Chris Jenkins is a defence industry leader and a strong advocate for Australian engineering, technology, design and manufacturing. He held senior roles at Thales, locally and internationally, for over 20 years. He was appointed as chief executive of Thales Australia in January 2008, following the company’s 100% acquisition of the Australian Defence Industries (ADI) joint venture in 2006. Mr Jenkins was also Thales' vice president of operations and chief executive of a Thales consortium in the Netherlands for 3 years, delivering the country’s national public transport smartcard program. Mr Jenkins was managing director of Thales Underwater Systems in Australia from 1999 to 2003 and was a key player in its creation as a Thales/GEC joint venture in 1996. He started in the defence industry as a mechanical engineer with Racal in 1981, Plessey in 1983, and then GEC Marconi in 1990 where he led its Underwater Systems business in Australia. Mr Jenkins is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and an Adjunct Professor of the University of NSW. In 2013, he received the Insignia of Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honour.
