Page 34 - Australian Defence Magazine June 2022

34 DEFENCE BUSINESS GABBY COSTIGAN
JUNE 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
GABBY COSTIGAN: I would absolutely encourage them. It’s such an exciting industry to work in. There’s so much oppor- tunity across defence industry, whether that’s from an engi- neering/technology standpoint or whether you want to work in some of the other enabling functions of our businesses. It’s an industry of growth, it’s an industry of new technologies, it has lots of opportunities for exports and partnering with other na- tions or other companies and I think that’s incredibly exciting.
Whether it’s a young woman or a young man, I would encourage them absolutely to look at defence industry as a career path for the future. The other thing that’s exciting is there are not many industries where you can actually see a 30-year career. BAE Systems is a global company, so for young people looking for different opportunities there are opportunities to expand your professional development by working internationally as well.
ABOVE LEFT: Chief Executive Officer BAE Systems, Gabby Costigan, addresses dignitaries and guests during a commemorative dinner held at the Australian War Memorial
ABOVE: Gabby Costigan speaks as part of a panel at the Royal Australian Navy's Seapower Conference 2019
SME community a belief that when big programs are award- ed through a prime their businesses are just going to take off and grow. These are long, complex programs, so it is difficult sometimes for SMEs, but they’ve got to stay in the game and work with the primes. I think the other thing they have to do is not be backward in coming forward - tell us where they need support and how we can help them, because that’s what
we want to do.
So, I would say stick at it, make sure they
let people know where they’re struggling, because there are certainly businesses out there who want to support, help and devel- op them, and BAE Systems is one of those companies.
ADM: And in summary?
GABBY COSTIGAN: When I started in this role, I was the only female CEO across de- fence industry. There are now a couple more which I’m very pleased to see, but I’ve had a lot of young women come up to me over the last few years and say they’ve joined the
I guess the other thing I would particularly say to young women is back yourself. I think I can easily say I’m a very ambitious person – I’ve worked very hard in my career to get to this role and I think one of the key things is that I’ve set goals for myself but I’ve also made sure I’ve made the most of every oppor- tunity presented to me.
“WHETHER IT’S A YOUNG WOMAN OR A YOUNG MAN, I WOULD ENCOURAGE THEM ABSOLUTELY TO LOOK AT DEFENCE INDUSTRY AS A CAREER PATH FOR THE FUTURE”
ADM: What advice would you give SMEs
that may be struggling to try and break into
supply chains?
GABBY COSTIGAN: I think Australia should
be incredibly proud of the businesses we have
here, we have amazing capability in the SME community. One of the things I would say to them is that they need to make sure they get out there and become known to the primes and build the networks - because we can’t do it on our own and we need those SMEs as well. Sometimes those SMEs bring amazing innovative thinking because they’re small, ag- ile businesses or they’re very focused on a specific expertise.
business because I was the CEO, which is incredibly flat- tering on one hand, but I am very pleased to have been able to play a part as a role model for women across our industry.
I’m also passionate about our support of veterans. We were recognised last year by the Prime Minister, winning the Large Business Employee of the Year for Veterans, which was fantastic. I do a lot of other work in the veteran community as well and we are an employer of choice for veterans, so that’s something I am very proud of too. ■
I would also say don’t give up, understand the environ- ment you’re operating in. I think there is sometimes in the
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