Ben Mctavish Email & Phone Number

Darwin City, Nt, Au

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

My primary responsibility is to strike a balance between development and environmental protection through the effective administration and application of key legislation. This includes leading a cross-functional, multidisciplinary team of three managers and 17 officers across licensing, compliance, and enforcement, and the ongoing development of regulatory framework implementation.Some highlights associated with this tenure include turning the workplace culture around, transforming low morale and an accelerating rate of attrition into a strong, positive team with a 100 per cent head count.Additional Achievements and Responsibilities• Reset expectations, listening hard, articulating a clear vision and developing solutions to improve performance and attract a widening pool of recruits.• Modelled open communication and accountability, empowering team members and identifying and developing emerging leaders.• Recovered lost ground on previous reporting period KPIs and set the direction for meeting all KPIs for the current period.• Successfully made the case for a leadership team restructure, influencing senior-level decision-makers and championing change to achieve buy-in across the board for a third manager.• Aligned the compliance focus with the Division’s Compliance Plan, particularly emphasising high-risk licensed activities including LNG facilities and water releases from mining activities; and activities approved under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA). • Provided leadership on safety, setting WHS processes and expectations including JSA maturity.

Tanami, Northern Territory, Australia

Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia

Northern Territory, Australia

Gove, Northern Territory, Australia

I was chiefly responsible for leading projects to improve environmental outcomes, fostering productive relationships across a large and diverse group of stakeholders as well as providing technical support on multiple aspects of closure including water treatment; long-term closure planning; and monitoring.I am particularly proud of driving a highly effective, collaborative and iterative approach that allowed regulatory agencies, Traditional Owners and senior business leaders to find common ground and ensure progression on Licence compliance; closure plan development; and the reduction of closure legacy costs.Additional Achievements and Responsibilities• Won the support of global, regional and national leaders within the business, securing over $50 million in capital funds to bring a closure project forward by approximately 10 years..• Fostered a strong, inclusive and diverse culture based on communication and accountability, ensuring high performance and a strong safety focus from a team of technicians, advisors, engineers and graduates.• Drove innovation, convincing senior stakeholders of the value of new tools and technologies to strengthen decision-making and improve monitoring without the need for additional resources.• Provided technical and strategic input to the Mining Management (Closure) Plan; and developed and drove the Seepage Management Strategy.• Provided governance on water inventory monitoring, reporting and closure.• Oversaw site statutory, internal and operational reporting requirements, coordinating site auditing and compiling and reporting on environmental metrics.• Drove innovation, gaining funding and support for the implementation of an Operational Telemetry System that dramatically improved monitoring and the quality of datasets.

Rockhampton, Australia

I provided high-quality solutions to Water Management, Contaminated Lands, and various Environmental projects.

Ranger Uranium Mine, Northern Territory, Australia

Ranger Uranium Mine, Northern Territory, Australia

As the Water and Tailings Closure Superintendent for the Ranger Uranium Mine closure, I was primarily responsible for the closure planning, implementation and governance system on the aspects of the site posing the most risk from both operational and reputational perspectives.As the Superintendent Water Management, I led a team on the investigation, remediation and resolution of an environmental issue that threatened the ongoing operation of the site. Notably, I made a significant contribution to leading practice on a strictly regulated closure of unprecedented scale and importance. Additional Achievements and Responsibilities• Collaborated intensively with external stakeholders, notably Traditional Owners and regulatory bodies, to build trust, address concerns and improve operations.• Successfully aligned operational departments with closure objectives to ensure on-time and to-budget delivery despite challenging deadlines and technical requirements.• Worked closely with the External Relations team to secure reputation and the social licence to operate.• Vastly improved morale, transforming the team by instilling respect and a focus on safety, and developing direct reports. • Provided technical input to the Ranger Closure Plan; and compiled and reported on Overall Closure metrics.• Led tailings transfer measurement and monitoring and worked closely with expert consultants to oversee tailings consolidation modelling and reporting.• Provided water inventory monitoring, reporting and closure governance, and coordinated site auditing.• Initiated an early-warning groundwater monitoring system, enabling the timely operation of a surface water sump that captured contaminated waters.• Led the writing, supervision, direction and review of numerous plans and reports including the Ranger Water Management Plan; the Ranger Wet Season Report; and the Jabiluka Water Management Plan.

Cairns, Australia

My team provided expert advice, direction and feedback for Queensland's premier road construction provider. We also undertake environmental audits on all projects to ensure compliance and best practice across the State.

I managed a suite of comprehensive contaminated sites projects for a major international petroleum company, conducting soil, groundwater and surface water sampling; and providing site supervision and validation. This encompassed Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments and Remediation Action Plans as well as project pricing and resource management.

Benvsc, Chemistry, Geology, Geography

Groundwater

Higher School Certificate