Nous Group adds a century of expertise with principle recruits

Three senior recruits have added a century's worth of expertise to the Canberra office of Nous Group.

Management consultancy Nous Group has added three new principles to its roster of expert advisers, the trio bringing almost a century worth of government, law enforcement and defence experience to the firm’s Canberra office: Phil Kowalick with the Australian Federal Police, Dan McDaniel as a senior military leader in the Australian and US armies, and Maria Jolly across a number of Federal government departments.

“At a time when government clients are being more discerning in their use of consultants, we are confident that accessing the expertise of these three represents a wise investment for clients that will deliver a substantial return in the form of improved performance,” stated Nous CEO Tim Orton.

“Phil, Dan, and Maria have all built formidable careers in public service, and we are thrilled they are coming to Nous for their next challenge,” Orton added.

Phil Kowalick
Described as one of the country's foremost thinkers on law enforcement, intelligence and national security, Kowalick spent three and a half decades as a federal police officer until his retirement as a commander in 2014. Since then, he has served as a principle and general manager for national security with social strategic design consultancy ThinkPlace, as well providing subject matter expertise through his own advisory Sagire Consulting.

During his long career at the Australian Federal Police, Kowalick is credited with establishing multi-agency intelligence capabilities in Australia’s major airports and contributing to the strategic design of the Australian Border Force among other counter-terrorism measures.

A PhD-holder in Law, Kowalick is also an adjunct professor and senior research fellow at Queensland University of Technology and the University of New England, presenting at both national and international conferences.

Dan McDaniel
McDaniel meanwhile spent three and a half decades as an officer in the Australian Army, rising to the rank of Major General and serving for a period as Special Operations Commander. In his most recent posting, McDaniel was until last year on secondment to the US Army as Deputy Commander of the Pacific. He is noted for leading the renewal of the division responsible for analysing the Defence department’s most complex capability programs.

Maria Jolly
Adding a further three decades worth of experience to Nous’ bench-strength, Jolly joins the consulting firm after previously serving as first assistant secretary with the federal Departments of Education and Health and Aged Care, where she drove service reforms and worked on Indigenous healthcare and education policy among other program delivery. She also spent time as first assistant secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“I relish the opportunity to collaborate with stakeholders to improve education, health and well-being,” Jolly said of her latest appointment. “In my work in policy and program design in the public sector, I have sought to enable practical, implementable, equitable and culturally sensitive solutions. I am pleased to now support Nous public sector clients with these big challenges.”