Zach Fitzgerald—Workpack Developer

Zach Fitzgerald is a Civil Engineer with over 5 years’ experience in technically disciplined roles across a broad range of engineering environments. Zach is a highly motivated and enthusiastic young engineer who brings with him a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering (Honours) coupled with solid site based practical experience, and he is currently performing in the role of Project Engineer/Supervisor at AusGroup.

Zach’s career progression has been solid since joining AusGroup in 2015 and as a result, Zach has been recognised in the Talent Management Program.  He has successfully made the transition from engineering through to full project management.  His appreciation and experience of diverse process-driven industries has resulted in him delivering successful project and maintenance outcomes consistently throughout his career.

We asked Zach some questions about his time at AusGroup, how this has shaped his career, and what have been some defining moments over his time.

What inspires you in your work?

I am inspired by the continued pursuit of learning, and how this contributes to a broad range of experience in the workplace. I am a strong believer that there is always something new to learn, to enable personal and professional growth. The more we enable ourselves to learn, the broader range of experiences we are offered. I have been very fortunate to have worked alongside people with a vast degree of knowledge and experience that I can learn from, and I hope that I can “pay it forward” in the future to the next generation of people at AusGroup.

Can you tell us about a memorable client “win” you have recently achieved?

I am currently working on a project, the Thevenard Island Onshore Decommissioning, that was originally scheduled for Q1, 2020. Then COVID-19 happened! As a result of COVID-19, we thought the project would wrap up at the end of that quarter, but due to the awesome efforts of the AusGroup team the crew was asked to stay on the island and continue with the decommissioning works. The works subsequently continued quarter-after-quarter, and we are still on-site 12 months later.  It has been an awesome example of continued strength in teamwork.

What was your last experience at work that made you stronger?

After working for AusGroup for several years as an Engineer and Work Pack Developer, in 2019 I was placed in a role as a Supervisor on the Gorgon Train 1 Turnaround project. This role enabled me to understand what is involved in projects working on the front line and allowed me to stretch my skillset around managing a team.  When working as an Engineer I wouldn’t be exposed to day-to-day operational challenges, and having this experience enabled my personal and professional growth. Following this role, I moved to another supervision role at Thevenard Island, and the combination of these roles has resulted in strengthening my management skillset – this will stand me in good stead for my future career path.

Which of the AusGroup core values do you most relate to, and why?

Safety and Wellbeing is always the number one value I relate to because it strongly aligns to AusGroup’s Perfect Day initiative. I love what I do, and I enjoy Perfect Days outside of work even more, so it is very important to me that safety and wellbeing at work is prioritised. I also really relate to Agility – in our industry we work in a fast-paced environment, and flexibility is key.  I pride myself on being adaptable to the environment and the needs of our clients.  Without this, it will be easy to get left behind.

AusGroup recognises that Zach displays all the behaviours to be a shining light within the industry as he always goes above and beyond, continually striving for excellence, and inspires others to be their best. Zach’s experiences and adaptability have assisted him to drive best practice ideas and improvements and will continue to be invaluable to the overall industry.

Client Testimonial

“Zach has worked for me from the time he graduated and started with me on the Port Melville Bulk Fuel Facility project. From day 1, I saw something special with him; his eagerness to learn, soak in information, the confidence of a young man without being overconfident and a knack of leadership quality that I haven’t seen in a graduate. Zach has always displayed the above qualities till today and has just gone from stride to stride with his experience in our field of work. At AusGroup, we have identified him as one of our emerging leaders and subsequently been ensuring he gets the field leadership experience over the last two years to add to the engineering experience already under his belt. Zach’s greatest quality is his leadership ability, being calm when making decisions and always having safety and quality of the outcome at the forefront of his mind”. 

Vim Vyapury

AGC Contract Manager – Chevron