Rob Barker

Background

About Rob Barker

As a teenager when I joined the Army to commence an apprenticeship as an electronics technician I anticipated a world class education in that field but little else. The Army provided so much more – it taught me the skills of leadership, how to think strategically, to challenge the status quo and to always seek a better way. It instilled in me the value, and developed the traits, of tenacity, perseverance and perhaps above all else the value of teamwork. In doing so, a life-long passion for growing and continually improving organisations was born. Those skills and traits have been pretty useful in the 25 years post my Army apprenticeship. In the early years I called on all of my training while project managing the commissioning of process control and instrumentation installations in remote mining and processing operations throughout Australia, Indonesia and West Africa. More recently strategic thinking and continuous improvement skills have allowed me to successfully lead businesses and business units in building international sales, distribution and operations channels in North America, Europe and Africa and in transforming under-performing entities. I’m known for my optimism, thrive in challenging and demanding conditions, and revel in the competitive environment of winning new work. Indeed, leading a bid team that successfully tendered, negotiated and “came from behind” to win a $1.8Bn mining services contract remains a career highlight. Specialties • Operations leadership and management • Performance improvement and turn around • Change and transformation leadership • Business development including tendering and contract negotiation • International channel development • Mentoring and coaching I’m always keen to share experiences and communicate with like minded people, so, feel free to make contact.