Ayo is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Professionally Qualified Project Manager with 6 years’ experience at the Environment Agency in options appraisal and business cases, managing team, budgets, programmes, supervising the construction of flood storage reservoirs and undertaking engineering design of flood defences. This included secondments to Jacobs and West Berkshire Council.

Her Qualifications, Certificates and Professional Memberships are as follows:
• MEng Civil and Coastal Engineering (University of Plymouth, Devon, UK)

(Her Master’s Dissertation was titled – Investigation into Scour at Quay Walls and Scour Protection with the Increased Use of Azipods. Her Dissertation was selected to be presented at BURC – British Undergraduate Research Conference)
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) MICE – Institution of Civil Engineers
• Association for Project Management’s APM Project Manager Qualification & Member (MAPM)
• Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) – Academically Qualified person
• Fellow of Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce
• CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS)
• Nominated for the Top 50 Women in Engineering under 35 (WE50) initiative run by The Telegraph in partnership with The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) (June 2017)

She is also a Supervising Civil Engineer taking graduate engineers through the professional development process to achieve their professional qualification. She is an active member of her professional institution, the ICE where she is a member of the ICE Thames Valley, ICE Policy and External Affairs and ICE Communication Committees. In addition, she is a Past President’s Future Leader where she was mentored by Lord Robert Mair and worked on the state of the nation report on infrastructure investment and the In Plain Sight Report – reducing the risk of infrastructure failure (a report launched in the wake of the Grenfell Tragedy).

Ayo’s Project CV is vast and diverse. Please see below.

Engineering & Management Experience

Project Team Manager – Environment Agency (May 2022- Current)

Ayo is a Project Team Manager in the Programme and Contract management – working within Major Project and Programme Delivery. She is part of the local leadership team, responsible for leading a team of project-focused team members on the River Thames Scheme and Assets below required condition (ABRC) Sub Programme in the Thames Area and the western part of the Environment Agency’s Collaborative Delivery Framework Eastern Hub (Thames Valley, East Anglia, Herts and North London). In this role, she focuses of developing her team and leading by example by demonstrating excellent behaviors to enhance project delivery and create a positive working environment. Her core activities in this role, are line management, coaching her team, business planning, supporting her team in escalating project issues, workforce planning, stakeholder engagement and ensuring compliance to Health and Safety legislation.

Project Manager & BIM Lead – Environment Agency (May 2019- May 2022)

2021 – May 2022   Project Manager, Brooklands and Byfleet, Weybridge (~£2million) The aim of the project was to develop an economically viable scheme that would reduce the risk of flooding in Weybridge.  Ayo’s role was focused on managing the project, arranging site meetings, and canvassing the views of various stakeholders to effectively develop smart objectives for deliver. Ayo developed the scope for the consultant contracts and managed their costs, programmes, and reported progress to the various stakeholders.

2019- 2021 BIM lead for the Environment Agency’s Collaborative Delivery Framework Eastern Hub (Thames Valley, East Anglia and Herts and North London). Ayo was responsible for embedding BIM across the Eastern part of the Environment Agency. She worked to create a strategic vision by understanding the barrier to BIM being successful implemented in the organisation. As a result of asking the right questions and gaining understanding. She created a plan that involved procuring a designer to create new training resources and posters. She wrote a proposal to the hub delivery manager who signed off on the spend for her plan. She procured a design who she worked with to develop interactive BIM resources. She delivered training to senior users, commercial staff, project manager, as well providing support directing to projects. She also acted as a stakeholder to the Digital CoP: Task & Finish group – reviewing their deliverables and providing technical feedback. In this role, she worked with project support officers who aided her in the heavy lifting of reviewing every project. She trained them from novice to BIM champion proficient in BIM and able to undertake BIM health check of 250 projects in the hub, supporting PM’s undertaking BMAT and in the long-term claiming CERT. She made this process more efficient by creating template email, proforma for their use and wider use. She empowered the BIM leads in one to one-training session where she also coached them towards using the BIM champion roles as an opportunity to develop towards their own development goals.

