This story was first published in the July/Aug edition of inspire magazine. 

Emeritus membership is the most prestigious award that can be bestowed on an IPWEA member. Here, inspire spoke to recent recipient Warren Roberts, who has decades of experience in public works, including as former IPWEA President and current Chairman of the Municipal Engineering Foundation Victoria. 

inspire: Warren, why did you choose a career in local government engineering?

Roberts: It provided a great range of challenges and projects for a young civil engineer, and more importantly allowed me to work at a local level and make a difference to the community.

Interestingly, I don’t think I really appreciated the opportunities and scope and type of works that I would be involved in. Local government was not seen as an exciting employer.

inspire: What do you think has made the greatest impact on your career?

Roberts: In the formative years, one of the drivers for my career came through the opportunities that continued to arise as I worked hard and gained experience in the field. I was encouraged and supported by some amazing senior engineers, and greatly appreciated the preparedness of colleagues to provide advice and support. I learnt from both good and bad experiences and I think the first foray to a council meeting built resilience, flexibility and agility. You need to be able to communicate, think on your feet and work collaboratively as part of a team.

However, one of the ‘light bulb moments’ was the understanding that we need to be more aware of what the problem is and how the solution is meeting the needs of our community.

Engineers need to understand and pay more attention to the drivers of a project. What do the residents and community want? It is often not about the best technical solution but about delivering something that the community values. This realisation changed my perspective and I moved from being a technocrat to a passionate solution-focused professional.

This enthusiasm to make a difference resulted in me being an active member of IPWEA, which enabled me to develop an understanding of the broader scope of local government engineering and gave me the ability to contribute at a much broader and higher level. You could represent and learn from others. This drove my passion and resulted in me being elected to the state Board for IPWEA, then President, then to the National IPWEA Board and ultimately National President.

This journey introduced me to some amazing and committed engineers and enabled me to build lasting friendships with people such as Keith Wood AM who provided wise counsel and insight and challenged me to be the best that I could be.

Other awards such as the Cedric Tuxen Medal, the Keith Wood Medal and being recognised as one of Australia’s 100 most influential engineers were very special and humbling. But in reality I accepted them on behalf of all the people who I worked with and supported me over my career. The other career highlight is being a Trustee and Chairman of the Municipal Engineering Foundation of Victoria. In this role I am able to support the ongoing professional and personal development of engineers working within local government and help build capacity within the sector.

I was also extremely proud when I was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Stonnington.

inspire: How do you think local governments can both attract and retain skilled civil engineers?

Roberts: Local government seems to have an identity crisis, and it doesn’t seem to be promoted as a sound professional career choice.

We’re not particularly good at communicating what we do and the types of services we deliver. We should be more proactive and promote and be proud of what we do and improve the reputation of local government as an employer of choice, with great professional challenges that make a significant difference to our communities.

As an employer we should be promoting the sector, highlighting the opportunities and success stories of our varied workforce.

The potential for advancement and recognition of achievements, professional and personal development opportunities and the ability to grow and advance within a council is amazing. But we are a well-kept secret.

I would ask, what other employer can provide experience in civil, structural, environmental and hydraulic design, and construction and service delivery of maintenance, cleansing, recycling, parks and environment, public sector administration and so on? The majority of services and infrastructure are dependent upon engineering expertise and this provides opportunities and career development.

The Young IPWEA group are an extremely positive initiative as it provides the platform for newly qualified and young ‘in career terms’ engineers to engage with and promote Local Government / Public Works as a career of value and can dispel the many myths.

Additionally, I believe it is important for local government engineers to take responsibility for celebrating achievements and the many varied and diverse projects that are delivered. We need to take the challenge and actively promote the sector.

inspire: Engineers are increasingly being urged to use their unique and valuable skill sets in leadership roles and even politics. What do you think about this, and how do you think your engineering skills have assisted you in your role as CEO?

Roberts: Engineers are fortunate in that they are trained and skilled with a diverse range of competencies and attributes. They can think, project manage, analyse, manage finances and people and resources, communicate and deliver. All amazing and valuable attributes.

However, with all of these skills comes the reputation of being narrow-minded, focused on the perfect technical solution and therefore destined to be a technocrat. This is such a misrepresentation of the profession – however, it does require engineers to be adaptable, resilient and able to interpret project briefs, project outcomes and deliver something that is valued and appreciated.

As an engineer you are well placed to work within a political and leadership role but you do need to grow beyond being a focused technical expert, you need to hone and use all of the skills and competencies and improve your communication skills.

The career path you choose is up to you, but I can honestly say that setting a career goal and striving towards it is rewarding.

inspire: What advice do you have for fellow engineers who aspire to management and executive roles?

Roberts: Enjoy and be proud of what you do, build your professional and social networks, be prepared to ask questions, and take some risks along the way. For me, it’s about taking opportunities when they arise, but also having the networks so that if you don’t know something, you can ask.

Anything is possible through your career, but nothing comes easy. You’ve got to be prepared to put the effort in, participate and belong.

To that end, you need to set a career goal, identify where you want to go and what you want to achieve. Then, identify someone either in your organisation or networks who have achieved that milestone and spend time asking questions, researching and invest time in talking and learning.

You can then identify the next career goal or milestone and develop your plan and work towards that milestone. Over time you will probably set a number of goals that all culminate in you achieving your ultimate ambition.

However, this is where resilience comes in; you need to be flexible and adaptable, when one door closes look for the next opportunity. Engineers are extremely good at negotiating and mapping around obstacles and detours.

But importantly, enjoy the journey and the people you work with, have some fun and celebrate your achievements along the way.

In closing, I issue a challenge: are you prepared to invest $4.50 on your career and invite a leader or manager who you respect to coffee, so that you can learn and develop? It’s not expensive but the rewards can be career defining.

This story was first published in the July/Aug edition of inspire magazine – view the magazine here.