Mark joined Merit Solutions following two years as Manager of the Central Panels Unit within the Queensland Police Service (QPS) where he was responsible for ensuring independent, impartial and consistent merit-based recruitment processes for key roles across the QPS.

Mark’s career has spanned 40 years as a police officer in Queensland and Northern Ireland reaching the level of Chief Inspector. Through his career, Mark gained experience in a variety of senior operational and corporate roles. He achieved a strong track record in leading, managing teams and initiating change. He has strong interpersonal skills and can relate well to colleagues and stakeholders at any level within an organisation. He has significant training, executive support, policy development, and recruitment and selection experience.

Mark has over 20 years’ experience in public sector recruitment and selection processes across operational, managerial and senior executive roles. He has been involved in the development of position descriptions, advertising, shortlisting, moderating, interviewing, referee checking, report writing and providing timely and meaningful feedback to unsuccessful candidates with a view to their future development. He has developed highly structured assessment tools designed to ensure consistency for bulk selection processes which are subject to stringent external review. Mark has chaired numerous selection panels and provided guidance to senior executives on complex selection issues.

Mark understands the challenges associated with people management and the importance of making good selection decisions which are based upon merit and are supported by ethical practice. He is acutely aware of the importance of selection panels having evidence to support recommendations and be capable of withstanding scrutiny.

Mark was instrumental in the introduction of the Leadership Competencies for Queensland (LC4Q) framework within the QPS. As manager of the Central Panels Unit, he recruited staff and led the project culminating in LC4Q and associated policy, procedural and practice changes being fully implemented across the organisation. This incorporated significant change management activities during the pre-implementation phase involving industrial negotiation with Unions and included the facilitation of focus groups, workshops, presentations face to face training and online learning products being developed. The introduction of a revised merit-based selection process was well received by QPS senior executives and staff alike with it being acknowledged as a significant enhancement from previous selection practices.