Our leadership
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Read moreJason Spears
Managing Director
Jason has 25 years’ experience working in Australia and internationally as a professional engineer and business leader in the resource, civil infrastructure and building sectors.Jason joined the CIMIC Group in 1999, and was previously Executive General Manager, Major Projects and NSW at CPB Contractors. Prior to that he held roles at Thiess.
He has led successful outcomes on Major Projects and in construction and services business across some of Australia’s largest and most complex infrastructure and resources projects. He has held roles in Project Management, General Management and Executive positions. Building strong teams that are client focused, results driven with Safety at the forefront which has been a key to successful outcomes.
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Read moreEmilio Grande
Chief Financial Officer
Emilio Grande joined UGL in September 2018 as Chief Financial Officer. Emilio accumulates 15 years’ of international experience across banking and infrastructure in various finance roles.While working in ACS since 2011, Emilio has served as CFO for Iridium (a leading global infrastructure developer in the PPP space) and as Deputy CFO for CIMIC. Emilio holds Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Business Administration. -
Read moreLuke Sullivan
Executive General Manager, Resources
Luke joined UGL in 2016 and is responsible for leading UGL’s Resources Division. With over 15 years’ experience across the oil & gas, mining, utilities, pulp & paper and food sectors, Luke has a demonstrated ability to develop, lead and support large teams, delivering industry-leading results in asset management.Prior to joining UGL, Luke held senior leadership positions at ExxonMobil, FT Services (Canada), Transfield Services, and Orica. In his role of General Manager, Asset Management at Orica, Luke had global accountability for the asset management function, leading 14,000 employees, operating across 50+ countries. Luke holds a Bachelor Chemical Engineering (Hons)/Bachelor Arts from Monash University.
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Read MoreDoug Moss
Executive General Manager, Transport & Technology
Doug joined UGL in 2018 as the Executive General Manager for the Transport and Technology Division. With more than 25 years in management positions in the infrastructure industry, Doug brings a wealth of expertise in construction and operations and maintenance as well as extensive knowledge across the telecommunications, transport, water, property, power, industrial and resources sectors throughout Australia.Doug joins UGL from Lendlease where he held the role of Managing Director of Lendlease Services Pty Limited. Prior to Lendlease, Doug held senior roles in the Thiess Services business for over 20 years, successfully growing the utilities, telecommunications, transportation and remediation businesses, and moving Thiess into long term operations and maintenance contracts in water, transport and hospitals through a number of major Private Public Partnerships. -
Read MoreDeva Mylvaganam
Executive General Manager, Special Projects
Deva has over 30 years’ international experience across landmark infrastructure projects in Australia, the Middle-East and Africa. Deva joined UGL in 2012 and has held senior leadership positions, playing a key role in winning and delivering complex infrastructure projects.Landmark projects include Sydney Metro Northwest, NorthConnex, EastWestLink, Clem 7, AirportLink and the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link. Prior to joining UGL, Deva held leadership roles with Tameer (Al Rajhi Group) in Dubai, Emoleum (Exxon Mobil company), Barclay Mowlem and Gyado Group in Nigeria. Deva is a Civil engineer with qualifications from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, UK.
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Read MoreDavid Zropf
Executive General Manager, Utilities
David Zropf joined UGL in 2008 and is responsible for leading UGL’s Utilities Division. David is an experienced business leader with over 15 years’ experience delivering successful outcomes across various industrial sectors.During his time at UGL, David has held senior management roles across the Mining, Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors. David has enjoyed success through his ability to build high performing teams, bringing industry-leading results to his clients through a focus on Safety and Project Delivery.
Prior to joining UGL, David held a number of Asset Management roles in the refining and minerals processing industry. With an Electrical background, David holds post graduate qualifications in Asset Management and an Executive Masters of Business Administration.
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Read MoreCraig Byrnes
Executive General Manager, People
Craig leads UGL’s People & Culture, HSE and Communications functions. Craig joined UGL from Thiess, where he held the global position of General Manager, People.Prior to Thiess, Craig was the General Manager of Human Resources for the John Holland Group. Craig has also held several other senior positions in people management and industrial relations with demonstrated experience across many sectors including services, mining and construction.
With more than 15 years’ experience, he has led teams to deliver award-winning work. He holds a Master of Business and Commerce majoring in Corporate Administration and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Human Resources and Industrial Relations. -
Read MoreStephen Barrett-White
General Counsel
Stephen Barrett-White joined UGL in 2006 until 2010 and returned in 2014. Stephen oversees all legal functions of UGL.Stephen is responsible for providing strategic legal advice to enable UGL to achieve its commercial objectives and to manage legal risk in compliance with applicable laws, including those arising from contracts, projects, compliance, governance, operations and procurement.
Stephen has over 27 years’ experience in infrastructure and engineering and 20 years’ experience in construction and general commercial law. Stephen has a very strong knowledge of the law relating to engineering contracts and the law and corporate governance requirements impacting on companies operating in the engineering, infrastructure and construction sphere.
Prior to re-joining UGL in 2014, he held the position of General Counsel for Veolia Water (Australia and New Zealand), part of the French-based Veolia Group.
Stephen holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (Hons) from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
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Read MoreMichael Degotardi
Executive General Manager, Risk
Michael joined UGL in 2014 and is responsible for leading Governance and Risk across the business.
Michael is vastly experienced having held senior executive and project management positions in the general contracting and infrastructure sectors of the construction industry for over 30 years.In his current role, Michael participates in project bid reviews and is Chair of the UGL Group Tender Committee. He provides proactive support to the UGL businesses by offering input and strategies to address key aspects of project bids.
In addition to his current role, Michael is also Chair of Australian Terminal Operations Pty Ltd (a joint venture between BP Australia and UGL), Chair of UGL Unipart Pty. Ltd. (a joint venture between Unipart and UGL) and Chair of the Inpex MEC-1 Contractor Steering Committee (a joint venture between Kentz and UGL). Previously, he was Group General Manager – Commercial at Tenix, held key senior executive positions at St Hillier’s and is a recipient of various industry awards.
Michael holds a Bachelor of Building from the University of New South Wales and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.