With over 20 years experience Fiona Martin is a practice management consultant helping designers to balance creativity and profitability, build culture and deliver best practice.
With over 20 years experience Fiona Martin is a practice management consultant helping designers to balance creativity and profitability, build culture and deliver best practice.
With over 25 years’ industry experience Fiona understands the challenges design practices face and provides practical and simple solutions to build strategic operations, people + culture, business development and best practice.
Having started out in office management in large international management consulting firms like KPMG in Sydney and later in London, Fiona began working for architects after returning to Australia. She has worked for sole practitioners through to large established architectural, interior and urban design firms.
Her long term role was Office Manager at Cox Architecture - one of Australia's largest multi-disciplinary national and international architecture practices.
For over 10 years Fiona was responsible for Cox’s practice management including operations, internal communications, human resources, training, professional development, performance management, quality assurance practices, work health + safety, equal employment opportunity, facilities management, system improvement and day to day operations and compliance in it’s head office and sectors within it’s national offices. Fiona managed the support services team and creative services and tender/bid team. She assisted the business development function liaising with external media, marketing + PR professionals.
After leaving Cox in 2013, the last 8 years have seen Fiona run a practice management consulting business to both emerging and established practices. Previous contracting roles with large practices include PTW, Bates Smart, SJB, Turner, FJMT and Tzannes.
Fiona has collaborated with the NSW Architects Registration Board and NSW Institute of Architects on education initiatives and, as a long time member, is currently Chair of the NSW Architecture HR Group. She was Jury Chair for the inaugural NSW AIA ‘Best in Practice’ Prize in 2019 and also in 2020. Fiona has presented to UTS architecture students on Media+Marketing: Theory + Practice and presented at the University of Sydney architecture student conference EMBARK on tangential and future career pathways and the changing practice of Architecture.
In 2019, in association with ACA, Fiona presented on ethical practice at the Business of Architecture & Design Cconference held at Sydney Parliament House addressing the ‘Triple Bottom Line’: People, Planet, Profit.
At the 2020 AIA Small Practice Masterclass Fiona’s session topic ‘Leadership and Top 10 Culture Drivers in Practice’ was delivered to members. Fiona has hosted webinars and written opinion pieces for the ACA on flexibility and remote working and business continuity during COVID.
In 2021 Fiona achieved accreditation as a Mental Health First Aider and is a past Health + Safety Representative (HSR) under the WHS Act.
Fiona is a recent past Implementation Leader for the NSW AIA Champions of Change to drive gender equality in architecture.
Fiona is a member of WIDAC (Women in Design & Construction) and is the first Affiliate Member of the ACA (Association of Consulting Architects Australia).