Mr Chris Fechner, Chief Executive Officer of the Digital Transformation Agency, will begin as Head of the Digital Professional Stream for a two-year term in January 2023.
Mr Fechner has extensive experience in state government services, focusing on large scale digital and ICT reform and transformation programs as well as implementing contemporary investment, contestability, and governance frameworks.
Before joining the Australian Public Service, Mr Fechner was the Queensland Government Chief Customer and Digital Officer throughout 2020 and 2021. Mr Fechner was previously the Chief Digital and Product Officer at Service NSW. Prior to that, Mr Fechner held a number of senior positions across the NSW and Queensland governments as well as in freight and rail organisations.
Mr Fechner is taking on the role from Mr Randall Brugeaud, Head of the Australian Simplified Trade System Implementation Taskforce, who finishes his term in the role in December 2022.
Under Mr Brugeaud’s leadership as its inaugural Head of Profession, the Digital Profession has made great strides in developing digital capability in the Australian Public Service (APS). Key achievements include:
- growing to more than 7,500 Digital Profession members and providing opportunities to connect and to share experience and capability though the member community
- development of the APS Career Pathfinder tool, in collaboration with other government agencies, to enable workforce managers to search for talent based on the skills required, mapped against over 180 digital roles
- 1,650 applications for digital entry level programs in 2023, providing a pipeline of talent into the APS
- establishing a network of over 250 digital leaders across the APS, along with a process to support the recruitment of senior digital leaders
- short-term APS mobility opportunities or micro-assignments now built into the APSJobs website to better support mobility across the APS
- establishing industry partnerships to deliver targeted programs, and facilitate development opportunities, particularly in identified critical disciplines.
The Australian Public Service Commissioner and the Digital Profession thank Mr Brugeaud for all his work and now looks forward to engaging with Mr Fechner to build the digital capability of the APS to deliver government services fit for the digital age.