Hiring an Infrastructure Planning Finance Specialist for Economic Development Queensland

Gerard Kerr

About The Economic Development Queensland (EDQ)


Economic Development Queensland (EDQ) is a unique government agency that combines property development with specialist planning functions.


EDQ has over 20 locations throughout Queensland providing land solutions to help retain existing industry as well as to attract new business investment and development in Queensland.




Recruiting a Chief Human Resources Officer for the Department of Housing and Public Works Queensland Government
The Hiring Requirement


The department sought an executive leader capable of:

  • Leading procurement strategy across a large public sector environment
  • Managing complex stakeholder relationships
  • Driving organisational change and capability uplift
  • Influencing outcomes without direct authority
  • Providing commercial leadership and supplier oversight
  • Delivering procurement governance and risk management


The successful candidate needed to combine executive leadership capability with deep procurement expertise and the ability to operate effectively across a highly distributed education system.


Role We Hired

Executive Director and Chief Procurement Officer 

Channels We Used

Executive Search and Targeted Advertising

The Challenge

Economic Development Queensland gave Kingston Human Capital this role knowing it would be difficult to apply a standard accounting finance search methodology.


We had to conduct detailed phone screens and design highly tailored interview questions to identify the right skills for the infrastructure planning related parts of the role.


We also needed to find someone who was a strong cultural fit.


Our Objective

Kingston Human Capital was engaged to identify and recommend an executive procurement leader who could thrive within the department's operating environment and provide leadership across strategic procurement, stakeholder engagement and organisational change.


The objective extended beyond generating applications. The department required a robust executive search process capable of reaching passive talent markets, providing market intelligence and delivering a defensible recommendation to the selection panel.


In addition to technical expertise, the successful candidate needed to be a strong cultural fit and capable of building effective relationships with all stakeholders associated with infrastructure projects.


Our Strategy

Understanding the Role

We took a detailed role briefing and really got to know the challenges associated with this role.

Targeted Candidate Evaluation


The team worked together to speak to our network of temporary staff, evaluating who would be the best fit and who would match the client's availability requirements.


Tailored Assessment


We conducted detailed phone screens and designed highly tailored interview questions to identify the right skills for the infrastructure planning related parts of the role.


The Appointment

The candidate we presented was offered the role and was able to start with one day's notice.We found an incredible candidate who had great technical knowledge and some incredible data analysis, modelling and reporting capabilities. They also had outstanding relationship development skills and we knew this would bode well in our clients' environment.


Economic Development Queensland was impressed with their proactive attitude and extended them an offer.



Key Results Achieved

Candidates Identified

Candidates Interviewed

Shortlisted Candidates

Candidates Assessed

73

9

5

33

What the client valued most?

Economic Development Queensland liked that as a Brisbane recruitment firm, we were there and available for them.


Kingston Human Capital guided them throughout the whole recruiting process, and we took the time to understand their strategic focus of the role scope and delivery.


It was important that as recruiters in a specialist space, we were able to deliver distinction in candidates at the interview process, with excellent reference reports, which then led to a quality shortlist of candidates.


Impact Delivered

✅ 88 applications received

✅ 98 executive candidates identified and mapped

✅ 72 executive candidates directly engaged

✅ 16 positive executive search engagements

✅ 4 high-quality shortlisted candidates

✅ 2 candidates assessed suitable for appointment

✅ 1 executive appointment approved

✅ Delivered comprehensive market intelligence, panel support and governance documentation

Ready to Appoint Your Next Executive Leader?

Gerard Kerr, Co Founder and General Manager of Search and Selection at Kingston Human Capital, Queensland Government Executive Recruitment Services

Meet Gerard Kerr

Gerard Kerr is Co-Founder and General Manager of Search and Selection at Kingston Human Capital.


With more than 20 years’ experience in recruitment, Gerard has deep networks and extensive expertise managing complex search and selection projects across a range of sectors including local state and federal government, statutory authorities, government-owned corporations and ASX-listed companies.

We work as an agile team across retained recruitment projects, ensuring we can commit the time and effort of our entire search team. This allows us to reach further into the market, which means we get to evaluate more candidates and get high-quality results.

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