Mr William Peet
William Peet – Chief Operating Officer
William Peet was appointed to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer of the New Zealand Defence Force in August 2011.
The role was created in the Government’s 2010 Defence White Paper to increase NZDF’s commercial expertise and to drive and implement organisational reforms to redistribute resources to front line capability.
The Chief Operating Officer is the highest position a civilian can attain in the NZDF with equal status to the Vice Chief of Defence Force. The COO is a member of the Defence Force Leadership Board but does not make command decisions related to military deployments or operations.
Will is directly responsible for developing, driving and monitoring the organisational reform programme and managing the following business functions: Logistics, Estate and housing, Shared Services, and Communications and Information Systems.
Will leads a team of around 1,600 staff with an operating budget of $221.3 million – 42% of NZDF’s total expenditure.
His focus is on building the business for tomorrow. “No matter how great our plan is, if we don't have the organisational systems, the logistics systems and the support we need to make it work, we won't deliver.”
Will brings significant commercial expertise in dealing with complex, large scale organisations with big budgets in both the private and SOE sector. His former roles include CEO and COO of ONTRACK and Acting Group CEO of KiwiRail. As part of these roles, he has been a chair and director on major operating subsidiaries.
During 2010 he was Niue’s Government's Infrastructure Coordinator, responsible for public works, ICT, power, airport, civil aviation and bulk fuel as well as assisting with economic development aimed at increasing earnings from tourism.
During early-mid 2011, Will undertook a number of infrastructure management consulting engagements covering commercial and overseas development assistance in New Zealand, Cook Islands and Afghanistan.
His early career was in civil engineering and risk management before he moved into senior management in 1998. He has held executive responsibility for engineering, sales, operations and strategic development.
Will holds a Bachelor of Engineering (1st Class Hons) and Master of Engineering (Distinction) degrees from the University of Canterbury, and is a professional registered engineer. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers (NZ) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Will is married to Gabrielle and they have three daughters.