An acting chief executive and a deputy chief executive have been formally announced for the Canberra Institute of Technology after weeks of speculation over the education organisation's missing head of staff.
ACT Treasury Economic and Financials executive group manager Mitch Pirie has been named as acting chief executive, with Queensland vocational leader Nik Babovic announced as the deputy chief executive.
Mr Pirie begins in the role from Monday, August 10, for the next three months "during any period in which the CEO is unavailable", a CIT spokesperson said.
"He is currently Acting Deputy Under Treasurer in the ACT government and brings extensive experience in leadership, governance, strategy and public administration across both ACT government and Commonwealth policy and delivery roles."
Mr Babovic, who will begin in the role on August 31, was most recently the chief operations officer and general manager operations at TAFE Queensland in Brisbane.
"This new Deputy CEO role, established in the first phase of the executive structure review in December 2025, will oversee shared services and student support, supporting delivery of our vision for excellence in education and innovation," the spokesperson said.
"Nik brings extensive experience leading complex operations, strategy and organisational transformation across large and diverse portfolios in the TAFE and higher education sectors."
The advertised salary for the new role in February 2026 was between $402,267 and $414,704. Chief executive Dr McNeill is on a yearly remuneration package of $441,581.
The deputy position replaced two executive director roles at CIT. It is understood these roles were made redundant.
Chief executive Dr Margot McNeill, who has not been seen at work since June 2026, remains on leave with no stated return date.
On Thursday, August 6, a Legislative Assembly privileges committee recommended Dr McNeill be investigated for breaching public service standards after her "overly litigious and combative approach" to a parliamentary inquiry.
The embattled education institute announced job cuts on Monday, August 3. Later in the week a board member acknowledged the ACT's work health and safety regulator was investigating an incident where a student had a finger severed.
