Buildcorp has always valued promoting from within and creating internal career pathways for our people. This has resulted in the recent elevation of two of our Victorian senior managers into a joint leadership role for Buildcorp’s Victorian business. Jason Folino (above right), Construction Manager, and Tim Lowrie (above left), Commercial Manager, took the reins in November 2017 and have since led the team to several recent wins, including our second project for Toyota, the Centre of Excellence buildings on their Altona campus.
In a nod to the Team’s fifth birthday, we sat down with Jason and Tim for a ‘Fast 5’ Q&A session to get to know them a little better:
- What is the best thing about leading Buildcorp Victoria?
Tim: The culture and people make it refreshing to turn up to work every day. This great opportunity to lead the business with Jason also enables us to guide a group of passionate and dedicated individuals who continue to push the boundaries to become our next generation of leaders.
Jason: The new challenge of working alongside Tim in leading the Victorian business is a highlight. We are bolstered by the business’ confidence in our leadership and are excited about leading the team through its next phase of growth.
- What is the project you’re most proud of in your career?
Tim: The opportunity to be the commercial lead on the new UBS headquarters near Liverpool Street in London. The project was substantial in value (circa £200m) and size (70,000m2), and had a fantastic site team. It gave me a great platform to understand how to prepare and tackle what was a mammoth task, given I was involved from the tender through to PC. Working with a great team including the client and consultants made most days very enjoyable on site.
Jason: There are two projects which really stand out as being projects that produced long-lasting partnerships. The first was a large $12m data centre for the University of Melbourne over six years ago, and the second was a recent refurbishment for Toyota’s Port Melbourne Headquarters (pictured below). These projects were lengthy and required a strong sense of trust to be developed between the client and professional teams from the outset, which resulted in successful outcomes and happy clients.
- Who has been the biggest influence on you?
Tim: I met a very prominent project manager in WA who was a great mentor and friend. In my latter years it was my directors at ISG in London, they showed me the importance of hard work and determination to secure and deliver amazing projects.
Jason: A few university students asked me the same question during a recent career forum and I couldn’t pin it on one person. There have been several managers throughout my career who I have taken learnings from along the way. In addition to that my parents have largely impacted where I am today.
- What’s next for the Buildcorp Victoria team?
Tim: We have spent the last five years developing a portfolio to be proud of. Building trust and creating long term partnerships with our staff, consultants and clients has been the backbone of our success to date. Our focus going forward is to cement our competitive position as a leading construction partner for workplace fit-out and refurbishment projects, along with identifying new opportunities to showcase our expertise in education and government work.
Jason: The next chapter of the Victorian business will also use Buildcorp’s award winning systems to provide that next level of client experience across everything we do, from tendering to pre-construction, to site management and post construction. On the back of a number of recent project wins, we look forward to continuing to grow our pipeline by securing interesting and challenging projects for our teams.
- How do your different leadership styles work together?
Tim: Both Jason and I have diverse industry experience and understand the value in galvanising teams towards a common goal. I am fortunate to have a partner in business who I can bounce ideas off and share advice with in an open and transparent way. I believe that our communication style and collaborative approach will allow us to get the best result for the business and our team, bringing something unique to the way we operate the Victorian arm of the business.
Jason: I agree. Responsibilities are unofficially split 50/50 to best play to our strengths but we both enjoy the management and operational side of the business. Our technical skillsets also complement each other as Tim is across the commercial elements and I bring the construction management expertise. We both believe in empowering our teams to contribute to the success of Buildcorp. We do this by communicating our business goals and plans, encouraging new ideas and facilitating flexibility within roles to help our team learn and grow.
And a final comment on what you love most about Melbourne?
Tim: I love Melbourne because of the weather and the footy- Richmond Tiges! The café and restaurant scene are amazing and of course the people are good too.
Jason: Great vibe, love the food and cycling culture but love the footy even more especially now Melbourne are no longer on the bottom of the ladder.
