Our Executive Team

Glenn Palin is the Managing Director of John Holland Group Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s leading and most diversified contracting, engineering and services companies.  In this role, Glenn is responsible for all construction and services operations of the Group, totalling in excess of $3.7 bn annually.  

One of John Holland’s strengths lies in its diversity of operations, which not only undertakes the full range of building and civil engineering construction through a regional structure, but also operates a number of specialist engineering based businesses via a national structure.  These National Businesses cover such diverse markets as Water, Tunnelling, Structural Engineering, Energy and Resources, Power Generation & Distribution, Rail, Communications, Mining and Aviation Services.  

Glenn has more than 30 years of experience in the Construction Industry, of which 16 years have been in the employ of John Holland.  During this time, Glenn has held various roles within the organisation including most recently Chief Operating Officer, Executive General Manager, Specialist Businesses and General Manager, Northern Region.  

Glenn has played a major role in the development of the Company’s People Development programmes with a particular focus on the career development of younger employees as well as being a key player in developing and driving the company’s 4P culture of People, Performance, Partnerships and Profit.  

Glenn holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in the Built Environment (QIT), a Graduate Diploma in Building, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and has recently completed the prestigious Executive Development Program at Stanford University in the USA.    

Darryn is a graduate of Melbourne University and joined John Holland in 1994 after more than seven years with a major chartered accounting firm. Having held the position of Corporate General Manager, Finance, in January 2006 Darryn was appointed Chief Financial Officer. Darryn is responsible for all financial and management reporting, external audit, taxation, treasury, information communication technology and commercial & risk management for the Group. Darryn is a Member of the Australian Institute of Chartered Accountants. 

Dennis previously held the position of General Manager – NSW/ACT after joining John Holland in 2002, having previously held the role of Operations Manager – Engineering within that area of the business. Dennis brings to this role many areas of expertise including General Management, construction and project management skills, project development and contract negotiation and administration.   Dennis has over 30 years experience in the heavy civil engineering industry, having been associated with contracting organisations at all levels of management, from Site Engineer to General Manager. His areas of experience include projects involving dams, roads and freeways, bridges, railways, concrete structures, major earthworks for mining and quarrying, and extensive experience in managing the operations of tollroads.

With over 25 years of experience in the Tunnelling industry throughout the world, Russell has held key roles in projects including Eastlink, Lane Cove Tunnel, North-side Storage Tunnel, CityLink and the Channel Tunnel. Russell has extensive experience in rock and soft ground tunnelling including using tunnel boring machines, roadheaders, open shields, compressed air shields and EPB. In February 2007 Russell was appointed to the role of General Manager - Tunnelling within John Holland. In 2009 Russell was announced as the Executive General Manager – Specialist Businesses whilst continuing to lead the Tunnelling business.

Russell is a Graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, and is also a member of the Engineers Australia, Australasian Tunnelling Society and the International Tunnelling Society.

With an honours degree in Engineering from the University of Western Australia, Chris commenced with the John Holland Group in 1991. Chris’ experiences have seen him involved in a broad range of industries covering all areas of the construction including building, civil & heavy engineering and rail. 

In 1999 Chris was appointed to the role of Building Operations Manager for the Queensland Region, a role that carried with it the responsibility for all building works undertaken by the John Holland in Queensland. 

In January 2006 Chris became General Manager for John Holland - Northern Region. In this role, Chris was responsible for John Holland’s building and engineering business throughout Queensland and the Northern Territory. 

In January 2010 Chris was named Executive General Manager of Regional Businesses, overseeing John Holland's building and engineering project delivery throughout Australia.

In 2007 Karl joined John Holland to take on the role as Executive General Manager - Rail.  bringing over 32 years experience in the railway, transport and civil infrastructure industry throughout Australia and overseas.

Karl has previously been with the Public Transport Corporation of Victoria, established his own construction company and was the Construction Manager on the "One Nation project" for the National Rail Corporation. Karl also has experience in business development and strategic management.  

Karl is a fellow of the institution of Engineers Australia and a member of the Civil College of Engineers. Karl has been Chairman of Track Australia and has held board positions with Rail Fleet Australia, Transfield Tulk, Thiess Infraco and RSA Leighton Asia. Similarly, Karl is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the Hong Kong Tourist Board, former board member of the Australian Rail Industry Commission and the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development.

Greg has in excess of 26 years of experience in the construction industry during which time he has gained experience in the areas of design, construction and project management. Greg has specific experience in the area of Pre-Contracts where he has held various roles including estimating, business development and tender management for multidiscipline projects.

Greg has spent approximately 20 years at John Holland and currently holds the position of Group Manager - Pre-Contracts. In this role Greg is responsible for the overview of Corporate Governance in the Pre-Contracts area, provision of Pre-Contracts advice to the various areas of John Holland and the independent review of tenders.

Jeff joined John Holland in 1991 and has held various senior finance and commercial positions both in Australia and Asia for the Group. He is presently responsible for the management of the corporate support area covering project and group services. Project and group services includes project cost control and administration systems, project delivery systems and compliance, quality assurance and environmental services together with group insurance and risk management.

