Serco Defence New Zealand: Training Navy’s future

He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. Serco Defence has a long-established tradition in Australia, the UK and North America, but is a relative newcomer to Aotearoa. The faces now working for Serco in Devonport are familiar, though, explains Serco Defence New Zealand’s contract director Rewi Thompson.

Rewi Thompson is Serco Defence New Zealand’s Contract Director. He joined Serco in 2013 following a 14-year career in the Royal New Zealand Navy in which he reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

As a young man, I wasn’t sure what career I wanted to pursue. That was until around 1998 when I saw Top Gun for the first time. I thought, that’s a good looking uniform! So, without any affiliation at all with the navy, I joined.

I was told that I was going to be an officer and I asked, “what’s that?” The recruiter said, “don’t worry, just crack on and do these tests,” and that was the start of it.

What followed has been a fantastic journey, which those still serving are very fortunate to experience. I served in the Royal New Zealand Navy as a warfare officer, qualifying in specialist navigation and principal warfare. Eventually I reached a point, as often happens with military personnel, when I no longer wanted to spend time away from my family.

An opportunity came up to work in Sydney for Serco. I left one whānau, the Navy whānau – which is always going to be there for me – and moved to a new whānau with Serco.

I remember being at the airport in January 2013, wondering if I could call my Navy career manager and ask if I could rescind my resignation! It’s pretty scary when you break that umbilical cord, but I’m so grateful for the opportunities the Navy gave me and glad I was able to make the transition.

Initially I was a senior simulation instructor for the HMAS Watson training contract. It was an interesting time for the Australian Defence Force and the Royal Australian Navy: they were transitioning away from traditional naval individual training, which occurred at sea with multiple ships. But it was also a time operationally when things had changed, so fewer ships were working together.

As a result of work by key people in Serco and the Royal Australian Navy at the time, the decision was made to outsource bridge warfare training and use simulation as the primary medium to qualify bridge watchkeepers. I was supporting young Australian men and women in warfare training and navigation training, helping them gain their Bridge Warfare certificate.

I eventually took over as the contract manager. Through that period, we had a great team of instructors from many backgrounds: the UK, Australia and New Zealand, delivering a critical service to the Australian Navy. We also had New Zealand Navy students coming across to Sydney, gaining their qualifications alongside their Australian counterparts.

We’ve seen a time in defence forces around the world where it’s increasingly understood that the traditional way of doing things may not be the best or only way. While our core values remain relevant, it’s increasingly important to be open and look at innovative ideas to improve what we do. Serco’s role is to develop innovations which support our customer to do things slightly differently.

In 2016, Serco asked me to come back to New Zealand, to see if we could replicate what Serco was doing at Watson in Sydney, but in Devonport.

We held many discussions, and through that engagement with the Navy and NZDF, we established our contract and recruited New Zealandbased staff to deliver a very similar service to what we were doing in the Watson contract. We provide training, through simulation, for young New Zealand men and women to gain their bridge warfare certificate.

Whether it’s the Watson contract or our training contract here, at the core of the job is to teach young men and women – naval officers – to drive ships.

These ships are hundreds of millions of dollars – and in some cases, billions of dollars – of government warship assets. The key thing is that these young officers are directly responsible to their Commanding Officer for the safety of the ship against collision or grounding – and ultimately responsible for the safety of lives at sea.

Some of these ships have upwards of 150 personnel, so that’s a significant responsibility for a 19 to 22 year old. It’s a privilege to be able to support them in their journey towards achieving that special qualification.

We never forget that it’s a big responsibility for everyone at Serco. Every one of our staff, both in Australia and New Zealand involved in this training has an enormous responsibility to get it right. Because when you recommend someone for their final qualification, it’s significant. You’re saying that they’re safe to drive a ship in any warfare environment, both benign and hostile, in any conditions, both night and day. We absolutely take that seriously.

I am passionate about the work we do. We recruit to make sure that we have the right people to deliver that critical service. I love the balance, working with great people, and importantly, working with the students. Every student is different and has different ways of learning. It is so rewarding when you finally see a concept click with your student.

We are happy with the work we’re doing, but we’re not resting. There’s a lot of opportunity for Serco in the New Zealand defence market, although that’s possibly tempered at present, with COVID-19. However, what won’t change is the requirement to continue to support government agencies.

Everyone is looking for value for money and keeping costs down, while providing key services. This is even more important in the COVID-19 world we’re currently living in. I see opportunities for further organic growth in training alongside new opportunities that will arise.

The most important role for us is to listen to our customer and understand what they need. From that, we can either provide a solution or support the development of a solution that provides value now and in the long term, anticipating the changes or potential changes that may come.

Rewi Thompson is Serco Defence New Zealand’s Contract Director. He joined Serco in 2013 following a 14-year career in the Royal New Zealand Navy in which he reached the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

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