Our People

Our People

The demonstrated mastery and leadership of our senior executives, combined with the passion and diligence of our emerging leaders, is what sets SJA apart. Together, our team is best placed to deliver exceptional client outcomes.

Our Leadership

Steve Abbott

PRINCIPAL & ceo

With over 40 years’ experience in the Building, Construction and Engineering Industries, Steve Abbott has worked through the Construction Industry from Carpenter to senior management positions within some of the largest construction organisations in Australia. During the first 2o years of his career in construction contracting his responsibilities ranged from the delivery of individual major projects to the management of complete business units for major construction organisations. Steve is an accomplished and sought-after construction expert specialising in the areas of time (delay analysis), disruption, quantum, quality of product and construction process/project delivery. He has provided expert witness services in relation to Arbitrations (including International Arbitrations), Expert Determinations, Mediations and has authored expert reports and testified in most legal jurisdictions including the Supreme Courts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Steve has provided expert witness services on some of the largest building, construction and engineering projects across Australia together with major projects internationally including New Zealand, Macau, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the United Kingdom.  Steve is a qualified and practicing Mediator, Expert Determiner and graded Arbitrator.

John Tasho

General manager, ADVISORY

John has more than 40 years’ experience in the commercial management of construction and engineering projects in Australian and international markets.  As a skilled commercial practitioner, John has a successful record in managing the contractual aspects of major bids, negotiating and securing contracts and in leading the commercial delivery of large projects the infrastructure, engineering and building sectors.  Having both corporate management and project practitioner experience at the highest levels, John applies his commercial management skills to great effect in providing governance and strategic direction to project leadership teams through his appointment to project steering committees and joint venture management boards.  In addition to project procurement and delivery, John is experienced in the management, preparation and settlement of claims and disputes.

Rob Foster

GENERAL MANAGER, PLANNING & PROGRAMMING

Rob has over 30 years’ experience in the building and construction industries with extensive experience as a construction planner specialising in areas such as preparation of contract and construction programs including master plans, reporting and evaluating projects as they are executed, resolving time related claims, construction methodology studies and providing innovative advice on strategies to meet client and project objectives.

Ben Mackey

GENERAL MANAGER, PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Ben has over 23 years’ experience in the construction and engineering industries with extensive experience across a range of property sectors including public and private sector projects and programs.  He is an accomplished construction professional having driven projects, at senior level, through all stages of the project lifecycle.  He brings a strong track record in project planning and approvals process and acumen in procurement of consultant teams and works contractors to deliver best project outcomes.  His technical skills are complemented with a strong ethic towards collaborative project environments and optimising project outcomes

Mark Lincoln

STATE MANAGER, VICTORIA

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in the building, construction, infrastructure and defence industries, successfully providing commercial management direction and support for a wide range of construction and service-based projects.  Mark’s skills are complemented by his hands-on experience as a site engineer and planner and programmer.  Mark has held management roles for ASX200 firms including a board member and chair role for a joint venture delivering a $600m capital works program across Australia.

Steve Hulme

REGIONAL MANAGER, QUEENSLAND

Steve has over 30 years’ experience in the building and construction industry in the United Kingdom and Australia, specialising in project planning & programming.  He has played a vital role in the tendering and delivery of numerous projects and across many industry sectors including; health, defence, education, retail, telecommunications, infrastructure, commercial, airport and industrial.

Graham Hargrave

REGIONAL MANAGER, VICTORIA

Graham has 30 years’ experience in the construction and engineering industries with extensive experience as a Commercial/Contracts Manager with Tier 1 International contracting organisations. Graham’s experience has been derived from working as the commercial lead on major building and infrastructure projects across multiple industry sectors and varied jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Ireland,  North Africa, the Middle East and Australia. These projects have been delivered through wide- ranging procurement models, including lump sum, design and construct, remeasurement, construction management, EPC and BOT schemes, and through joint venture, and bespoke project arrangements. On these projects Graham has been responsible for leading large teams, working collaboratively with contractors, clients and consultants to deliver commercially compliant outcomes. 

Tim Stevens

REGIONAL MANAGER, NEW SOUTH WALES

With more than 25 years’ experience in the construction industry in the UK and Australia, Tim has spent most of his career working for main contractors spanning public and private sectors.  Tim’s expertise covers a range of procurement and delivery models for clients including self-delivery, design and construction, traditional construct only lump sum contracts and specialised management contracting contracts.

 

Stephen Bisseker

REGIONAL MANAGER. QUEENSLAND

With more than 20 years construction industry experience, Stephen brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership experience having worked around the world as a quantity surveyor for prominent global development companies. 

Stephen provides leadership and strategic direction for SJA’s business in the state while providing a strong client focus.

Ben Marshall

REGIONAL MANAGER, NEW SOUTH WALES

Ben has 20 years construction industry experience.  He has successfully delivered numerous projects across the UK, the Middle East and Australia, including large mixed use, residential, hospitality, retail, education and commercial.

  • +61 2 9236 5000
  • ben_marshall@sja.com.au
  • Linkedin

Scott Patten

REGIONAL MANAGER, NEW ZEALAND

Scott is a qualified Charted Quantity Surveyor with over 20 years’ experience in the engineering and construction industries.

Scott has a depth of expertise in all facets of contractual agreements, ranging from main contract and services agreements, through to actively leading change control, risk management, dispute avoidance and resolution.

He has worked across multiple sectors and geographies, including the United Kingdom, Dubai, Australia, and New Zealand.

Kieran Sweeney

Regional Manager, MELBOURNE

Kieran is an accomplished Quantity Surveyor and first principles cost estimator, with over 25 years of industry experience, which has been gained across a range of sectors including Transport (Road and Rail Infrastructure), Mining and Industrial Facilities, Water & Waste Management, Oil and Gas, and Commercial, retail and residential building, in private and public entities, both contracting organisations and consultancy practices at various stages of an asset’s lifecycle.