Darren Conway

Experience

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  Royal New Zealand Navy

  Jan 1981 - May 2001

  Weapons Electrical Engineer

  I had an extensive and varied career in the Navy. In later years I managed high risk, bleeding edge technology projects.

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  Carter Holt Harvey Forests

  Oct 2000 - Jun 2003

  Project Manager

  Carter Holt Harvey Forests (CHHF) use a fleet of over 200 logging trucks and these were managed for over 30 years using manual methods. CHHF initiated the creation of the company DMS for the sole purpose of developing, installing and commissioning a computerised wood delivery management system. The system optimises the distribution of logs from the forest floor to the customer over the North Island. Log harvesters, logging trucks and key customers are networked with mobile data terminals and provide desktop access to the forest floor and truck cabs. It is fully interfaced with the CHHF production, inventory and accounting mainframe applications. The project introduced state of the art logistics tools into what is traditionally a low technology sector. As Project Manager, there were all of the responsibilities normally expected in this role. Due to the small size of the DMS Company and the wide ranging effects of the project on CHHF operations, tasks completed varied accordingly and included: Change management of the company structure and supporting systems required to implement the project in an industry where high technology has frequently failed. Presentations to staff at all levels from senior managers to forest workers. Presentations were tailored to the skills and particular interests of the audience. Training staff on how to operate and maintain the equipment and applications. This included training the trainers and monitoring their performance. Analysis if computer generated truck route plans for the purpose of optimising cost functions used by the system to maximise distribution efficiency. Acting for the General Manager of DMS in his absence. Negotiation of individual contracts up to $85,000. Hardware/software troubleshooting from systems level to individual units. Budget monitoring and control.The project budget was $4.5m and was successfully completed over a two year period. Show less

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  Ministry of Foreign Affairs: NZAID

  Aug 2005 - Nov 2006

  Project Manager

  NZAID is the Government’s international aid and development agency. The agency is responsible for delivering New Zealand’s Official Development Assistance. It has its own Vote and management arrangements tailored to its core business. The allocation is used to complete over 1000 individual aid activities per year and fund 1000+ agreements with more than 300 NGO’s, government agencies, contractors and international agencies. The 06/07 annual aid budget was $360m. NZAID is centred in Wellington with staff located at 14 NZ diplomatic posts throughout Asia and the Pacific.The role required management of the development and implementation of a system to monitor and control aid activities and resources. The architecture was based on a core database application that interfaced to related satellite applications. The separate-but-connected approach allowed parallel development of applications tailored to specialist operational needs. The interfaces added the ability to provide management with a homogenous view of financial and statistical data for reporting and analysis. Management and development was tailored to best suit each module. The core AMS database application is being developed in-house. The contracts management module is an off-the-shelf workflow application configured to meet NZAID requirements at a cost of $84k. The Scholarships module is an internet hosted application being developed under a contract valued at $280k. The modular approach meant that the commissioning of a new MFAT wide financial management information system had no significant effect on AMS development. The total budget for the AMS project was $1m. Show less

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  Contact Energy Ltd

  Dec 2006 - Jul 2013

  Project Engineer / Manager

  Most recent project is the successful management of the $120m GE supply contract for two LMS100 gas turbines installed in New Zealand. My primary role was the management of the GE contract and the delivery of the plant to site. On my recommendation, a separate contract was raised for logistics including the transport of plant by road, river and sea from Europe, Japan, Korea and the USA. All of the plant was delivered ahead of schedule, below budget ($8.1m) and undamaged. I was the only manager to remain with the project from conception to completion. A significant part work included identification, analysis and selection of future investment opportunities in the power generation sector.Resource consents were gained for the Lake Hawea Gates Generation Project. This involved the management of a team of legal, environmental and technical experts to successfully negotiate and interface with all key stakeholders. I also managed the clearance 540h of forest at Mokai to a diary farm in preparation for the construction of a geothermal power plant. Midway through the project, the land was sold by Contact and the contracts were successfully novated without amendment to the new owners. Show less

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  New Zealand Ministry of Justice