2019- May 2022    Project Manager, Bray Mill Weir Replacement, Maidenhead (£2 Million) The aim of the project was to replace an existing weir that had reached the end of its life and install an eel pass.  Ayo pick the project up from inception to managed it to construction. She led the project team both internally and externally, writing the scope for the various NEC3/NEC4 contracts for the initial assessment, design, construction, managing the contracts– application for payment assessments, early warning, and compensation events, developing the businesses cases (SOC, OBC, FBC), managing the programmes, budgets, costs, risks, and stakeholders. She chaired project board meeting, led early warning meeting to resolve commercial issue, actively applied lessons learnt.

Graduate Civil Engineer – Environment Agency (September 2016 – May 2019)

She was on an Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) training agreement to become a Chartered Civil Engineer. Her first role was working in the National Capital Programme Management service team (NCPMS) which involved managing projects and programmes from strategic planning to implementation and delivery of the final outcomes. She project managed the Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme (£5 Million) and led the Assurance and Approval workstream on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme (£120 Million). She undertook an 8-month secondment to West Berkshire Council, site supervising the construction of the Tull Way Flood Alleviation Scheme (£1.2 Million). She completed a placement in the Asset Performance department within the Environment Agency working on the redesign of a flood bund in Mortimer, using ARGCIS software to map culvert utilities and undertaking fish pass design at Tumbling Bay, Oxford (£300,000). She completed a secondment to Jacobs, TEAM2100 on Canvey Island Southern Shoreline, Essex (£20 Million) where she was assistant to the project manager.  2018-2019         Fish Pass Designer, Tumbling Bay Fish Pass, Oxford (£ 300,000) The aim of the project was to facilitate fish migration around two weirs. Ayo was the lead designer on the scheme, she developed a project brief, design statement, attended site visits to other fish passes to look for opportunities and constraints.  Ayo used eco-system surveys to evaluate the various options, wrote an option appraisal report summarising her findings and designed a bypass fish pass channel with a gabion inlet structure using the various guidelines including Fish Pass Manual (2010), Eurocode 3, Eurocode 7, CIRIA C760 Guidance on embedded retaining wall design and CDM (2015) Regulations. The project was later signed off and has been constructed.

2018-2019     Assistant to PM, Canvey Island Southern Shoreline, Essex (Seconded to Jacobs) (£ 20 Million) The aim of the project was to deliver a flood risk reduction scheme at Canvey Island. Ayo’s role on the project was to work with the Project Manager to complete the appraisal report and to produce the Task Order Proposal (TOP) for acceptance by the Programme Delivery Board (PDB).  The TOP consists of the following documents: Design Execution Plan, Basis of Design, Cost Schedules, Stakeholder Engagement Plan, Programme, Risk Register, Proforma and Appraisal Paper. Ayo coordinated the production of these documents, reviewed the Risk Register and personally created the Programme and Design Execution plan. Ayo created a delivery programme for the Task Order Proposal deliverables and allocated suitable resources to undertake each deliverable. The programme detailed the work status, date for draft submission, date for review, date for final submission and including the BIM Common Data Environment document location. Ayo wrote an appraisal paper (a two-page document summarising the appraisal report) to be sent to various stakeholders.  This was crucial for the Castle Point Council who needed to be convinced of the preferred option. 2018-19 TEAM2100 (Seconded to Jacobs) (£ 20 Million) I worked with the EA’s commercial team on the programme-wide efficiencies claimed on an annual basis.  She undertook a comparative exercise of a traditionally delivered project and a Lean delivered project at the equivalent project gateway. The Lean Process is an approach that aims to shorten the time taken to get to delivery stage.  The Lean Process differed from traditional project delivery at the various gateways by: Pre-gateway 1: Workshopped one day initial assessment including a site visit Pre-gateway 2: Workshopped long-list and short-list options Pre-gateway 2: Starting design under a proforma prior to the appraisal and Task order proposal approval. This allowed the efficiency value (sum of the actual cost minus target cost / sum of should cost) to be quantified.

2017-2018    Flood Embankment Designer & Project Manager, Mortimer Flood Embankment, Mortimer The aim of the project was to bring a failed food defence asset back to operation. Ayo inspected and surveyed the asset, organised a temporary flood plan, re-designed the failed sections of the earth embankment to Eurocode 7 and worked with the electricity companies to mitigate risk of trees failing onto the power line.

