Kerr will take this senior position within the Lions Football Department with key responsibilities including list management, player recruitment and retention, and the leadership of the newly formed Lions Academy.
He will be an exciting addition to the Lions' new-look football operations which has undergone some modifications after a thorough review following the resignation of former Football Manager Graeme 'Gubby' Allan back in February.
The Club searched far and wide for suitable candidates for the role of National Talent Manager and received an overwhelming response from key individuals within the sporting industry and corporate sector.
The in-depth recruitment process - which involved more than six weeks of interviews and assessments - produced three outstanding candidates from which Dr Rob Kerr eventually proved successful with his impressive football, leadership and business credentials.
Kerr spent two seasons as an Assistant Coach with Essendon under Kevin Sheedy in 1998 and 1999 before joining the AFL Players Association as the Executive Director of Player Development.
In June 2000, he replaced Andrew Demetriou as the AFLPA Chief Executive Officer where he remained for more than four years.
He has more recently been the General Manager of Harbour Future Leaders in Victoria.
Kerr is a registered Psychologist with a range of academic degrees and experience in HR consulting and business management. His consulting work has involved succession planning, assessing the capability of senior job applicants and coaching.
He has also completed training in Advanced Negotiating Skills and is particularly noted for his successful negotiations with Federal and State Government bodies and Indigenous Sporting Communities.
Kerr will remain based in Melbourne at the Brisbane Lions' Victorian Office and commences his official duties with the Club on July 1.
"Part of the attraction to this particular role was the opportunity to work with Michael Voss and the Brisbane Lions to help build and maintain a successful team," Kerr said.
"Brisbane is also a unique AFL environment which means the role will be both challenging and rewarding."
"We're heading into an intense phase of off-field activity so I will have to jump into the deep end pretty quicky," he said.
"Fortunately, there are a number of good people already at the Club who have a deep knowledge of recruitment and list management that I can work with."
Senior Coach Michael Voss was thrilled to secure Dr Kerr as the final part of the Club's innovative off-field model.
"We saw an opportunity to revamp how we do things and look beyond some of the more traditional AFL models," Voss said.
"It was important for the Club to implement a new structure that would best suit our needs both now and in the future."
"The next five years in particular will be critical with regards to recruitment and list management, so we conducted a thorough process to ensure we found the best person for the job," he said.
"Rob was the standout among a select group of outstanding candidates. He is highly respected in the AFL industry and brings with him a great deal of knowledge, leadership and experience."
