Parbery expands principal team through promotions and recruits

Canberra-based management consulting firm Parbery has added a number of new principals to its leadership team over the past month, while naming Sam Lemin as its employee of the year.

A senior manager in project controls specialised in cost analysis and project management, Lemin joined Parbery in 2022 from the Department of Defence, previously gaining experience in Ernst & Young’s forensics division.

Meanwhile, fellow cost estimation senior manager Aidan Bright has been promoted to principal, while Jessica Baxter, Kevin Kitson, Daniel Walker, and Jeff Rayner have all joined the consultancy as principals in recent weeks.

Jessica Baxter
After a two-decade career in the Australian Public Service, Baxter joins Parbery’s organisational transformation team as a change, communications and coaching specialist. She has previously performed in senior communication roles for several federal government departments, including the Department of Social Services and most recently as an adviser to the prime minister’s department.

“Jess has a particular passion for projects with a human element, encompassing staff engagement, communication strategy development, and organisational change management,” Parbery stated. “Her strong client relationship skills come from a genuine desire to connect with others to understand their needs and deliver the best possible outcomes.”

Kevin Kitson
Kitson joins Parbery as the firm’s new business performance improvement practice lead out of Canberra, having spent the past two and a half years as a principal consultant at Atturra acquisition Noetic. He previously served for eight years at the Australian Electoral Commission, before which he spent three decades in various law enforcement roles and with the UK ministry of defence.

As per Parbery; “Kevin is an experienced senior executive with a strong interest in understanding the intersections of organisational strategy and operational delivery. He brings expertise in organisational leadership, including strategy, governance, business performance improvement, enterprise transformation, and human resource management.”

Daniel Walker
Walker meanwhile joins after the past two years at boutique Canberra IT security consultancy Syconic, which was preceded by a brief spell at Penten and more than two and a half decades as a member of the ADF, including within the special forces and in the area of cyber operations. Standing at seven-foot tall, Parbery may need to order Walker a custom-made desk.

“Daniel is a seasoned manager with extensive experience leading technical security teams through current and emerging threats. He excels in delivering ICT and cyber warfare solutions, risk management, and training IT professionals, and has shown the ability to translate technical issues into strategic and operational risk to effectively inform the business decision-making cycle.”

Jeff Rayner
The fourth of Parbery’s recent principal recruits, Rayner also brings a defence background, racking up more than 45 years of experience as a communications engineer within the Navy’s aviation, submarines, surface ships and electronic warfare divisions and as a defence sector consultant supporting capability developments, acquisitions and sustainment across air, sea, land, and space.

Aidan Bright
Joining the quartet of new recruits to Parbery’s principal team is Aidan Bright, who has been promoted after crossing to the firm as a senior manager in 2021. Prior to that, Bright spent a decade and a half between the health department and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the latter where he served as a mental and social health policy director during a period of critical reform.