Australia will appoint the former head of mining giant Rio Tinto Plc’s local operations to run weapons procurement, tapping private-sector experience in complex projects as the country manages a major military buildup.

Kellie Parker will take over as National Armaments Director in early November, according to a government statement. The role was created this year to rein in cost overruns and delays on defense purchases, some of which are years behind schedule. Parker served as chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Australia until June, after previously overseeing its iron ore and aluminum divisions.

“Her appointment matches our ambitions to deliver increasingly complex defense projects at speed and scale,” Defense Industry Minister Pat Conroy said in the statement. This “is about bolstering timely, cost-efficient and accountable delivery of capabilities, and getting better bang for buck for the record investment the Albanese Government is making in defense.”In her previous role, Parker managed Rio Tinto’s response to workplace sexual harassment and assault claims in 2024, as well as the fallout from the destruction of an indigenous heritage site at Juukan Gorge years before that sparked an exodus of senior management.

She has been close to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for some time, according to a person who knows her well and said she has a reputation as a straight-shooter. Another person said she is well-regarded within the ruling Labor Party and in the opposition Liberal Party. Both people declined to be named discussing a private matter.

Australia is embarking on its largest peacetime military buildup in modern history, responding to what the government calls its most complex strategic environment since World War II. The plan calls for doubling the surface navy, acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, manufacturing guided missiles and drones and expanding domestic industrial capacity.

The nation aims to expand its navy to about 20 major surface warships and a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines by 2040, in part to counter Beijing’s expanding Pacific presence. But key shipbuilding projects face heavy delays and budget overruns, with the existing fleet expected to shrink in the coming years before new replacement warships arrive.

The first of those ships being built near Adelaide is not expected to enter service until 2032, 14 years after the contract was awarded, with costs swelling to as much as A$9 billion ($6.3 billion) per vessel, much more than the cost of a US Navy destroyer.

To build its domestic capacity, Canberra has pledged A$25 billion for a Perth shipyard and announced another A$8.5 billion for South Australian facilities just this year. The government added to that last week, with its National Reconstruction Fund investing A$245 million in Austal Ltd. to produce landing craft.

Australia also signed a multi-billion-dollar deal earlier this year with Japan for Mogami-class frigates, with initial vessels built overseas before production shifts locally. Separately, Australia is investing to build nuclear-powered submarines under its AUKUS security alliance with the US and UK, a project Canberra estimates will cost up to A$368 billion over three decades.

The Defence Delivery Agency that Parker will head will eventually have a staff of thousands of people and a budget of about A$25 billion a year, Conroy said in an interview Monday, adding that it would be managing contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

Her main focus will be on shipbuilding, guided weapons and purchases of tanks and armored vehicles, Conroy said, with no responsibilities for AUKUS submarines.