From Strength to Strength: Daniel Debattista

The story of PARC Engineering began in 2018 inside an aircraft hangar in Jandakot, Western Australia, and has continued to unfold as the company has worked its way up to become a leading diversified engineering services provider with 460 employees.

Where it goes next is what drives PARC Engineering’s Founder and Managing Director Daniel Debattista.

Reflecting on its early years, Debattista says in 2018 they were working in a different market to now. "It was initially pretty slow and testing," he tells The CEO Magazine.

"The first six months were pretty hard work and uneventful. But we won a support role with a tier one contractor for an iron ore program, which was really a milestone step-change project for us. And that allowed us to get some employees, put some systems and processes in place, buy some basic equipment, get things up and going. It got our brand out there."

Fast forward to today, and PARC Engineering is now a formidable presence in the sector, handling several different projects across the resources, energy and infrastructure industries.

We’ve employed a lot of people based on their attitude and capability as much as for their experience and qualifications.

Path to success

Debattista attributes a lot of the company’s growth to its accomplished team. "We’ve got a diversified team, very competent, very capable, with a broad range of experiences and backgrounds," he says.

"Not only from our core industry in construction, but we’ve employed a lot of people based on their attitude and capability as much as for their experience and qualifications."

Debattista adds that PARC Engineering strives to maintain great working relationships with its clients, employees and suppliers. "That has really helped with winning works: working together, suppliers supporting us," he says. "It has really come along really well."

Another factor contributing to PARC Engineering’s success is that it doesn’t deviate too far from its key areas of expertise.

"While we have diversified, it’s only one deviation at a time," Debattista says. "We’ve grown our capability in a known market. We haven’t over-promised, under-delivered or not known some of the pitfalls of a new environment. I think that has helped us with our reputation and capability."

AI is really interesting, and no-one really knows where that’s going to lead at the moment, so we’re just trying to keep a finger on the pulse.

PARC Engineering embraces new technologies and systems to facilitate its growth and to keep its overheads reasonable. "Over the last 12 months, we really wanted to consolidate with regard to our systems, onboarding and recruitment as it’s a massive part of our business these days," Debattista says.

The company is also looking at longer-term technological gains such as getting its ISO27001 cybersecurity accreditation. "We’re going down that path at the moment, working toward that accreditation," he says.

And, with personal data also offering significant value, PARC Engineering is looking to set itself up for accreditation in the data protection space, while also continuing to keep a keen eye out for advances in AI.

"It could be a game-changer across construction methodologies, payroll, whatever," he says. "AI is really interesting, and no-one really knows where that’s going to lead at the moment, so we’re just trying to keep a finger on the pulse."

Open plan approach

PARC Engineering’s culture has evolved over the past five years to incorporate a mix of social and formal elements such as barbecues and birthday celebrations. "We’ve got a great team and a great environment," Debattista says.

"While we’ve grown a lot, we still have that small company feel in our culture. At our last office, we had an open plan, which was great as it encouraged everyone to interact. We’ve since moved into new offices that originally had a more traditional setup, and we’ve actually pulled a lot of the walls down and opened the floor plan to regain that engagement."

The company also has a strong focus on leadership development to support the career aspirations of its employees.

"We’ve got an apprentice and graduate program, which we’ve recently reviewed and really spruced up," Debattista says. "We’re teaming up with Engineers Australia to support us on the graduate program and doing some really good stuff in that space."

While we’ve grown a lot, we still have that small company feel in our culture.

Debattista says he’s even employed a business coach to support him in his own leadership role. "I’ve received a lot of value out of it," he says. "I think it has worked well for me."

It has certainly been a stellar few years for PARC Engineering, with the team garnering wider business recognition for its service.

Debattista is a finalist for Managing Director of the Year at The CEO Magazine’s 2023 Executive of the Year Awards, and PARC Engineering is in the running for the RISE Business Awards 2023 for the second time in a row. Last year, they came in second place, but Debattista is aiming for the company to win the top spot.

"Hopefully we go one better this year," he says.