What's your job about?
Navy Engineering is part of the Department of Defence and my role focusses on major systems (think – what makes a warship a warship) for new acquisitions.
My main responsibilities as a liaison officer is to assure and support engineering aspects of various projects including the Hunter Class Frigate in the acquisition phase of the capability life cycle. This role is a systems engineering role and is cross-domain covering all technology areas. My position involves significant stakeholder engagement both internally and externally to my area, and the internal coordination of technical reviews.
A typical day may include responding to emails, coordinating technical documentation reviews, representing navy engineering in a workshop or presentation, and contributing to the development of assurance documentation for Navy.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about this role is the unique workplace that consists of ADF, APS and Industry and the opportunities that present themselves as a program under Navy. For example, I participated in an introductory course designed to familiarise engineers to the maritime environment for survival at sea. This saw our cohort jumping off platforms into the ocean, inflating survival rafts, trying on gas masks and more!
What are the limitations of your job?
When first starting at Defence it can feel like a never-ending task learning the processes and procedures of the department. You will usually end up with questions like “Who do I ask?”, “How do I go about this?”, and “Is it always like this?” Like with most learning curves, be patient, ask many questions and persevere. Defence is big. It does take a while to feel comfortable and after two years, I still find myself learning new things every day.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...