Michael Houghton joined the Royal Australian Navy as an undergraduate engineer in 1982 and after graduating with honours, completed his initial Marine Engineer training before joining submarines, serving as the Marine Engineer Officer in the Oberon Class submarines. After completing his sea time Michael Houghton served in a variety of engineering roles in the Collins Class submarine project, engineering policy, as Liaison Officer with the Swedish Defence Materiel Acquisition, Submarine Squadron Marine Engineer, Collins Class Logistics Manager. Upon selection for Captain, Michael Houghton moved into acquisition roles serving as the Deputy Joint Project Manager in the Mk48 Mod 7 torpedo development with the USN in Washington DC, the Project Manager for the Amphibious Ships (LHD). On completion of an Executive Masters in Complex Project Management he was promoted to Commodore and served as the Director General Major Surface Ships, responsible for the maintenance, repair and upgrade projects for all major surface ships. In 2015 he commenced as Director General Future Submarine Program where he managed the Competitive Evaluation Process that selected Naval Group for the Future Submarine design and then moved to France to lead the team designing the Attack Class Submarine. In 2020 he returned from France and transferred to the Navy Reserve.