  Jul 2013 - Oct 2013

  Business Change Manager

  The Office of Treaty Settlements negotiates the settlement of long standing grievances with Maori on behalf of the Crown. Individual settlements of up to $170m have been negotiated. Over the next 4 years, settlements totaling $1billion are expected to be negotiated. I was engaged on a short term contract to implement change management across the department of 180 staff. This specifically includes putting in place project management systems, quality assurance/control and planning systems. The department has grown rapidly to meet the increasing work load and as a result requires improved systems, controls and processes to match the scale of current and foreseeable activity.The Treaty Settlement Office is undertaking a unique challenge and as such, the changes being put in place were adapted from standard project management methods and tailored to suit the needs of the organisation. Show less

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  Vodafone New Zealand

  Mar 2014 - Feb 2015

  Programme Manager

  Vodafone provides a range of network, mobile and applications services to enterprise customers. I manage programmes of projects for the Ministry of Primary Industries and NZ Customs. I also managed to completion a major project to upgrade the BNZ call centre recording application. This records every telephone conversation of nearly 1000 operators. In addition, I worked with other departments within Vodafone and advising senior management on business improvement and transformation. Initially the role was a 3 month fixed term contract. After 4 contract extensions, my time at Vodafone came to a satisfying end. A number of projects for a diverse range of customers were guided to completion. Show less

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  Self Employed

  May 2015 - Feb 2016

  Management of Deceased Estate

  I was engaged by my wife's relatives to manage a deceased estate in the UK. This included a period of 5 months spent in London selling the house and locating all of the assets. The estate was successfully distributed to 14 heirs located in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the UK.I was contracted by a relative to obtain Letters-of-Adminstration under power of attorney. This gave me legal control needed to manage the estate. I applied project management methods to estate management. This involved dealing with UK banks, government departments and heirs. I had to track down and recover dormant accounts, identify heirs, shares and related dividends and pay outstanding debts. Dealing with UK institutions was complex, convoluted and slow. It took just over a year to settle the estate and finally distribute the estate to the heirs. Show less

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  New Zealand Defence Force

  Feb 2016 - Jan 2017

  Land Transport Capability Programme Manager

  To manage a programme to replace and upgrade NZ Army transport and armored vehicles. These vehicles range from buses, ambulances and tankers to SAS special operations vehicles, light and heavy armoured vehicles. The value of the programme is over $1billion. I managed a team of civilian and military project, logistics, requirements and technical managers.The NZDF applied a PRINCE2 project management framework.I successfully completed the "Managing Successful Programmes" course.I was also a member of the design panel to implement Integrated Project Teams (IPT) across the NZ Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The aim of the IPT was to create within the MoD a centre of excellence for programme and project management. Each IPT would be responsible for completion of programmes/projects to introduction to service. This will be achieved with a combination of MoD programme/project skills and specialist military expertise provided by the NZDF. The role of the design panel was to ensure IPTs would achieve the aims in this unique combination of organisations.I also successfully promoted a change in the way staff resources were managed for projects in the land environment. In the past, staff resources were allocated to specific projects. Scarce staff resources are now pooled and shared across projects. This provides better access to staff resources by projects, and improves the efficiency of their use. Show less

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  Mímirbox

  Feb 2017 - now

  Director / Owner / Creator / Inventor

  Mímirbox is a wireless track signalling system designed for kart race tracks and other signalling applications. Mímirbox is a new and original product. The Mímirbox system includes a number of features subject to multiple patent applications. I came up with the concept, designed all of the hardware and software, lead a software development team and marketed the product. The product filled a niche in the market. It is intended to be a single product with many applications in auto-sport, advertising and police. From day one the strategy was to market internationally. Its debut appearance was at the 2018 Autosport International Exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, UK and the 2018 International Kart Exhibition at the Messe Offenbach in Germany. The feedback received from the market was 100% positive. I had companies queuing at the stands wanting to be distributors for the Mímirbox system. I have now committed to completing development and am currently recruiting full time developers to augment the current development team. Show less

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  NZDF

  Nov 2019 - now

  Programme Director PMO, Capability Estate Infrastructure, Defence Estate and Infrastructure