In 2025, leaders across Australia’s engineering and consulting sectors are facing a unique set of organisational challenges – balancing tension with optimism about future project pipelines, economic headwinds, workforce shortages, and shifting delivery timelines.
While billions are committed to infrastructure programs – from NSW’s Renewable Energy Zones to Queensland’s 2032 Olympics – and the government’s commitment to mega infrastructure and roads in 2025 firms are still experiencing slower project starts and tighter cash cycles. That timing gap is forcing engineering leaders to keep a close eye on short-term capacity, the financial health of their firms, and requiring their leadership teams to strategize on doing more with less.
With many of these unique challenges expected to carry over into 2026, it’s those leaders who take the opportunity to see the opportunities and focus on the road ahead that will be the ones primed for upcoming work.
The theme of looking ahead, approaching things differently and challenging the status quo takes centre stage at the upcoming Leaders Series Webinar hosted by Projectworks – a project intelligence platform helping grow engineering firm’s project profitability with software that allows engineers to focus on the work that matters.
The online event brings together a panel of leaders from Australia’s most forward-thinking firms to unpack the complexities of delivering large-scale infrastructure projects and share strategies and practical approaches for successful delivery, stakeholder and project management, and how they go beyond compliance to create lasting community impact.
Joining Projectworks CEO, Mark Orttung, is Brendan Thomas, Director of NGNU and Ben Schnitzerling, Director of Red Fox Advisory, both founding their companies on the back of wanting to do it differently, and seeing a gap in how things were being done.
Having scaled their teams during times of disruption, they will share their work on nation-shaping infrastructure projects.
Brendan Thomas, Co-founder & Director, NGNU
A proud Dharug man and experienced engineering leader, Brendan Thomas brings over 20 years of experience in property and construction, including senior roles at Lendlease and CBA. As Founder of NGNU, he champions culturally intelligent project delivery and pathways for First Nations participation in infrastructure. Brendan’s insights connect technical excellence with social and cultural impact shaping how Australia builds for the future.
Ben Schnitzerling, Co-founder & Director, Red Fox Advisory
Ben Schnitzerling is a transformational leader with over two decades of experience guiding complex infrastructure and advisory projects across Australasia. Before founding Red Fox Advisory, he was Regional Director at Arup, leading over 1,100 staff and $270 million in annual revenue. A Fellow of Engineers Australia and Certified Advisory Chair, Ben is known for turning complexity into clarity, driving growth, cultural change, and lasting impact across the engineering and infrastructure sectors.
The session explores how engineering leaders are rethinking project delivery at scale.
Attendees will gain practical insights into:
- Strategies for navigating complexities of mega projects
- How to guide your teams through multi-year projects with sharp financial foresight
- Managing expectations and cross-collaboration amongst different stakeholders
- Why we must go beyond compliance to create lasting community impact
With discussions grounded in real-world projects delivered by NGNU and Red Fox Advisory across Australia, the panel will touch on how their firms apply data-driven foresight to strengthen financial control, manage delivery risk, and maintain utilisation across long-term, multi-stakeholder projects.
From forecasting cash flow on delayed projects to tracking resourcing with complete oversight, leaders are using smarter systems like Projectworks to see pressure points before they escalate and to make confident decisions that keep projects moving in the right direction.
For leaders who are wanting to think differently and preparing ahead for 2026 projects in the pipeline, this session offers clear, actionable strategies you can apply.
Register now to join the conversations and hear how Australia’s engineering leaders are shaping the next decade of infrastructure.
What sparked this webinar?
After hosting several in-person Leaders Series events in QLD, NSW and VIC attended by over 100 engineering leaders, Projectworks are bringing these events online to make it easier for you to join in on these crucial conversations.
Join the webinar live to hear how engineering and consulting leaders are shaping the future of Australia’s infrastructure.
Time: 12:00PM – 1:00PM AEDT
Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025
Can’t make the live webinar? No problem. Still register and we’ll send you the recording.
