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Nina Nguyen

from family farm harvesting vegetables to Associate Director
I help clients deliver complex major infrastructure projects
Industry
Technology and Digital
Company
Skotte Group
Job Level
Senior

Ask me about

  • Working as a woman in the industry
  • What is the best part of my job
  • What inspired my career path

About me

  • Regional Background

When I was in grade 7, I knew I was going to be a lawyer. Initially I thought I would become a divorce lawyer. But I quickly knew I wanted to do more than just be in a court room and argue about cases theoretically. While it took me a while to navigate towards the infrastructure industry – a world I knew completely nothing about – I knew once I landed my first job in law working in infrastructure I had found my passion. What I love most about my job is the ability to play a small part in creating a better place to live for my children, their children and their children’s children. The outputs of the projects I work on are tangible and if I am able to play a small part in increasing productivity, social benefits or community engagement it puts a smile on my face and definitely makes those hard days worthwhile

About my role

  • Curious
  • Decisive
  • Independent
  • Passionate
  • Persuasive

As an infrastructure advisor, I work with organisations to solve complex problems that they can’t solve themselves. No two days are ever the same and I work on a wide-range of projects from transport projects to stadiums – I could be working closely with engineers on a social infrastructure project like hospitals or stadiums to working with clients in the emergency response industry and learning about helicopters! I am a trusted commercial advisor to clients and I help these organisations achieve their goals by understanding their key objectives and goals and offer strategic advice and recommendations to help them achieve it. As part of my role, I act as a bridge between the technical advisors (e.g. engineers, planners and programmers) and commercial teams. Working with technical advisors I translate their work into simple everyday language to brief senior management and executives and key stakeholders to inform decision making and achieve their goals.

Education

  • Bachelor of Law
  • Admitted Solicitor of the High Court of Australia
  • Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
  • Admitted Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland

Subjects

  • English
  • History
  • Legal Studies
  • Mathematical Methods (Maths B)

Awards

  • 2017 Lawyers Weekly Rising Star of the Year finalist

Hobbies

  • Cooking
  • Pilates
  • Seeing family and friends
  • Travel

Pets

  • 1 Dog

15 year old me!!

“Everything happens for a reason, It will all work out!”

My career journey

Curious to know how I got here? Here’s a snapshot of my career pathway.
  1. Started infrastructure career in Government at EDQ
  2. Worked in planning and environment law and as a projects lawyer
  3. Practiced law for 6 years alongside raising a family
  4. Transitioned to commercial advisory after law
  5. Leading complex infrastructure projects for government

My typical day

My employer

Skotte Group was formed in February 2022. We are a professional services company with foundations in program management, strategy, policy and commercial advisory services. We provide advisory and hands-on delivery services, and frequently work side by side in embedded roles with our clients. We are a growing team of professionals including accountants, lawyers, engineers, data and ICT specialists and this combination of skills gives us the ability to respond to our clients’ challenges. We work with public and private sector clients across multiple sectors including infrastructure, social services, health, information technology, education, transport, and manufacturing across Australia.