About
AT A GLANCE:
Director, General Strategy and Planning, Royal Australian Air Force
RESEARCH AREAS:
• Strategy
• Geo-political Risk
• Military Sociology
• Social Innovation
• Air Power
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Jarrod Pendlebury has over 30 years’ experience as a practitioner and risk analyst
focusing on international security and geopolitics. He has held a variety of senior
roles in the Australian Defence Force, with particular focus on strategic foresighting
and strategy development. Most recently, he served as Director-General Futures, Risk
and Outreach, where he led the Australian Defence Organisation's futures analysis
function. This work is a direct input to the National Defence Strategy and the primary
method through which Defence assesses complex, long-term strategic risk.
From 2021–2024, he was Australia’s Military Advisor to the United Nations (UN) in New York, where he drove a major shift in Australia’s multilateral defence engagement; notably through work establishing a body of air power theory for the UN, and he also led the establishment of the UN Department of Peace Operations Innovation Hub.
His previous appointments encompass roles in strategy development, force design, air operations and planning, and he has extensive operational experience as a pilot on C-17A Globemaster III, C-130H Hercules and C-27J Spartan aircraft. He commanded Number 35 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force and Headquarters Number 86 Wing, and led Australia’s deployed air response to Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.
He holds a PhD in organisational sociology, an MPhil in military strategy and a Masters of Human Rights, and maintains an active profile in academia, notably as a Research Fellow and Co-founder of the Cambridge Peaceshaping and Climate Lab at the University of Cambridge.
PUBLICATIONS:
For complete list, please visit Google Scholar page
CONNECT / FOLLOW:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarrod-pendlebury/
X: @Birrel12
Bluesky: @birrel.bsky.social
Facebook: @Jarrod Pendlebury