Engineering, design and construction firm HDR has recruited Department of Defence project director Tim Napper as its Defence Principal.

Mr Napper will work between Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra to bolster the company’s defence capability in the wake of the Defence Strategic Review and the AUKUS agreement

Mr Napper, an Army Officer, was previously a director in Defence’s Capital Facilities and infrastructure Branch where he delivered a large portfolio of infrastructure programs across Australia, the Middle East and PNG including the $3.1 billion Garden Island Redevelopment Subprogram, the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Facilities Program and remediation of the Mosul Dam.

He said in his new role he intended to make the most of data driven design to deliver on Defence priorities.

“Through encouraging a digital shift in the format of deliverables, which we can do without changing Commonwealth contracts, we’ll be able to leverage comprehensive virtual replicas of base developments and high-tech military capability facilities to address workforce, ecological, social, cultural and financial challenges faster and more holistically,” he said in a statement.

HDR has 30 years of delivering Defence projects including the Riverina Redevelopment; the Robertson Barracks Base Improvement Program; the RAAF Base Tindal Redevelopment and redevelopment of the Australian Defence Force Academy Redevelopment.