About Us Key Executives Aust

Chief Executive

David Rafter

David Rafter was appointed to the position of Chief Executive, O’Donnell Griffin in May 2009. David is responsible for the strategic growth and profitability across O’Donnell Griffin, Norfolk’s largest individual business.

David was appointed to the role of General Manager of Haden in 2005 and subsequently promoted to the position of Chief Executive, Haden before being promoted to his current role.

Prior to this, David was the National Manager of the Service Division for Tyco Australia’s Electrical and Mechanical Business Unit and also held senior positions at Resolve FM and Telstra Corporation’s Property Services business.

David holds a Master of Business Administration from Charles Sturt University, a Masters of Building Services Design Science from the University of Sydney and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Divisional Finance Manager

Allan Bate

Appointed to the role of Divisional Finance Manager, O'Donnell Griffin in 2009, Allan's previous role commenced in 2007 with Haden as the Divisional Finance Manager. In this position he was responsible for the finance and accounting functions of the Division. Previously he was Haden's National Finance Manager from 2004.

This appointment followed positions as Divisional Finance Controller with Tyco's Electrical Mechanical Division, and Financial Controller at Plessy Asia Pacific P/L.

Allan holds a Bachelor of Economics (Sydney Uni), Master of Applied Finance (Macquarie Uni) and CPA (CPA Australia).

Executive General Manager – Rail

Peter Winder

Peter joined O’Donnell Griffin in 2008 as General Manager of the Novo Rail alliance (formed between RailCorp and three private sector companies, Aurecon, Laing O’Rouke and O’Donnell Griffin) and was appointed Executive General Manager – Rail for O’Donnell Griffin in August 2010. Peter is responsible for implementing initiatives to further grow our rail business and to identify off-shore rail projects and opportunities.

General Manager – Business Development

Chris Madin

General Manager – Data

Alan Timmins

Alan was promoted to the position of General Manager – Data (then known as Diverse Data Communications) in September 2008. His primary responsibility is to provide the leadership to deliver continued growth in the data and telecommunications line of business for O’Donnell Griffin.

With Alan’s strong management experience and exceptional technical knowledge, O’Donnell Griffin – Data is able to concentrate on expanding their capabilities and introducing new value-add technologies to the market.

Over the past eight years, Alan has held a number of Director and General Manager positions in organisations such as Belden Australia, Allied Technologies and Rivercorp.

Alan holds diplomas in Business Management, Marketing and Project Management, and has completed an Electronics apprenticeship specialising in Avionics in the Royal Australian Navy.

General Manager – Human Resources

Lee Bakerman

Lee was appointed to the position of General Manager – Human Resources for O’Donnell Griffin in April 2011.

His role is to enhance and build the HR infrastructure and people capabilities within O’Donnell Griffin, and to ensure the business continues to be resourced by progressive technical and professional employees.
 
Lee is a well seasoned HR professional, with extensive leadership experience in the electrical industry. Most recently he has been the Vice President HR – Asia Pacific for Alstom Grid and prior to this, Lee held several Regional HR Director roles for the global Areva Transmission & Distribution business, which included responsibility for Australia, New Zealand & Eastern Asia.

Amongst many tertiary qualifications, Lee holds a Master’s Degree in HR Management from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris.

General Manager – Fire

Peter Wotherspoon

Peter joined O’Donnell Griffin in November 2010 as General Manager – Fire and is responsible for growing the Fire business by developing market opportunities and delivery capability.
 
Peter has a strong track record of delivering growth results through his strategic and operational approach to the market segments in which he operates.

Peter comes to us from Bilfinger Berger. Prior to this, Peter was employed with Tyco Fire & Security for approximately 11 years in various management roles. Peter was previously with O'Donnell Griffin during 1992 - 1995.

General Manager – Operations

Keian Barnard

 
Keian was appointed General Manager – Operations on 1 December 2011. He joined O’Donnell Griffin as General Manager – Power in May 2011, and shortly thereafter, he held the role of Acting State Manager – Victoria.
 
The focus of his role will be to direct and manage the state based operations to develop and deliver company performance in accordance with annual business plans. Keian has an impressive portfolio of industry experience and contacts, including his previous role as General Manager of Amp Controls’ Power business, following a successful 15 year career with them. Prior to this, Keian worked for Metal Manufacturers, heading up their MM Mining Electrical business in Queensland.

