Asset Management Director – Egnatia Odos Motorway

Background
Nea Egnatia Odos Leitourgia (NEOL) manages the 35 year Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract for the Egnatia Odos motorway – a flagship European PPP project of almost 900km of ‘brownfield’ assets with several superstructures and tunnels (ca. 300.000 motorway assets with 40km+ of tunnels).

Shareholders of this O&M company are Egis and Gek Terna with 75% and 25% respectively, providing services to the concession company also comprising Egis and Gek Terna with 25% and 75% respectively. The operation period is aimed to commence early in 2025 for 35 years, with an initial 5 year period of imminent works that includes civil works and system improvements to upgrade parts of the existing motorway.

A critical part of the contract is the asset management of all highways asset within the scope of the O&M company including the responsibility for conducting inspections, analysing results, developing a Heavy Repairs and Renewals plan of ca. €2bn covering the 35 year contract period and advising the concession client on how to best to optimise their investment in renewals projects.

The O&M company will look to embed a best-in-class asset management system (aligned to ISO 55001), establish a leading Asset Information System within 24 months and provide quality and continuously improving asset management services to the concession company over the course of this long-term contract. The aim is to make NEOL a centre of excellence for highways asset management within both the spheres of Egis and Gek Terna and also internationally.

Role Overview

The Asset Management Director will report directly to the CEO of NEOL and will be responsible for managing the ca. 20 people that comprise the Asset Management Team of the O&M company. The team will include technical experts (pavements, structures, tunnels, etc) as well as IT and data experts in terms of the Asset Information System.

The Asset Management Director will be responsible for establishing and executing a leading-edge approach to asset management. He / she will support the recruitment of the team and embed asset management best practice processes and Asset Information System configurations in line with his / her experiences as well as best practices from the wider international network of Egis projects.

The Asset Management Director will be accountable for asset management performance for the project and will be the key interface point for explaining to the concession company both short term (e.g. asset KPIs and any asset risk and issues) and long term (e.g. over 5 and 35 years, including Handback) asset performance and how the concession company’s investment is being effectively utilized.

A key responsibility will be the coordination of the annual cycle of detailed inspections, analysis and planning that leads to updating the short-, medium- and long-term renewals investment plan utilizing asset information and functionality from the Asset Information System.

In this context the main activities are the following:

• Setting the Asset Management vision for the project and delivering it through an appropriate set of processes, plans and procedures aligned to ISO 55001 and continuously improved over the course of the contract
• Managing the Asset Team of NEOL including recruitment, setting objectives, and monitoring progress
• Managing the Asset Team budget in relation to staff, inspections, systems and O&M co heavy maintenance works. Acting as the budget holder for the renewals budget over the course of the contract to support seeking optimal investment decisions and value for money
• Serving as the primary point of contact for internal and external stakeholders for Asset Management activities. This includes being primary point of contact for the concession client and for the Lenders Technical Advisor
• Accountable for Asset Management performance and ensuring all highways assets are operating according to contractual, technical and legal standards. Co ordinating and managing the response of any reactive asset management risks or issues
• Managing the Asset Information System, including the initial 24 month implementation period, and ensuring the system remains up to date with latest asset information, available and improves with product releases over the long-term contract period
• Establishing the asset strategy for each asset class and ensuring an interface with wider O&M teams to ensure this strategy is implemented across all maintenance related activities
• Delivering the periodic inspections of all assets to ensure information is available to meet contractual timeframes and feed into investment planning. Implementing a condition methodology for each class of asset and supporting the concessionaire with scoping and delivering additional testing and analyses
• Managing the periodic cycle to update the Heavy Repairs and Renewals Plan in line with contractual deadlines. Agreeing review milestones and the validation processes with the concessionaire
• Producing business cases and whole of life analyses to support development of the Heavy Repairs and Renewals Plan. Using Asset Information System functionality to understand current asset performance, articulate asset risk and predict end of asset life
• Providing support if requested to support the delivery of Heavy Repairs and Renewals works
• Providing periodic reporting in relation to Asset Management activities, including asset management and technical meetings with the concessionaire

Profile
 

• Civil engineering background or similar, with preferably an Advance Masters Degree
• Proven 10 years of working experience in the asset management field
• Experience of deploying AM methodologies and standards (e.g. ISO 55001:2014) in a real-world context
• Knowledge of Asset Information Management solutions or equivalent (RMMS / AMS / APM)
• Knowledge of PPP-type infrastructure projects
• Fluent mastering of Greek and English
• Proven team management capabilities
• Ability to develop business cases, whole life analyses and scenario modelling with basic financial and economic principles
• Ability to assimilate financial, technical, investment and assurance information and use for decision making
• Good communication and presentation skills with the ability to communicate complex ideas simply and modify communications style subject to context (for example strategic investment conversations with the concessionaire and managing operational issues)

Location of role
Head Quarters of Nea Egnatia Odos Operation SA (in Thessaloniki)

Frequent visits to other offices / depots around Egnatia Odos network