Michael Thornton

Background

About Michael Thornton

I am the Manager of Engineering & Capital Projects with Snowy Hydro for all dams & power-generation assets, & I’ve had +30 years on Greenfield & Brownfield engineering & construction projects & operations in the power generation, renewable energy & water sectors, including 20 years with Snowy Hydro Ltd. My core value proposition centres on building leadership teams, uplifting capability, & ensuring effective strategic asset planning to meet or exceed safety, availability, reliability, governance, assurance & budget goals for large portfolios of dams, hydro-electric, gas & diesel power stations, & associated infrastructure. Key Areas of Expertise: Leadership Team Management: Structuring & leading high-performing leadership teams, placing the right talent in the right roles, clarifying roles & expectations, driving & monitoring performance, developing talent capability, facilitating cultures based on accountability for performance, & modelling productive behaviours via my daily actions & reactions Engineering Management: Engineering leadership & design oversight from concept & feasibility to construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance & reliability, implementing robust engineering governance practices & risk management frameworks, & championing technical excellence, innovation, & continuous improvement in all phases Capital Program Management: Leading multi-discipline teams in the safe, on-time, within-budget & compliant delivery of sustaining capital portfolios, distilling technical risks into capital planning processes, feasibility studies & construction, & leading contract development & management processes, including tenders, negotiations & dispute resolution Dam Engineering: Advising on maintenance, operations, compliance & risk management requirements, applying dam safety considerations to detailed design of multiple dam-related upgrade projects, leading the dam safety function, & comprehensive network of industry experts to underpin the independence & quality of technical decision making Standards & Regulations: Interpreting & applying regulatory guidelines & quality standards, as well as developing & implementing comprehensive assurance programs to effectively manage technical, compliance & business risk, & extensive experience in sponsoring major projects & development & approval of business cases Strategic Asset Planning: Aligning long-term investment priorities, lifecycle management & capital planning to ensure safety, availability, reliability, compliance & whole-of-life value for large dam & power-gen portfolios.