Jim McDowell

Jim McDowell is an Irish lawyer and defense sector businessman who lives and works in South Australia. As of 2016 he is the Chancellor of the University of South Australia, Chair of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and holds directorships and board positions with a number of private and public companies. He is a former CEO of BAE Systems Australia.

McDowell worked in legal, commercial and marketing roles with aerospace company Bombardier Shorts for 18 years after graduating from the University of Warwick in 1977.

In 1996 McDowell left Bombardier Shorts and joined British Aerospace in their Singapore office. Three years later, following the merger of British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems, he was appointed Regional Managing Director of BAE Systems for Asia. In March 2001 he was appointed as Chief Executive of BAE Systems Australia. Under his leadership, the company expanded to become Australia's largest defense firm, with more than 6,500 employees and annual sales of approximately AUD $1.7 billion. He oversaw a significant expansion of BAE's Australian operations and established the company's headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia. He ran operations from Adelaide until September 2011 when he was tasked to lead BAE Saudi Arabia. McDowell worked there until December 2013, where he led a workforce of more than 5000 people and revenue of over AUD $5 billion a year.

In 2014 McDowell left BAE Systems Saudi Arabia and returned to Adelaide, marking a career shift from the private to the public sector. During a total of 35 years in the defense, aerospace and technology sector he lived and worked in the United Kingdom, the United States, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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