Non-Territorians finalise Darwin City Council’s Executive Leadership reshuffle

FOUR non-Territorians have finalised Darwin City Council’s Executive Leadership reshuffle which aims to realign and redeploy council staff and funds

Four non-Territorians have finalised Darwin City Council’s Executive Leadership reshuffle. Picture: Keri Megelus

FOUR non-Territorians finalise Darwin City Council’s Executive Leadership reshuffle which aims to realign and redeploy council staff and funds.

The restructure will save council almost $400,000 per year in employment savings and will see no redundancies.

As a part of the restructure, the Executive Manager role, held by Melissa Reiter has been reworked into a new “Chief of Staff” role reporting directly to the Chief Executive, Scott Waters.

Melissa Reiter ... her Executive Manager role has been reworked into a new ‘Chief of Staff’ role reporting directly to the Chief Executive, Scott Waters

Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the direction of council was starting to take shape after the roles had temporarily been filled.

“We have moved quickly to establish a more stable organisation since the resignation of the previous CEO and leadership team,” he said.

“It is now time to focus on enhancing our service delivery, having clearer accountability and being more responsive to our community.”

New Darwin City Council CEO, Scott Waters

Joining Ms Reiter and Mr Waters on the team are the four new executives, which will see the Chief Operating Officer role be fulfilled by British expat Chris Potter, who has moved from Melbourne where he held a number of roles. Those included director of community programs at Melbourne’s Manningham council and Chief Executive at Knox Community health centre in Melbourne.

Mr Potter moved to Australia from the UK in 2005 and has been a part of successful financial and management turnarounds in the National Health Service.

Incoming General Manager engineering and City services Brendan Smith comes from Port Headland, with mining, construction and engineering the strong suit to his CV.

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The General Manager of Community and Regulatory services role will be taken by Polly Banks, with a background of delivering community programs to rural communities in Western Australia.

She has spent seven years with the Save the Children foundation as head of mission for the Solomon Islands.

The final position will be headed by Joshua Sattler, who will hold the General Manager of Innovation and Growth.

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Mr Sattler’s most recent position was at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, which saw him head the economic and business development projects.

He also brings global connections to Hong Kong, the UAE and Singapore and a sustainable mindset from time with the Earth Check organisation.