Derek Ford, Lead Engineer Operations Manager

Derek Ford

Lead Engineer Operations Manager

NATO Support Agency

Location
Afghanistan
Education
Bachelor's degree, BSC & HND Engineering
Experience
43 years, 11 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :43 years, 11 Months

Lead Engineer Operations Manager at NATO Support Agency
  • Afghanistan
  • My current job since November 2014

Returned to Kandahar at the request of NSPA to manage the Engineering Department. Responsible for providing Engineering Strategic and Operational advice to Regional Headquarters Engineering and Planning Staff and provision of line management, leadership and direction to a team of Consultant Engineers.
• Operational management of Engineering and Quality Assurance Consultant Technical Officers. Covering:
o Prime Power Generation and Distribution.
o Water Production and Distribution (including Wells and ROWPU).
o Waste Water Management (Waste Water Treatment Plant and Infrastructure)
o Solid Waste Management including HAZMAT treatment and disposal.
o Facilities Management of Airfield Buildings and Support Assets.
o Roads and Grounds Maintenance Services.
o Aircraft Operating Surfaces Maintenance Services.
• Active participation in Camp Management meetings with Stakeholder Senior Management.
• Provision of Staff Reports and Studies on Engineering Facilities and Contractor Services.

Senior Facilities Manager at Carillion Alawi
  • Oman - Muscat
  • June 2014 to November 2014

Responsible the identification of training needs, delivery of On The Job training of Camp Managers and continuous monitoring. Mentoring and Development of Managers skills to assist them to manage multiple sub-contractors and company staff including:
• Power and Utilities Provision and Distribution.
• Catering and Accommodation Management.
• Operations and Maintenance of Oil Production Stations, Support, Recreation and Accommodation Facilities.

Consultant Technical Officer at NATO Support Agency
  • Afghanistan
  • January 2012 to May 2014

Responsible for NSPA oversight of multiple O&M contracts for Infrastructure and Technical Airfield Facilities. Also responsible for the delivery of MEP and infrastructure contracts for multinational agencies.
• Mobilisation and verification of contractor O&M and FM services and management and supervision of contracts
• Development of Technical Statements of Work (SOW) to meet customer requirements
• Management of Tender Technical Evaluation process in order to determine proposal compliance
• Contractor supervision to ensure deliverables are fully met in accordance with the contract and SOW.
• Management of internal reporting system, project files and configuration management of project deliverables

Facility O&M Group Manager and Senior Project Manager at G3 Systems Ltd
  • United Kingdom
  • June 2009 to December 2011

Facility O&M Group Manager (Kandahar & Kabul) Responsible for the delivery of O&M/FM services for Hospital and Military installations in Kandahar and Kabul.
• FM Tender manager, provision of technical proposals, pricing, submission and contract negotiation
• Mobilisation of multiple new projects including the recruitment of technical and soft services staff
• Supervision of multiple trade disciplines including HVAC, Electricians, Plumbing, IT/Communications, Building Management and Alarm Systems
• Coordination and management of the design and build of Civil Engineering projects including new staff accommodation, offices, stores and workshop facilities
• Identification of all FM Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) activities and spares, tooling and consumables requirements, including setting up a maintenance database (CAFM Explorer)

Senior Project Manager (M&E) Kandahar Role 3 Hospital Overall Technical Project Management, Personnel Management and Logistical Coordination for the construction phase of a state of the art Medical facility
• 58 Bed Hospital Facility designed to deal with Battlefield Trauma and Mass Casualties.
• Provision of three Operating Theatres, 18 Intensive Care Bed spaces, Wards and a range of medical systems that were fully compliant with UK NHS HTM standards
• Full UK BS7671 certified electrical installation including cascading power backups
• Installation of Building Management & IT Communications systems
• Water treatment plant including RO & Solar/Boiler hot water and heating systems

Senior Project Manager at G3 Systems Ltd
  • United Kingdom
  • February 2004 to May 2009

). Responsible for the tender, contract negotiation, design management, development, production, trials, training and delivery of a number of UK MoD Projects including:
• Deployable Engineer Workshop (£5m) Provided the capability to the Royal Engineers to conduct engineering support activities in the field. Responsible for the development of the concept and production of the tender proposal to the MoD. On winning the contract, project managed the development of the system up to the point where it was brought into service. Responsibilities during this phase included recruitment of a specialist design support, management of the design activities towards achieving MoD approval for Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR), vendor selection including European ISO container manufacturer, production management, Test and Trials (Reliability, Environmental Chamber & User Trials) and In-Service Acceptance
• Military Working Dogs Accommodation Containers (£3m) Developed a 20’ ISO containerized system that provided a controlled temperature environment with internal rooms and external runs to accommodate 4 dogs per container. Following development and acceptance of the initial proto-type, a further 40 systems were brought into service. The majority of those are deployed in Afghanistan
• Deployable Tented Headquarters (£1m) The provision of Tented Systems and supporting infrastructure for an Army Headquarters in Germany
• Combined Instrumentation Repair Facility (£3m) A specialist 20’ ISO container that was developed and manufactured for the MoD for repair of military optical systems such as binoculars and laser range finding equipment.

Engineering Manager at British Army
  • United Kingdom
  • May 1980 to February 2004

2002 - October 2003 Deputy Team Leader of the Field Equipment section within the Combat Support Equipment Integrated Project Team, UK Defence Logistics Organisation
1999 - 2002 Training Analyst in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Training and Development Team.
1997 - 1999 Royal Army of Oman, Technical Advisor to the Commanding Officer of a maintenance workshop to support a fleet of Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks and supporting equipment
1995 - 1997 Maintenance Workshop Manager - Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Germany
1980 - 1995 Engineer and Artificer - Engineering career development and progression.

Education

Bachelor's degree, BSC & HND Engineering
  • at Open University
  • September 2000

Specialties & Skills

Contract Management
Change Management
Facility Management
Risk Management
Project Management
MS Office
MS Office
MS Sharepoint
Aotocad

Languages

English
Expert
Arabic
Intermediate

Memberships

Association for Project Management
  • Member
  • December 2002
Engineering Council
  • Incorporated Engineer
  • June 1992
Institute of Engineering Technology
  • Member
  • June 1992
Institute of Leadership and Management
  • Member
  • January 1991

Hobbies

  • Running
    Competed in multiple 10Km, 10 mile and Half Marathon events
  • Gymnasium
    Regular Gym user
  • Golf
    Keen high handicap golfer