Recruitment
“Dr Alex Finlayson is a Systems Engineering professional who has worked on programmes valued at more than £9 million and has been leading teams for the last 15 years in the discipline. A pioneer of systems engineering in the railway sector, he has successfully delivered systems engineering in rail infrastructure and rolling stock in the UK, USA, Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East.
He has managed teams up to 60 in size, both locally and Internationally delivering double digit margins with a lower than industry average staff turnover rate. He has also spent time developing systems engineering methodologies, augmentation and automation with a refreshed focus on digital systems engineering.
Since joining Jacobs 6 months ago and has already shown his aptitude as a rail manager by having grown the Systems Engineering team from just 2 people to a team of over 23 people at all levels from Graduates to Principal Consultants. He has strengthened the skillset and capabilities of his team by appointing a range of genders, ethnicities and backgrounds which has helped him foster a diverse and inclusive environment.
Alex is an excellent communicator and a smart negotiator and has leveraged these skills within the business to support his individual team members and help them achieve their own personal goals. His commitment to encouraging each team member to grow and develop benefits the overall team’s delivery while his ability to align his team members personal goals with those of the business helps ensure that the company targets are also met. He is constantly taking the time to pass on his knowledge to those around him and regularly cites that the team belongs to the individuals within it and he is just a ‘custodian’ to create opportunities.
Alex has a positive can-do-attitude to business and is able to view hurdles and blockers as challenges ensuring he embraces those around him by asking for help and advice where required and taking the time to listen to new ideas and approaches. His attitude is infectious and enables the people around him to also rise to the challenge. His approach has led to him not only being the Director of Systems Engineering but an additional promotion to become the Head of the Digital Business due to the growth in the Systems Team and his innovations in the digital field. He has been actively driving digital innovation within the systems team since joining Jacobs has been working to commercialise the initiatives his team are developing on digital toolkits and augmenting project delivery.
His outstanding achievements are even more significant within systems engineering, a generally misunderstood discipline and the importance of which is often overlooked. Despite this he has made huge progress creating roles for his team on major programmes and has taken steps to help our clients and the business overall to start to understand the importance and benefits of systems engineering.
In addition, he has also helped develop the ECG handbook which brings a fresh approach to Systems Engineering from the existing V cycle which has not only helped the clients and our business understand the needs for systems engineering but has also introduced a consistent approach to the discipline. He is consistently adding value to the business by improving operational efficiency by identifying ways to complete tasks quicker enabling our clients to optioneer, at no additional cost. He again uses these opportunities to benefit his team by assigning the ideas for his team to develop and when they are successful, he fades in the background and when they go awry, he’s at the front bringing them all back on track!“
“I have known and worked with Alex for a number of years. Since joining Jacobs, Alex has set very clear targets for me personally and his team to achieve, along with the opportunity to challenge back and to follow through with opportunities we are interested in. Our team has grown significantly over the last few months, and Alex has made sure to treat all of our colleagues the same, to make the same opportunities available to everyone, and to support personal development of our colleagues. He has made the Rail Systems Engineering team a dynamic and engaging environment to work in for all of our team and I support this nomination.“
“Alex has supported me in my development to grow as an engineer within Jacobs. Alex provided all the tools and paths that enabled me grow as an engineer and he supported me to work on projects which exposed me to new ways of working and knowledge. When you have a manager who is supporting, flexible and engaging it enables the team to grow and achieve great success. Within the three months at Jacobs I have achieved more than compared to years of working for other companies due to Alex and his support. Thank you!“
“Champion – “A person who vigorously supports or defends a person or causeâ€. Alex and I joined Jacobs on the same day and from this point he has continually pushed me, demonstrating my competencies to the wider senior leadership team. He has also strives to work with me to further my education and to bring state of the art knowledge into the System Engineering and Railway realms, in doing so he has shown a commitment to get the best from my and the surrounding team. Alex has demonstrated to me that he will fight for what is right and shine the spotlight to where it is deserved, a champion of the people in every sense.“
“I met a younger Alex when he was diligently studying, working and gaining broad rail industry experience. All this time later, after continuous self-improvement, he has reaped personal benefit in gaining personal advancement but has also utilised his new position to fulfil a vision of a holistic approach within Jacobs of building a systems focused organisation that has the potential to greatly improve Jacobs offering to projects worldwide.
I recently observed the recruitment process where besides the normal managerial judgement of CV’s he has gone an extra mile and applied faith in people to some of his new hires where he sees a spark, with quite surprising results. Very refreshing in the rail industry. This extension of considered take up of risk, from business to people, is melding and driving the new systems team forward. There is a lot of work to do but the direction has been highlighted.“
“I joined the Systems Engineering Team at Jacobs in June this year, which also involved relocating from Northern Ireland. Since moving and settling in new surroundings, Alex has consistently been there to support me and make sure I had all the help I needed in finding my feet. He’s always available to answer any questions I have, and is always approachable and friendly, which counts for a lot in my book. And he’s shown no signs of letting up! He has made this initial period so much easier and I feel very lucky to be on his team.“
“Alex has made me feel welcomed and a key member of the team. I feel I can be flexible in my working and I feel that Alex wants me to success not only for our clients and the business but also my personal development. It has been an absolute delight working with Alex and having him as my discipline manager.“
“I heard the RailStaff Awards 2014 was a huge success!! Everyone said it was brilliant. So sad I missed it..”
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