Angelo has had in excess of 30 years experience in the construction industry. During that time he has had involvement in various roles in numerous projects throughout Australia in the civil, structural and mechanical disciplines.  

Prior to the acquisition of Transfield, Angelo held general management roles for a number of businesses – Construction Qld, Construction WA, SMP and TransBakrie in Indonesia. After leading the Structural Mechanical Process business, Angelo has taken the role of General Manager - Major Projects across John Holland’s national specialist businesses. In this role, he works with each business to target strategic major projects from development through to delivery.    

Angelo is John Holland’s representative on the Australian Industry Group sitting on the Queensland and National Councils.

John joined John Holland in 2008 with over 30 years of experience in the delivery of major infrastructure projects throughout Australia and the world.

John has held senior management positions in both the private and public sector, including central roles with the NSW State Government and as Executive Director of Development with the Sydney Olympic Coordination Authority.

John has been involved in the delivery of iconic infrastructure ranging from the M4 Toll Road and Olympic venues through to the Epping to Chatswood Rail Line and Parramatta Transport Interchange.

After involvement in both TIDC and the NSW Infrastructure Implementation Group, John joined John Holland as a Director of Strategic Development. Prior to his current role as General Manager – Power, John was Project Director of the successful Sydney Desalination Plant.

Paul was appointed General Manager of John Holland's Communications business in October 2003.

With over 20 years of operational experience, of which 12 have been in the communications industry, Paul continues to deliver value and innovation to clients in the fast moving communications sector.  

Paul has previously held roles at Transfield as National Manager - Transmission Lines and later as National Manager - Telecommunications. During his time in the communications industry Paul has successfully delivered a number of logistically complex and technically challenging projects including the Orange Mobile Rollout, Digital TV upgrades to all capital cities in 2000, Telstra's 3G network rollout including the installation and testing of 3,300 base stations in ten months, and most recently Transgrid's Communications Upgrade and Replacement Program across their entire network.

As John Holland’s General Manager, Western Region, Adam has had a significant impact on the performance of the business since taking up the role in 2007.

During his career Adam has been involved in numerous award winning construction and engineering projects, as a Project Manager, Operations Manager and General Manager. Prior to his role at John Holland, Adam was the General Manager for Doric Constructions and also oversaw a period of significant growth for this organisation.

Adam has an exemplary project delivery record and believes in developing strong stakeholder relationships, particularly with clients. In 2007, Adam was awarded the Master Builders Association’s Ric New Medal for Excellence and in 2008 was the national recipient of the Australian Institute of Building’s Young Achiever of the Year Award.

Adam holds a degree in Applied Science – Construction Management & Economics from Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia and an Associate Diploma – Construction, Quantities & Administration and is a Registered Builder.    

Andrew has overall management and financial responsibility for all activities undertaken by John Holland’s Aviation Services business. His experience includes responsibility for a range of portfolios including supply chain, operations and logistics, logistics and safety, and engineering.  He has played a key role in the acquisition and development of our Aviation Services business and in the continuing success of the broader Services business.  

Rob joined John Holland in December 2007 as General Manager - Mining, and brings with him over 20 years experience in the mining and construction industries in Australia in underground mining, civil construction and in open cut coal mining in NSW and Queensland.  In 2009 Rob was also announced as General Manager of  the NSW/ACT Region.

Rob has previously been part of both Thiess Pty Ltd and Brambles in various open cut coal and transportation operations including significant involvement in central Queensland and Hunter Valley mining operations.

Rob also has experience and project managed several underground civil construction projects, including the Sydney Opera House carpark, Boomerang Creek Tunnel Boring Machine Water Diversion project and Crinum Mine access drifts and shafts.  

Rob holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney and is a qualified Open Cut Mine Manager (NSW) and a Chartered Engineer of the Institution of Engineers (Australia).  

David has over 25 years experience in managing major civil engineering and building operations. He has an honours degree in Civil Engineering and post graduate qualifications in Finance. David joined John Holland in 2003 as the Pre-contracts Manager for Northern Region. After securing several large and technically complex projects for John Holland, he lead the team that was successful in winning the $4.2 billion Airport Link and Northern Busway Projects in Brisbane. In April 2009, after an initial role as the Project Director of that project, David transferred to Southern Region as the regional General Manager.

David has an outstanding track record of delivering value for money to clients.

Brendan commenced working at John Holland in 1988. Over his twenty years with the company Brendan held many senior roles across various sectors before becoming General Manager of John Holland’s Energy & Resources business.  

Brendan has an outstanding record in delivering highly technical and complex projects and his experience highlights process and industrial developments. With strong, proven managerial success, Brendan has continually achieved excellent financial and delivery outcomes for clients.

Greg is currently the General Manager of John Holland’s specialist Water business.  In his role, Greg is responsible for all water related infrastructure as part of John Holland’s specialist businesses.

John Holland's water capabilities have grown significantly in its water infrastructure delivery across Australia. With over ten years experience in delivering water and wastewater infrastructure, Greg has gained a wealth of knowledge in the effective management of project and Alliance delivery teams.   

Greg also features significant Alliance contracting experience in water and the general construction industry, and has been involved on eight Alliance Boards around Australia. In 2006 Greg was also central in the formation of John Holland’s Relationship Contracting Group.