens University) and is presently developing her doctoral thesis Disruption, Disorder and Deployments, towards Antifragility in Defence Supply Chains.
Additionally Amanda is also the recipient of the 2020 American – Australian Alliance Veterans Scholarship, intending to undertake further studies in the United States in 2022.
An avid volunteer, Amanda has spent time in Nepal providing disaster relief work as well as contributing to local organisations in the Canberra area, offering business development work plus engaging in ‘hands on’ and STEM activities, especially with high school submarine projects, echidnas and turtles.