Amongst several tertiary qualifications, Keian holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, a Master’s Degree in Accounting, a Diploma of Electrical Engineering and Electrical Trades Certificate, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia.

General Manager – Maintenance

Malcolm Stewart

Malcolm was appointed General Manager - Maintenance in June 2011. In this role, Malcolm will develop O’Donnell Griffin’s recurring revenue in industrial and resource maintenance, including shutdown work, permanent MRO contracts, and other service activities.

Malcolm has extensive leadership experience in the electrical and power industry. Prior to joining O’Donnell Griffin, Malcolm held the role of Operations Manager for Alstom Power’s Thermal Services business for Australia & New Zealand, where he was responsible for the activities of the Service group including the execution of site outages as well as installation of new power plants.

Prior to this, Malcolm held various roles with Wilson Transformer Company, including the role of General Manager for their Power Business Unit. In addition to an engineering background in production, Malcolm also holds an MBA from University of Melbourne.

General Manager – Health, Safety & Environment

Chris Logan

National Commercial Manager

Damien Barnes

Marketing and Communications Manager

John McCarl

John was appointed to the role of Marketing and Communications Manager, O’Donnell Griffin in July 2010. He is responsible for managing the development, implementation and ongoing evaluation of key marketing strategies, while providing day to day marketing support to staff within the O’Donnell Griffin business.

John is a successful Marketing Manager; with more than 14 years experience in business to business marketing, strategy and planning, market analysis, and customer relationship building.

Prior to joining O’Donnell Griffin, John was National Marketing Manager for Rittal & Phoenix Contact, and also held the position of National Marketing Manager for Smorgon Steel Reinforcing.

John holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Melbourne Business School, and a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from University of Georgia.

State Manager – New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory

Phil Tilden

Phil has been O’Donnell Griffin’s State Manager, New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory since 2004. He joined the company in 1994 as a casual electrician and has held a range of evolving and dynamic positions from Project Manager of several ventures within BHP and North Parkes Mine to management roles with O'Donnell Griffin Wollongong, NSW Industrial and NSW Installations.

Phil started his career as an Electrical Fitter Mechanic apprentice and he has developed extensive experience in major NSW water treatment plants and sewer diversion schemes, technical service maintenance, and a variety of other senior roles in light, commercial and heavy industrial projects.

He has successfully completed a series of professional development courses in business management and development, as well as achieving industry accredited qualifications.

State Manager, South Australia and Northern Territory

Richard Lane

Richard has been O'Donnell Griffin's State Manager, South Australia and Northern Territory since 2002. Within 12 months in this role, Butterworth Electrical was added to the O'Donnell Griffin stable, more than doubling the resources and the size of the operation.

He joined the company in 1997 as Contracts Manager for the Industrial Installations and Switchboard departments, working on projects such as the Riverland WTP, GMH upgrades and multiple new grain handling facilities.

Richard started his career with an Electrical Apprenticeship at BHP Whyalla, developing and adding to his range of skills as a CAD draftsman and electrical design technician. He was also involved in the manufacture and installation of coal ash analysis equipment, responsible for the commissioning and calibration of projects in Hunter Valley (NSW), Central QLD, WA and USA.

He has successfully completed a series of technical and management development courses including a Diploma in Business Management. Recent project experience includes OzMin Prominent Hill Power Works and the Adelaide Desalination Plant.

State Manager, Western Australia

Carl van Zijl

Carl was appointed O'Donnell Griffin's State Manager, Western Australia in August 2010. He is responsible for ongoing growth and development for the O'Donnell Griffin Western Australia business and providing leadership and strategic guidance to a team of qualified engineers, project managers and technicians.

Carl has an extensive and well rounded history with O’Donnell Griffin. He joined the company in the early 80’s as an Electrical Service Technician, and worked his way up to a management role in 2001. Returning to O’Donnell Griffin as the WA Operations Manager in 2005, he then took over the responsibility of managing the large Southern Suburbs Rail Project.

His wealth of electrical engineering experience in construction, service and rail, along with his intimate knowledge of O’ Donnell Griffin, makes Carl a valuable addition to the senior management team.

State Manager – Victoria

Daniel van Oosterwijck

State Manager – Queensland

Peter Lang