50 Years of Executive Search. Built For Industries That Build.
Senior and executive appointments across mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and defence. Relationship-led search across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific.
Our Story
After more than 50 years in executive search, you get to be selective about what you build next.
John Downing founded The Downing Network in 2023 after a career that began in 1971 and took in some of the most recognised names in Australian executive search: Michael Downing Management Consultants, Downing Teal, and BDT. The plan was straightforward. Build a firm around the things that actually produce good search outcomes: deep industry knowledge, genuine relationships, and senior people doing the work themselves.
So John did what he’s done for over 50 years. He picked up the phone and the Downing Teal alumni started coming back. Michael Freis, who'd spent years at Downing Teal before building a 25-year career in construction and engineering recruitment, joined in 2023. Ivan Vujicic, who started his career at Downing Teal in 2008 before going on to CTPartners and Korn Ferry, joined in 2026 to lead the firm's next chapter. Three people who'd worked together at different times, in different roles, choosing to do it again.
That's not a coincidence. It's what happens when people share the same belief about how this work should be done.
Resources, infrastructure, manufacturing and defence are not industries you can fake familiarity with. The commercial pressures, the technical requirements, the cultures, the specific backgrounds that tend to produce strong leaders in these environments. We understand it because we've been living it for decades. That depth extends well beyond operational and technical roles. CEOs, CFOs, General Counsels, HR Directors, Commercial Managers, Project Managers and other senior functional leaders sit within our capability. The network is industry-wide, not discipline-specific.
We don't need a lengthy briefing to understand your business.
Our clients receive a fully interviewed and assessed shortlist within six weeks. We get there through genuine network engagement, not a database trawl. The result is a shortlist where almost every candidate receives serious consideration.
The search doesn't end at offer acceptance. We conduct structured check-ins over the following twelve months. A placement is only successful if that person is performing well a year into the role. We stay close enough to know.
We operate nationally across Australia, throughout Asia Pacific, and in Latin America through our affiliate Downing Teal offices. The Downing Network is lean by design because the model only works when the people doing the search are the same people who took the brief, know the sector, and will still be paying attention a year from now.
Meet the Team
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![John Downing, over 50 years' experience in executive search across infrastructure, construction, mining and defence.]()
John Downing
Founding Director
John is a qualified accountant who got bored recording money and decided to make it by recruiting for engineering businesses instead. He's been at it since 1971. His career arc mirrors the people he's placed: his first assignment was finding a Drill Sampler for Rio Tinto's Koodaideri exploration team. In 2017, Rio retained Downing Teal to find the Project Director to build the same project, now Gudai-Darri.
Over five decades, John built deep networks across mining and construction in Western Australia and nationally, growing from project-level recruitment into C-Suite appointments. He founded The Downing Network to do what he's always done best: place senior leaders for mining and construction clients, with a small team that moves fast and knows the market cold.
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![Ivan Vujicic, nearly 20 years' experience in executive search across mining and metals, diversified industrials, manufacturing and defence.]()
Ivan Vujicic
Managing Director
Ivan started his recruitment career in 2008, just in time for the Global Financial Crisis. Some would call that bad timing. He calls it a masterclass in what clients actually need when the market turns against them. Close to two decades later, he specialises in senior and executive search, working with major mining houses and global contractors to mid-tier developers bringing a project to production for the first time.
His career through Downing Teal, CTPartners, Beilby Downing Teal, and Korn Ferry taught him one thing clearly: the quality of the outcome depends far less on the brand above the door than on the person making the call. That conviction, and a belief that retained search works best when it's genuinely personal and accountable, brought him to The Downing Network in 2026. Ivan is based in Perth and operates across ANZ, and the Asia Pacific.
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![Michael Freis, 25 years' experience in executive search across infrastructure and engineering.]()
Michael Freis
General Manager
Michael is proof that the Downing network existed long before The Downing Network did. Since 2000, Including several years at Downing Teal, he's built a network across the sector that holds together because it's grounded in genuine industry knowledge and relationships that have been worth keeping. Eventually, all roads led back.
His background spans senior leadership roles in recruitment operations, client development, and talent strategy. At TDN, the focus is simpler: knowing the construction and engineering market well enough to find the right people, and having the relationships to reach them. Michael is based in Melbourne and works with clients nationally.
