Employee-owned consulting engineering company, Aurecon, is moving its transformation process up a gear with the appointment of Portia Derby as Senior Regional Director for Gauteng. Derby will be accountable for the leadership and performance of the Johannesburg and Tshwane offices in South Africa.
The first African woman appointed to a senior management position involved in the operations of the company, Derby has a BSc in Geology & Economics and a BSc (Honours) in Economics, both from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as an MBA from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is currently a director of Ubu Investment Holdings, where she has a number of fiscal and fiduciary responsibilities and is responsible for advising on strategy, business development and investment.
Prior to joining Ubu, Derby was the Director-General in the Department of Public Enterprises and a strategy and corporate governance consultant at Transnet. She has previously held senior positions at the Department of Trade and Industry as well as in the private sector.
She also served as an advisor to the then Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and was actively involved in the drafting of the Mining Charter. Derby’s knowledge of government processes and procedures will be a significant asset to Aurecon. Innovation in engineering that helps government to achieve its development goals will be an important success factor in both the public and private sectors in the future, and she is the perfect person to bridge the gap between the two sectors. She is also extremely capable when it comes to building strong teams that work across multiple disciplines and sectors.
As Aurecon is a company that focuses on bringing ideas to life, her ability to take projects from concept to implementation will also be a key success factor for the company’s operations in Gauteng.
