Key appointments at Serco

Serco Group has announced the appointments of Gillian Duggan as Chief People and Culture Officer, and Ruth McGowan to the new role of Chief Strategy and Growth Officer.

Reporting directly to the Group CEO, Mark Irwin, both Duggan and McGowan will join the Group’s Executive Committee effective immediately.

These key appointments are aligned to Serco’s focus on Customers, Colleagues and Capabilities.

Duggan brings to Serco a depth of experience, leading people and operational teams across a range of industries including aviation, engineering and infrastructure services, design and manufacturing. Her previous roles include the public sector as well as listed and private equity-owned businesses and gives testament to strong strategic and commercial acumen, as well as a track record of driving transformational change.

Serco says Duggan’s appointment will bring renewed focus to re-energising its values to empower its people, further strengthen its culture through equity and inclusivity, and grow the value of its colleagues’ work to help every member of the Serco team to work safer, be more productive and achieve their development goals.

As Serco enters this new phase of its strategy to transform the business from outsourcer to Impact Partner by promoting impactful, sustainable and equitable solutions for governments, citizens, and society more broadly, McGowan brings extensive experience in scaling global operations, delivering both revenue growth and cost efficiencies alongside her capability to set a vision, define strategy and execute technology-enabled growth plans.

McGowan has worked in consultancy, private equity, FMCG and health businesses where she demonstrated strong commercial acumen, developed international experience, grew new business lines and used technology to transform products and services to deliver sustainable value.

Commenting on the appointments, Irwin said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Gillian and Ruth to Serco. We have strengthened our Executive Committee with two credible leaders with proven track records completely aligned to delivering our strategy to become the impact partner in service of the world’s leading governments.”