Nova Systems chief Jim McDowell has the smarts to guide missile project
Nova System’s Jim McDowell is turning his attention to a sovereign guided-missile enterprise.
Jim McDowell must be one of the most storied business executives in Australia, let alone in the defence industry in which he has spent much of an unusually wide-ranging career.
Now, after nearly a year as chief executive of burgeoning engineering and technology group Nova Systems, Ulster-born McDowell is turning his variegated experience towards Nova’s establishment, with joint-venture partner Electro-Optic Systems (EOS), of an Australian sovereign guided missile enterprise.
In so doing he’s retracing his early legal and commercial experience with Northern Ireland aerospace company Bombardier Shorts which included marketing the company’s Blowpipe, Javelin and Starstreak short-range air defence missiles in South Korea, West Africa and the US.
Fifteen years with Bombardier Shorts were followed by two years with British Aerospace in Singapore, and three years as BAE Systems’ regional managing director for Asia based in Hong Kong. This was followed by 10 years as chief executive of BAE Systems Australia during which the acquisition of Tenix Defence transformed the company into Australia’s biggest defence contractor – and McDowell became an Australian citizen.
Two years as BAE Systems’ chief executive in Saudi Arabia, a period that included negotiation of a $40bn arms contract, saw McDowell return to Adelaide for what he describes as “doing some boards”.
These included shipbuilder Austal and communications company Codan, the chairmanship of Total Construction, chairmanship of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, membership of the Defence First Principles Review team, membership of the Commonwealth’s Expert Advisory Panel for the Future Submarine Competitive Evaluation Process, and Chairmanship of the Air Warfare Destroyer principals’ council.
Three years as chancellor of the University of South Australia was followed by two years as chief executive of South Australia’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and the invitation to return to industry and head Nova Systems.
There was no consistent thread running through this eclectic career path, McDowell comments.
“I would never have planned such a career. I looked at the next job rather than any sort of distant firm goal; as opportunities present themselves you take them.”
Two lessons remained constant whatever the country and the task.
“Firstly, you’ve got to build relationships – people are much the same wherever you are and they’re very aware that if every time you see them is when you want something. So you first build genuine relationships and then you might get something.
“Saudi Arabia was certainly a major change of environment but Crown Prince Sultan was the Defence Minister for 46 years and the company had been in Saudi for 40 years, so there was a tremendous consistency of relationship. All I had to do was pick up the company’s relationships with the client, the royal family and the various ministers and all our joint venture companies there.
“Secondly, if you’ve got a strategy, stick to it; don’t be distracted by side issues and make sure you’re constantly calibrating your progress against the strategy. I see so many companies jump at side issues and get distracted.
“BAE Systems under Ian King (CEO 2007-2018) was a company that was absolutely iron in its discipline towards pursuing its strategic goals and never letting the shareholders down. You might surprise them occasionally on the upside but you never surprise them on the downside.”
McDowell points out that the Nova Group has grown in the past 21 years from zero to 1000 personnel and a $300m turnover – “a tremendous Australian success story in an environment that did not have very beneficial policy settings.
“It’s only in recent years that we’ve had a decent Australian Industry Content policy and it’s only now in the past two years – possibly three – that we’re talking about real Australian sovereignty”, he comments.
The group now comprises professional services provider Nova Systems, aerospace engineering firm GVH Aerospace, geospatial firm Geoplex, and software as a service firm two10degrees.
“In the future we want to grow the technology part of the business, whether that be geospatial or aircraft qualification or taking the capability we have above the line in C4I and bringing some of that below the line in terms of systems integration if we can,” McDowell explains.
As regards the Nova-EOS Sovereign Missile Alliance joint venture, the two partners were absolutely complementary.
While NIOA’s Australian Missile Corporation involved collaborative teaming, EOS and Nova were proceeding on their own for a share of the $1bn in funding available from the commonwealth to establish a sovereign missile capability.
“EOS is a vertical systems integration business involving guidance and control for weapons stations and space programs; all the technology is there, it’s a matter of application. We bring the ability to test, evaluate, certify, qualify, and project manage and we’re both truly Australian companies of scale,” McDowell states. “The smarts in guided weapons is the guidance set, not the weapon set.
“Having worked in a missile enterprise for the first 15 years of my career I don’t see anything that we don’t have here that can’t be developed in a five-to-eight year period for a short range or medium range air defence missile or anti-tank missile that is not platform-dependent and is purely Australian.”
On the personal side, McDowell is continuing to collect Australian art – “ I’ve got about 60 pieces in the house along with 3000-4000 books which are driving my family to distraction. I’ve also just submitted my proposal to the University of SA to undertake a PhD on Contracting with a Monopsony,” he discloses.
“I’m actually the under-achiever of the McDowells; my identical twin brother John is the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in the Anglican Communion.
“I’m trying to talk him into bringing back paid indulgences, but not much success so far.”