AWARDS FINALIST: Soumya Doar's transformational leadership at Ergo Consulting
Soumya Doar has expanded Ergo Consulting's power systems team in size, technical capability and revenue during the past three years in her role as head of power systems.
A member of Ergo's senior leadership team, Doar has played a leading role in shaping and implementing company-wide goals and driving the department's growth, while maintaining a high-performing but enjoyable and inclusive working environment.
Under her leadership, her team has doubled in size to almost 60 people, making it the largest within the employee-owned company and responsible for more than half the company's revenue.
This growth has been driven by increasing demand from both existing and new clients looking to Doar's team as power systems consultants.
Doar's ability to build strong client partnerships is demonstrated by Ergo's significant increase in substation design work for one of the country's largest electricity distributors - a relationship managed by Doar.
She takes pride in fostering strong communication and a proactive approach to ensure successful project delivery.
Transmission design
In addition to growing existing service offerings, Doar has led the development of several new functions within her team, including the establishment of a dedicated transmission design team in response to a company strategy to further develop transmission-specific capability - this team has grown to more than 10 people, with a mix of graduates to principal level engineers.
She has also established dedicated capability in industrial and low-voltage design and BIM design, again broadening the company's capabilities in a rapidly evolving energy landscape.
Doar's career began at Ergo as a graduate engineer in 2010 - an opportunity she values deeply.
Since then, her technical expertise has grown and is evident in numerous substation design projects, ranging from 110 kilovolts to 11kV, for various electricity distribution businesses across New Zealand, including Powerco, Vector, Wellington Electricity, Top Energy and Horizon.
She's also developed design standards for various EDBs - a testament to her technical capability.
Doar believes that Ergo's people are its greatest asset, and creating pathways for developing engineers has been a key focus in recent years.
This includes bringing greater structure to the firm's scholarship, internship and graduate programmes to ensure a strong pipeline of engineers who can support both Ergo and the industry in solving future challenges.
Training
With a strong focus on capability building and development, she actively encourages her team to pursue engineering chartership and supports training in emerging technical areas.
She believes maintaining a competitive edge requires continuous development and improvement - a mindset she has embedded into the team's culture.
Colleagues describe Doar as genuine, level-headed and focused on solutions. She's known for her ability to have tough conversations with tact, and for putting people first.
Doar embodies Ergo's core values of being inspired, genuine and agile.
She actively ensures sustainable delivery by managing resources effectively, promoting flexible working arrangements and fostering a culture of inclusion and well-being.
Her efforts have helped limit staff turnover rate to just 7 per cent - a remarkable achievement in the currently highly competitive market.
The annual Energy Excellence Awards will be held in Wellington next Wednesday. The Young Energy Professional of the Year Award is sponsored by Phoenix Recycling Group.