Asset Management Career Landscape

Lifelong journeys and diverse opportunities

Explore the lifelong journeys and diverse opportunities within infrastructure asset management, through the stories of individuals who have shaped their careers in this dynamic sector.

Scroll through the profiles below, and consider whether you see aspects of your own career reflected here.

New Norah

Age: 26

Job Title: Asset Information Officer

Time in Role: 1 year

Job Function: Data collection, data entry, quality assurance. Ensure compliance with regulations. Generate reports to support informed decision-making. 

Memberships: Norah is still new and has not yet joined any professional organisations. She retains a link to her university peers.

Bio

Norah is excited to have recently landed a job at at a large corporate, where she thrives in the busy office environment. An engineering graduate, Norah is switched on and ambitious.

Outside of work Norah enjoys hiking with her long-term partner, gardening and she slowly doing up her small house.

Norah is full of education, energy and enthusiasm, without much practical experience.

Goals

  • Career advancement
  • Clear pathways to advance
  • Connecting with peers
  • Meet people who can mentor her / support her
  • Stable employment

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • New to infrastructure asset management and the profession
  • Too busy with learning her new job to take on much else
  • Always feeling busy / nearly overwhelmed
  • Sometimes feels condescended to as a young woman in a male-dominated workplace
  • Learning is funded from a training budget on formal request, and she has not yet made a request.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Asset Management Associate

Doing Well Doug

Age: 35

Job Title: Director

Time in Role: 12 years

Job Function: Providing innovative infrastructure asset management solutions to asset owning organisations. 

Memberships: None

Bio

Doug has been working as an independent consultant since his late 20s. Recently, his hard work has been paying off, and he has been able to expand his business to include three other staff members.

Doug is feeling like he’s doing well, and is generally positive and upbeat. But as a small business owner, Doug will analyse everything to decide if he should be spending money / time on this. He can be ruthless and unapologetic.

Goals

  • Grow the business
  • Recruit and induct new staff
  • Excel in his industry
  • Present a professional and expert profile
  • Move the business to a higher profile location

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • Doug wants training that is current and modern so that he can compete with big players but finds there is little directly relevant right now.
  • With his attention on delivering a good service and growing his business, Doug doesn’t have much time to seek out professional development.
  • Doug has firm ideas about what is worthwhile.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Chartered Professional

Mid-Career Mei

Age: 39

Job Title: Technical Director

Time in Role: 16 years

Job Function: Provides technical leadership, playing a crucial role in decision-making, project planning, and maintaining compliance with technical standards and regulations. 

Memberships: Engineering NZ

Bio

Mei has been in her job for a long time and tries to be good at what she does. Her expertise has been rewarded at work, and she is part of the leadership group.

Mei has juggled her career with raising a family of 4, with her eldest nearing the end of high school and her youngest just starting primary school. Mei has needed to be efficient and organised to survive.

Mei is hyper aware of work-life balance and will scold colleagues who are spending too much time at work.

Goals

  • Continue to succeed in her role
  • Grow her skill base
  • Gain experience through new projects and responsibilities
  • Ensure her colleagues are looking after themselves
  • Nurture her children through their education.

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • The job is so busy, Mei needs to organise her life carefully
  • Sudden disasters or unexpected events can throw out her plans
  • She sees her colleagues working too hard, and notices their health / mental wellbeing suffers.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Chartered Professional

Middle Management Mark

Age: 44

Job Title: Asset Manager, Regional Airport

Time in Role: 1 year

Job Function: Supports the Facilities Team to realise their AM vision, ensuring facilities provide exceptional performance for passengers and the airport remains a recognised champion for safety and sustainability.

Memberships: Āpōpō

Bio

Mark has been working for 18 years as a civil engineer, but in this role at the Airport he is primarily an asset manager. He is very professional in his approach to work, and likes to properly understand best practice so he can run things ‘by the book’.

Mark is well-respected by his colleagues because they know he is a safe pair of hands.

Mark and his partner live just out of town in a nice house with a view of the ocean. They enjoy the nicer things in life.

Goals

  • Perform at an ‘excellence’ level
  • Ensure assets are carefully managed
  • Acknowledgement and respect from his colleagues
  • Gradual but steady career advancement.

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • While Mark is an experienced engineer, he is new to asset management specifically.
  • Still discovering what best practice looks like in asset management.
  • Unsure that this is a step forward in his career, but will give it his best shot.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Chartered Professional

C-Suite Tui

Age: 57

Job Title: Chief Operations Officer, Power Company

Time in Role: 11 years (34 overall)

Job Function: Executive-level decision-making and strategic planning related to the organisation’s operations, of which assets are just one component.

Memberships: Institute of Directors, NZ Institute of Management, Project Management Institute of NZ

Bio

Tui started with this electricity company in 1990 and has been loyal through its journey to becoming one of the largest electricity networks in NZ. In that time she has held many technical and leadership roles, becoming Chief Operations Officer in 2013.

Now part of the C-Suite, Tui is grappling with things well beyond the assets themselves, such as technology, regulatory compliance, community engagement, the environment, safety and risk management, etc. It’s a big job, but Tui is up for it.

Goals

  • Enhance communication and engagement with the community to address ongoing concerns about sustainability
  • Deliver a large work programme focused on future resilience
  • Complete a technology upgrade of backend systems
  • Continue to prove that she is up for this role.

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • Tui often feels like she knows the best way forward, and the real challenge is really getting the rest of the C-Suite to agree.
  • Tui needs to navigate complex relationships with various stakeholders. She finds regulatory bodies and government agencies straightforward – they have rules to follow. Working with the unpredictable community and shareholders is much trickier.
  • Everything is moving so fast. It’s vital Tui keeps pace, and this requires conscious upskilling.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Chartered Professional

Retiring Soon Rob

Age: 66

Job Title: Asset Planning Manager, City Council

Time in Role: 45 years 

Job Function:Delivers a portfolio response to infrastructure needs. Leads the infrastructure teams and manages consultants within complex multi agency regulatory environments.

Memberships: Āpōpō, Engineering NZ

Bio

Rob is an expert consultant, having done this “since before you were born”. Rob is proud of having stayed current over the years, and has a deserved reputation for hard work. His mahi and passion have been recognised in local and international speaking engagements, national awards, and is a sought-after subject matter expert.

Rob has been a senior manager at the City Council for more than 20 years and has seen a lot of change. Rob treasures the effort others put into him when he was younger, and wants to repay this by mentoring and supporting people new to asset management.

Goals

  • Keep delivering excellent work until retirement next year. Or maybe the year after?
  • Mentor younger staff members and keep them on their toes.
  • To finish his working career having made a difference, leaving behind a legacy that others will continue.
  • Present on some of CCC’s recent work at the Āpōpō Congress this year.

Motivators

Achievement

Power

Incentive

Fear

Growth

Social

Pain Points

  • It’s never the right time to retire. Rob doesn’t feel ready for it just yet.
  • He wants to see new people coming in who approach work like he did when he started. While the new people work hard and learn quickly, they don’t stick at things like he did. Newbies come and go so fast.
  • For all his presentations delivered and papers authored, Rob worries about whether the standard of AM is improving overall.

Potential Āpōpō Accreditation: Chartered Professional