About SYPAQ

Amanda holds tertiary qualifications in Aerospace Engineering and Business, complemented by post-graduate studies in Remote Sensing, Systems and Software Engineering, and has recently completed the Senior Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School.

Commencing her career in Military Systems Engineering developing interoperable Combat, Communications and Simulation Systems for the Royal Australian Navy working for Adacel, ADI and Thales, Amanda further developed her understanding of the integration of military systems upon joining SYPAQ Systems in 2007. SYPAQ offered the opportunity to work with capabilities as broad as Naval Shipbuilding, Submarine Systems, Naval Aviation, Army Aviation, Aerospace Systems, Land Surveillance Systems, Joint ISR Systems, UAV Capabilities, Simulation-based tools and ICT intensive Joint Intelligence Capabilities.

In 2015, Amanda was appointed as SYPAQ’s Chief Executive Officer, having held the role as General Manager – Defence and Aerospace for four years prior.

Amanda is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Board Member of the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, a member of Defence Council of Victoria, and for the past four years has served as a Director of the Sir Richard Williams Foundation.

Most recently, Amanda was the recipient of the 2019 Female Defence Leader of the Year Award.

David is the Managing Director at SYPAQ and sits on the company’s Risk, Finance and Audit Committee and Nominations and Remuneration Committee, and Chairs Bellinger Systems, a SYPAQ company.

David joined SYPAQ in 2000 as Operations Manager before being promoted to Chief Executive Officer, presiding over the company’s significant growth.

In David’s current role as Managing Director, he is responsible for providing strategic guidance and direction to the board to ensure that the company fulfils its purpose, maintains its values-based culture and achieves its vision, mission and long-term goals.

Prior to joining SYPAQ, David was the Operations Coordinator at the RACV Member Line Contact Centre, a 200 seat inbound and outbound call centre responsible for sales and service of all RACV products. Previous roles at RACV included Branch and Regional Management responsibilities.

David is also a Council Member for the Victorian division of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Away from the office, David is married and has two teenage daughters, and is a coach within the junior girls AFL program at the Ashburton Junior Football Club.

George served 22 years in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a systems engineer specialising in airborne electronic systems. On leaving the RAAF, George worked for Telstra as a System Design and Integration Engineer before founding SYPAQ in 1992.

He has personally delivered successful client outcomes in diverse and complex projects including Mission-critical Defence Systems, Communications Systems. Information Systems, Business Process Re-engineering, Organisational Restructure and Change Management.

George holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

In addition to being Chairman of SYPAQ, he also Chairs the Risk Finance and Audit Committee and the Nominations and Remuneration Committee.  He remains personally committed to ensuring the successful delivery of cost-effective and sustainable solutions to complex Defence capability requirements.

Caroline joined SYPAQ late in 2022 as the Head of People Capability and Culture. Caroline comes with 27 years’ experience in the Department of Defence across both Maritime and Land Systems.

Prior to joining SYPAQ, Caroline held a number of executive roles in Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group within Land Systems Division (LSD). As a member of the Executive team in LSD Caroline was part of the Strategic Workforce Planning team for the Division, invested in the development of a planning, attraction and selection process aligned to organisational values, resulting in significant changes within LSD workforce structures and requirements.  She has several CASG awards, including a Land Manoeuvre Systems Branch Head award in recognition of her work as the Director of Surveillance and Simulation Systems Program Office.

As the Director of Commercial and General Service Vehicles Systems Program Office, Caroline led and managed an integrated team of approximately 80 members, including ADF, APS and contractors.  She provided strategic direction through the development of business plans, strategies and priorities.  She was responsible for monitoring overall work-flow and performance in the delivery and sustainment of the General and Logistic Vehicle Fleets for the Australian Army.

Away from her professional life, Caroline is married to a Naval Officer, and kept busy with their many children and grandchildren.

Michael has a successful record in leading large multi-discipline teams within technically challenging environments.

He has over 15 years of experience across program, project and engineering leadership positions. This has included leading programs such as the Nulka Active Missile Decoy, the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) production and next-gen development programs.

Whilst at BAE Systems, Michael was responsible for developing crucial future technologies supporting Australian Defence Force capability requirements, which included a role as Head of Technology Development for the Australian business. This has given him a strong understanding of how to implement a technology-based strategy that underpins every investment.

Michael is experienced at fostering innovation and technology maturation, most notably having been responsible for effective collaborations between DST Group, Academia and Australian Industry.

Michael’s academic achievements have been recognised by the industry. He has earned Chartered Professional Engineer status. Michael has also received multiple awards, including Business Leader Awards during his career.

Richard holds a tertiary qualification in Management Science and in 2019 completed the Senior Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School.
With his early career focusing on the Automotive industry, Richard further developed his experience of change management in complex systems working for an Australian-based management consultancy. Richard joined SYPAQ in 2019.
Richard works predominantly from SYPAQ’s Canberra and Brisbane offices as General Manager of the Consulting division. His responsibilities span the management of SYPAQ’s Consulting Services, Managed Services and Systems Integration projects. Richard’s team specialises in Enterprise Digital Transformation, Agile Delivery and Atlassian Services, Cyber Security, Emerging Technology Integration into legacy environments and Software Application Development and Test Automation.
Richard is a member of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) Queensland Council which focuses on being an active voice and connector for industry and government. Richard’s responsibilities on the council include participating in ICT procurement legislation for the future of jobs and the skills required for tomorrow.
Away from the office, Richard is a volunteer at his local Surf Life Saving club Nippers program that his two young daughters attend.

Ross Osborne is the General Manager of SYPAQ’s Sensors and Surveillance Group. Ross is currently leading SYPAQ’s research and development activities focused on future technologies in the C4ISR domain, including UAS and sensor systems for Army and Navy, ISR solutions for Air Force and a range of manned and unmanned commercial airborne sensing projects.

Ross is an RMIT Aerospace Engineering Graduate who spent the early years of his career at BAE Systems, working as a design engineer on a range of Autonomous systems programs before spending time on the AP-3C Orion program. Ross then joined SYPAQ in 2010.

Ross is a hands-on engineer, a qualified UAS Pilot and a passionate advocate for the Australian Defence and Aerospace industry.

Tim is a strategic, commercially minded Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with more than 25 years’ experience working with large, privately-owned, diversified and complex businesses.

He is a Chartered Accountant, Tax Agent, and holds a Senior Executive MBA from the Melbourne Business School.

Prior to joining SYPAQ as CFO, Tim held senior leadership roles managing professional services business units of Big Four (Deloitte, KPMG) and 2nd-tier (Grant Thornton) chartered accounting firms, as well as acting as CFO of several large privately-owned businesses in the contracting, projects, manufacturing and energy and resources supply chain industries.

Luke is an experienced flight operations manager, having worked globally with fixed wing and rotary wing operations spanning Special Mission, Resource Sector, Utilities, Exploration and Oil & Gas domains.

As an early adopter of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and their employment in Australia, Luke has worked with police, fire, resource sector and humanitarian operations in the Pacific and Australia on a range of operations and diverse tasks.

Luke’s qualifications include RPAS instructor, manned fixed wing pilot and Aviation Safety & Quality Lead auditor and he has participated on CASA Advisory Panels for the Part 101 Manual of Standards. He was also a member of the CASA Unmanned Aerial Systems Steering Committee.