The best of three worlds

    Chief Information Officer

Hani Arab, a seasoned technology leader with over 20 years of experience, drives innovation and delivers large-scale business solutions. Bridging the gap between business and technology, Hani’s expertise yields significant results. Throughout his career, he held senior technology leadership positions, leading teams and delivering mission-critical solutions with lasting impacts. A hands-on leader, Hani tackles complex challenges, deeply engaging in technology. His proficiency spans cloud computing, data analytics, and AI, leading successful technology adoption for tangible business benefits and operational efficiency. As a thought leader, Hani speaks at conferences, contributes to publications, and mentors the next generation, fostering an innovative culture in his team.

    Chief People and Communications Officer

Alanna brings close to 20 years’ senior and executive management experience across multiple industries, including banking and insurance, water infrastructure and tourism. In her most recent roles as RACQ’s Head of Human Resources Operations and Seqwater’s People & Culture Manager, Alanna oversaw transformative cultural change projects that ensured strategic alignment and delivered more than $20 million in operational cost savings. She also has a history of community and communications management. Alanna holds a Bachelor of Business, Business Management & Human Resource Management and is a Professional Member of the Australian Human Resources Institute.

   General Manager – Northern

With over 25 years’ experience in the construction industry, Will has been involved in the delivery of major infrastructure along Australia’s eastern seaboard – from Sydney, New South Wales to Cairns in Far North Queensland. Will’s proven successes on past projects have seen him advance to senior corporate leadership roles at Abigroup, Lendlease, and now at Seymour Whyte.

Since joining Seymour Whyte in January 2014, Will has used his extensive experience to deliver the best solutions for clients. He has a strong knowledge and understanding of engineering and safety and can transfer this knowledge into project planning and design processes to achieve sustainable, value for money results.

   Chief Operating Officer

Steve joined Seymour Whyte’s as the General Manager Southern Region in December 2014, and was appointed Chief Operating Office in April 2022. With over 25 years of construction industry experience, he brings strong leadership and strategic planning qualities, combined with an extensive knowledge of contract types and a well-developed commercial and risk management acumen. Prior to joining Seymour Whyte, Steve was the General Manager of Ditchfield Contracting and was responsible for pre-contracting, systems support, operations and project delivery. Since joining Seymour Whyte, Steve has led the company’s expansion in New South Wales and into Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

 General Manager – Southern

Courtney is a collaborative and dynamic leader with demonstrated performance in the design, construction and management of major infrastructure projects across Australia – from Western Australia to New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Since March 2016, Courtney has led Seymour Whyte’s operations and expansion into Victoria – and now South Australia and Tasmania. With more than 20 years’ construction experience, Courtney brings a wealth of expertise in bid management and value-for-money solutions for clients; collaborative and alliance contracts, as well as design and construct projects across a number of sectors including roads, structures, rail and tunnels (power). Prior to joining Seymour Whyte, Courtney held senior positions with Tier 1 contractors as Pre-Contracts Manager, Alliance Manager ($250m Hume Highway Alliance), and Deputy Project Director ($522m NSW Pacific Highway Upgrade).

General Manager – Central

Patrick McCormack is a leader in infrastructure delivery — with a long list of prominent NSW projects, including Sydney’s M2, M4 Westconnex and Smart Motorway projects, Westlink M7, and the Sydney Olympics precinct.

With a wealth of global experience in large-scale urban development, civil and water infrastructure projects, Pat leads Seymour Whyte’s NSW and ACT operations to support the region’s growth and infrastructure delivery program.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

John Kirkwood joined Seymour Whyte in October 2015. John is a highly regarded senior construction professional in the engineering and building construction sector. With his unique combination of technical and commercial skills, John was previously Executive General Manager at Leighton Contractors, and held senior roles within Abigroup Contractors, including four years as National Operations Director responsible for all business operations across Australia.

John has over 20 years’ experience in site-based roles and more than 20 years in senior managerial positions. John’s strategic leadership style focuses on people, and he has worked extensively across ‘concept to execution’ leadership, consistently delivering to tight budget and time constraints, and producing significant revenue and profit growth across business units. John has a keen focus on maintaining relationships across the industry, equally comfortable in boardrooms and in the field delivering high profile developments of significant environmental, community and financial impacts. John is also Chair of the Queensland Major Contractors Association (QMCA).

Chief Financial Officer

Nicola Padget joined Seymour Whyte in late September 2013 as Chief Financial Officer and brings a broad range of experience and capability to the company. Nicola has worked for Peabody/Macarthur Coal in the roles of Director – Financial Accounting and Director – Finance and Financial Controller. Prior to this, Nicola worked at Consolidated Rutile Limited as Financial Controller and KPMG within the Audit and Risk team. Nicola holds a Bachelor of Business in Accounting and Finance and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.

General Manager – Health, Safety, Quality and Environment

Des is a passionate and experienced safety professional who joined Seymour Whyte in May 2013 as National Safety Manager. Des’ experience in safety across major industry sectors (building and civil construction, electrical, telecommunications, water, mining and tunnelling) comes from over 10 years in safety leadership roles, 25 years in construction, and a trade background. Des also holds tertiary qualifications in health and safety, and auditing. Des has previously held senior safety roles within John Holland, United Group and Abigroup.

   General Counsel

Matt has nearly 30 years’ experience in the infrastructure, construction and property industries and holds degrees in Construction Management and Law as well as a Graduate Certificate in Business (Finance). He has extensive skills and experience in development, project and contract management and commercial analysis, dealing with the commercial aspects of engineering, construction, resources, services and property projects. Since 2005, Matt has held key senior management positions including as Group Manager – Commercial of FKG Group, General Manager – Commercial of the Western Division of Tenix (now Downer Tenix) and Commercial Manager QLD/NT of Bovis Lend Lease (now Lendlease).

   National Pre-Contracts Manager

As National Pre-Contracts Manager, Steve is instrumental in driving the work-winning process for all Seymour Whyte bids. His in-depth understanding of the company’s target markets and industry trends enables Steve to identify new opportunities and lead his team in accurately assessing risk and developing competitive Value for Money offers. Steve has grown his career with Seymour Whyte since 1994. After completing his degree in Civil Engineering in the United Kingdom in 1982, Steve had an extensive career working on a range of complex civil infrastructure projects in the UK and Australia before moving into estimating and bid management.