Skills

Programme & Project Management

Amanda has undertaken a wide number of roles involving programme & project management, procurement and contract management.  Her experience has been a mixture of office and site based roles, and includes regularly acting as Engineer's Representative.

From a programme perspective, she has held a number of positions beginning with contract administration to more recently being responsible for the set-up, definition, and delivery of several large scale programmes.  This familiarity with a range of project lifecycle phases provides Amanda with a sound understanding of the implications upfront decisions may have on the latter stages of a project.

Design Management

With a technically based background, and experience in the industrial, buildings, residential and food and beverage sectors, Amanda holds an in-depth understanding of engineering design and design management. This makes her a good fit for technically challenging projects, as she is able to anticipate and mitigate technical risks early on, and subsequently challenge design consultants to deliver the best solution for the client.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

Amanda has experience on large programmes with multiple stakeholders, often with conflicting drivers. She is effective at communicating with and coordinating multiple parties, helping all stakeholders to remain informed
throughout the project lifecycle.

Recent projects have included the identification of important themes for individual stakeholders, and the development of programme reporting and communication measures to suit.

In Previous Lives

Prior to making the transition to Project Management, Amanda's background has been as a mechanical engineer, moving into a combined PM-Engineering role for the latter half of her career. In this time she has gained over 10 years consulting experience.

Her technical experience has been broadly based across a number of sectors, but she has particular familiarity with industrial wastewater and gas, residential upgrades, and from 2010 onwards EQ related building work.

In recent years Amanda has been operating in a purely PM, or combined PM-engineering role, where she would often assist with design or verification in addition to her primary responsibility for project delivery.

Client Projects

CERA - Residential Red Zone Operations Team Secondment

Amanda was seconded into the CERA Residential Red Zone (RRZ) Operations Team, where she applied her skills to increase the rate of clearance works in the Christchurch flatlands area.

When first engaged in Oct 2013, the rate of built structure clearance in the RRZ flatlands was well behind programme. Amanda provided expert programme management advice to the team managers in identifying bottlenecks within the current operational processes, reviewed their resource requirements and team structure, and designed and helped implement additional management tools necessary to deliver works at an
increased rate.  She was also responsible for setting up progress reporting to inform insurers, PMOs and the wider RRZ group within CERA.

At the completion of her secondment, the RRZ built structure clearance programme was fully recovered and delays mitigated, and the future Land Clearance phase of the programme had in place defined processes through which it could be managed.

Housing New Zealand Corporation

Amanda has a long-standing relationship with HNZC, having worked on several large residential upgrade and earthquake related projects for them. Some of her specific activities have included the contract management of
multiple Contractors to deliver upgrades to over 400 properties in the South Island region, and more recently leading a team of 24 engineers and architects to produce damage assessments and costings for 1000+ structurally damaged properties in Christchurch.

NZ Post Properties - Postshop Seismic Strengthening

NZ Post required an "earthquake-prone" Postshop to be seismically strengthened and re-opened prior to the Christmas trading period.  The project was delivered on-time, and within budget, despite numerous challenges including a delayed start from the client's internal approval process, external consenting delays, and significant
additional demolition work.

Amanda oversaw and implemented the procurement, design management and consenting for the project, as well as acting as Engineer's Representative.  Measures she employed to successfully deliver the project included reducing the construction program from 12 weeks to 8 weeks by employing alternative construction techniques, and robust project cost control throughout the project's life cycle.

Why I Love What I Do

Amanda is interested in identifying innovative and effective solutions to technically challenging issues. She also enjoys turning a concept into reality, being part of the team responsible for taking initial expectations and implementing them to become a real physical solution for the Client.

"I particularly enjoy the challenge of setting up a difficult project well in the beginning and pulling together the right team, so that outcomes are more easily achieved in later project stages. "