Global engineering company, Aurecon, has undertaken a restructure adding two more female executives to the leadership team.
Aurecon's new global CEO, William Cox, today announced the appointment of Louise Adams as managing director of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).
The incoming global CEO has moved boldly to restructure his leadership team as he announces his intention to continue Aurecon’s rapid growth and continuing diversification across Digital, Advisory and Asia, following record profit margins over the past three years.
Adams was previously the regional director responsible for Aurecon’s South Australian and Victorian practice and the first female member of Aurecon’s Global Board.
Francoise Merit, previously Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Australia and New Zealand, has been appointed Aurecon’s Global CFO, with previous CFO Andrew Muller appointed as Aurecon’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Cox said each of the new appointments are seasoned, expert operators at the top of their fields.
He said they are certainly capable of leading the charge as Aurecon consolidates growth and seeks out new opportunities.
“Louise and Francoise’s appointments bring the number of women on our Executive Committee to three, reflecting Aurecon’s commitment to increasing the number of female leaders as we continue to build a culture of diversity, innovation and digital excellence across Aurecon globally,” Cox said.
“Senior female leadership appointments are rare in the traditionally male-dominated engineering and finance industries, yet the benefits are immense. When you get different viewpoints operating in organisations, you unleash creativity, innovation and new solutions on old or intractable problems.
“This is particularly relevant at a time of enormous cultural change across the property, construction and infrastructure sectors as incredible new technologies help us plan, build and manage infrastructure and the built environment in ways never seen before, truly changing the way we engineer, design and advise”.
Commenting on her appointment, Adams said one of the key shifts at Aurecon over the last four years has been a focus on diversification and helping clients do the same.
“Comprising 1,000 professionals globally, Aurecon’s Advisory practice has delivered 29% revenue growth over the last financial year. Australia and New Zealand are key markets for our advisory business and this will be a key area of focus for me,” she said.
Since 2015, Adams has been the regional director responsible for Aurecon’s operations across Victoria and South Australia leading a team of more than 700 staff.
She has extensive experience as a Project Manager and Chartered Civil Engineer.
Newly appointed global CFO Francoise Merit, has almost 20 years’ experience in the engineering sector encompassing finance, risk management, commercial and contractual negotiations.
Aurecon's new COO, Andrew Muller had an 18-year career with Lendlease, where he held a range of senior financial management positions both in Australia and globally.
Merit and Muller will begin their new roles on January 1, 2019 while Adams appointment is effective February 1, 2019.