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Sarah Donnan

from budding engineer to Construction Director Project Services
I manage large teams that construct large scale renewable energy facilities
Industry
Renewable Energy
Company
ACEN Australia
Job Level
Senior

Ask me about

  • How I navigated working and raising a family
  • If there were other girls in my engineering course
  • Opportunities and challenges in delivering renewable energy projects

About me

  • International Experience

I always liked the idea of working part time in the office and part time outside somewhere. During school, I had work experience with an engineering contractor who showed me the sites they worked on as well as the office. I was hooked! I studied at Loughborough University in the UK, a four-year course with the third year working with a contractor which was amazing.

I joined a consultancy firm ARUP after university, and was transferred to Brisbane, Australia after two years where I still live nearly 30 years later. Whilst the family was young, work changed to a local engineering firm who were fantastic with flexible working hours. When the family were older, I took a career leap and joined the renewable energy transition.

About my role

  • Analytical
  • Decisive
  • Flexible
  • Focused
  • Innovative
  • Logical
  • Optimistic
  • Personable
  • Practical
  • Principled
  • Rational
  • Reliable
  • Resourceful
  • Thorough
  • Trusting
  • Wise

Project Manager teams are the people that bring all the different experts, engineers, accountants, construction workers, community together to plan, design, build, connect and test these large energy projects. Then Construction Directors manager the Project Manager teams ensuring that the projects are delivered on time, to the right price and with the right quality of product. Working in construction, it is helpful to have engineering training as it teaches you how to think strategy and problem solving based on assessment of facts and logic.

Education

  • Bachelor of Engineering (Hons)
  • Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia
  • Chartered Professional Engineer

Subjects

  • Art
  • Chemistry
  • Digital Design/Information Technology
  • Mathematical Methods (Maths B)
  • Physics
  • Specialist Mathematics (Maths C)

Hobbies

  • Reading
  • Seeing family and friends
  • Travel
  • Volunteering

Pets

  • 1 Cat

15 year old me!!

“Who you are as a person, your values and your way of working will always be a positive force. Don't try to mask or change it to try and be like other people.”

My career journey

Curious to know how I got here? Here’s a snapshot of my career pathway.
  1. Studied an engineering degree in UK
  2. Scored a graduate job in London
  3. Offered a two-year secondment to Brisbane
  4. Remained in Brisbane, worked all over Australia
  5. Now in my dream job in renewable energy

My typical day

My employer

ACEN Australia is the platform representing ACEN's renewable energy assets in Australia. With more than 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity of large scale renewable energy generation in construction and operations, and more than 13GW capacity in the development pipeline, its portfolio includes solar, wind, battery and pumped hydro projects across Australia.