UK and Ireland regulated water asset management
Specialist services for the UK and Irish water sectors including tailored strategy, advice and technical services for Asset Management Planning (AMP) cycles.
How An Expertise in Programme Management Helps Clients
In this Article, Ahmad Saumtally explains the intricacies of being a Programme Director and how he contributes to improving the process and final result for clients and their ambitious projects.
Ahmad Saumtally
In recent years, we’ve successfully developed our skills and capabilities in broader areas – including asset inspections, feasibility, outline and detailed design of water and wastewater schemes in infrastructure and non-infrastructure, providing world-class regulatory support to our clients.
Ahmad Saumtally is one of our experts leading the charge to expand our capabilities. As a Programme Director, Ahmad and his team are building our contract and programme capabilities and working alongside our commercial team to expand our group of Project/Programme Managers and Quantity Surveyors, helping drive our work and support clients in delivering theirs.
By expanding the limits of our expertise, we offer broader opportunities, deeper insights, and more tailored solutions to our clients. From our practical understanding to our analytical approach, we're in an ideal position to help clients understand data and turn it into insights that enhance the way they work and the impact they make..
What does a Programme Director do? Day to day and big picture?
I lead a team of senior professionals, including Associate Directors, Technical Directors, Programme and Senior Project Managers. These roles are proactive and more direct, leading team solutions for the client.
If there is a new need from the client, it would be handed over to our team to run through feasibility, optioneering, and outline design through to detailed design, right up to handover and closing. Once it reaches the implementation phase, we work with the principal contractor to polish the design before handing the completed design and built solution back to the client operations, implementing the new idea into the client’s business as usual activity and starting their benefits realisation process.
My role requires me to lead and manage projects and programmes with the multi-disciplinary team throughout the life cycle to make sure that delivery stays on track and the work is completed safely, and everyone enjoys their input and contributions.
What’s your experience? How have you built your expertise?
I'm a Chartered Civil Engineer (MICE). I've also achieved Registered Project Professional (RPP) and Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) with the Association for Project Management (APM), which is awarded to project managers who demonstrate a high level of competence and experience in project management.
8 years into my career and just after being chartered, I wanted to specialise in projects and programme management, and an opportunity came up with the United Utilities to do that. I worked there for 16 years, developing my project management skills, programme management skills, as well as my project control, cost, planning, and engineering skills.
Why did you choose to join Tetra Tech?
I left the water industry about six years ago, when an opportunity to work in the nuclear sector arose, working for a smaller consultancy. I enjoyed that because it was such a change. I ran the business unit and developed my skills further. However, you just get to a stage where you want to do something different.
I was missing the aspects of working on large complex programmes of work from needs phase to handover. I was dipping into projects at specific certain points in their life cycle and doing small commissions. It wasn't as interesting or fulfilling compared to being involved with the entire life cycle. I wanted to get back to that thriving environment of delivering large, complex programmes of work. With the water industry, there's such a huge programme of work to dive into and many opportunities to achieve amazing outcomes while contributing at every stage.
When Tetra Tech approached me and said I’d be a good fit here, I liked the sound of everything. I loved the opportunity to help clean up the rivers and make them better. The vision of cleaning up various bodies of water across the UK and making the environment so much better was very attractive. By working with a consultancy refined in engineering, I can utilise my skills to help balance project / programme management and ultimately, support teams, deliver excellent client services, and develop and grow the team.
How do you ensure this work is done to the best of its ability?
The best way to tackle and deliver the programme is by leading teams with a range of skills – commercial management, engineers of all disciplines, from civil, structural, and mechanical processes, to obtain a varied and informed result. These include experts in instrumentation, hydraulics, network modelling, and more.
We service a project plus all the third-party elements internally to the client, managing all the external stakeholders that impact a project, ensuring their needs are met. We will also continue monitoring, forecasting programmes and costs according to our resources and facilities. We will regularly monitor these aspects, formally reviewing them with the teams.
Furthermore, we develop a strong relationship with client executives and their internal stakeholders to achieve approvals and secure funding to proceed and deliver the project.
What has your experience taught you about your field?
If there's one thing I learned with commercial, programme, and project management and being a chartered project professional, it is that it is all about people. 90% of everything that we do requires us to get the right people with the right expertise, the right behaviours, and the desire to do a great job and succeed. We provide and develop processes and systems that support these projects, but the major focus should be on your people, their roles, and their expertise as they make it happen. Serving the team is a key role of leadership to me, so supporting them with any issues or problems is vital to that relationship.
Additionally, the balance of time, cost, and quality of deliverables highlights how we focus on the programme of work. Attention to detail is vital when it comes to commercial risks and balance; delivering the work and getting it done is the most important thing for our clients. I'm trying to make that Time, Cost, and Quality triangle more equilateral, bringing that balance to the team and ensuring quality and delivering to deadlines go hand in hand.
How is your role contributing to a better partnership and result for clients?
I bring a continued client focus to our team and a more detailed approach to ensuring clients are getting what they need, and the result is on time, within budget expectations, and of good quality. The priorities of clients often change as their own business needs flex. As a result, we must also be flexible, quick to respond instead of being defensive or seeing the reasons why things can't be done. We can open the conversation and focus our energy on responding to the client's request as best we can.
We’re helping to make the organisations of clients stronger. We aim to improve the performance of assets, making them more resilient for the future. The solutions that we're implementing aren't just your traditional type solutions of installing large concrete storage containers in the ground, but rather, we’re looking at rainwater solutions or land solutions that are smarter and more natural. It will be interesting to see how this evolves, but we are definitely thinking differently about our solutions. Essentially, we focus on using natural, modern, and innovative solutions to protect our environment.
How does this kind of work do to enhance our toolkit for clients?
We bring leadership and structure to the team. We bring certainty of delivery for clients. In addition to that, they can see constant improvements to the process, cost, and quality as we’re in constant communication with clients and listening to their needs. Our people are superb, and our clients can also see that when we are embedded with them to develop solutions together. Together, we focus on what the best level of service is that we can provide to achieve an excellent result on schedule and quality of deliverables, all within the client’s budget.
So, I’m focused on all those things, bringing leadership to the team, bringing structure to the team, delivering to our clients’ needs, coming up with the right innovations, saving money wherever we can for our clients and their customers, while ultimately improving our environment. It just doesn’t get better than that for me!
What makes this work so special for you? What’s your favourite part?
Working on large, complex programmes of work can be very interesting. It's a thriving environment because there’s so much demand and innovation. The landscape is constantly changing and work needs to be done at pace. With innovative techniques and expertise, we’re helping to bring these ideas to reality.
In parallel to this, it’s all about the people. It’s not just Tetra Tech working on the project, it’s United Utilities, our partners, other stakeholders and all the designers. It's working with so many who are all focused on a common goal. It is amazing to work with experts with such a wide breadth of skills and knowledge. It’s such a privilege for me to tap into and be part of the excellence that’s throughout the team.
Furthermore, I love the professional team I have around me. I like the feeling that Tetra Tech is going to invest in me as much as I will invest in the work. The team is very supportive and achieves incredible things. When people work well together and are supportive, it gives you the freedom to go and do what you can to improve things, make them better, and that is very satisfying.
Most importantly, I like the fact that ultimately, we are all working towards cleaning up the environment. The rivers and environment in the UK are beautiful and deserve to be taken care of. I am so pleased to be able to do our bit in Tetra Tech to contribute to this cause and how we can all work together for a better, healthier and greener future.
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