2018              Client, AMWELL Armwell End Workshop Refurbishment, HNL (£ 13,117) The aim of the project was to refurbish one of the Environment Agency’s workshops.  Ayo was the CDM client and followed the Environment’s agency X63 CDM process – appointing the principal designer, designer, contractor, ensuring their skills, knowledge, and experience, managing resources, time, provision of welfare and receiving the Health and Safety File.

2017          Site Supervisor & Assistant Project Manager, Tull Way Flood Alleviation Scheme, Thatcham (£ 1.2 Million) The aim of the project was to build a surface water retaining bund to significantly reduce the flood risk to over 250 properties. As site supervisor Ayo’s responsibilities were detailed in the NEC3 ECC contract to: Review work information, provide guidance on testing’s & inspections to ensure compliances with planned works, quality standards and construction legalisation and notify defects. She also supported the ECC PM in their duties (assessing application for payments).  In summary, Ayo kept site records in the form of a weekly site diary with photographs, maintained the risk register, held progress meetings on behalf of the client with the contractor team on site, monitored the result of the site tests (shear strength, moisture content etc) , ran a project blog, resolved issue on material running out by attending meeting with AWE and their nearby construction to negotiate material, researched alternative spillway vegetation option, reviewed the method statement and RAMS for the project, took responsibility for the risk register, kept a communication log, organised the project filing system, managed stakeholders, reviewed the programme and informed the application for payments decisions and compensation events.

2016-2017     Designer, Enborne Culvert Replacement, Newbury (Seconded to West Berkshire Council) (£ 6,121)   Ayo designed a 225mm diameter Cast Iron Pipe underneath Enborne Street to improve the flow through the wider surface water network and the quality of headwall structures. Ayo completed the Bills of quantities using the Highways works Method of measurement and sent invitations to tender to local contractors via the Council’s portal.

2016-2017     Project Manager, Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme, Abingdon (£ 5 Million) The Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme was a package of projects – St Helen’s Mill and River Ock Flood Storage Area. As project manager, Ayo led a team of consultants, contractors, land agents and internal advisors to deliver the flood wall at St Helens Mill and progressed the Ock flood storage up to the strategic outline case. To do this, Ayo managed the budget, procured the contractor, reviewed designs, produced quarterly newsletters and frequently asked question (FAQ) documents for the public and wrote the business case.

2016-2017      Assistant Project Manager, Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, Oxford (£ 120 Million) The Oxford flood alleviation scheme is a two-stage channel to makes more space for water to flow during flooding. In Ayo’s role as assistant project manager, leading the assurance and approval workstream. She produced and managed the control documents. She wrote the risk management strategy, issues management, product description and quality management strategy. In addition to producing those documents, she managed the delivery of the other project control documents; benefit realisation, management strategy, and resource management strategy being produced by the Civil Service fast streamer to ensure the completion of work ready for its inclusion in the Oxford FAS ‘Outline Business Case’ (OBC). She also managed the completion of the issues and risk registers. BIM became a mandatory requirement on all WEM Lot 4 project after April 2016. Using the ‘BIM Employer’s Information requirement’, Environment Agency ‘Quick Guide to digital file naming’, ‘Environment Agency’s Project Manager Quick Guide to BIM’. She created a project specific BIM File naming presentation for the team to provide guidance and worked examples on file naming when unloading to Asite(the collaborative sharing space).

Undergraduate Civil Engineer – Industrial Placement – Halcrow, a CH2MHILL (now Jacobs) (2012-2013)

She undertook a range of tasks: fender and bollard design, writing technical notes, doing hand drawings, producing tender documents, completing take-offs, quantifying material, producing detailed cost estimates whilst making allowance for life-cycle cost inflation, calculating the wave and water levels and pressure of the setting concrete on the formwork, stability checks, design of groynes and rock revetment protection and design of retaining walls using Eurocode’s. Ayo worked on site for a project where she inspected sheet pilling with use of ultrasound and helped with surveys to compare the levels to results previously gained at the last inspection carried out by her colleagues. She undertook site safety assessment and learnt about the importance of site safety.   Littlehampton Arun Tidal Defence East Bank, West Sussex, England. The project was a tidal defence for the Environment Agency (£12 million). Ayo designed the retaining wall structure according to the BS 6349 British standard for maritime design. Ayo checked colleagues’ calculations, schedule of drawings, and details on the drawings. Broomhill Sands, East Sussex. The project was a Rock Revetment design. Ayo carried out the design of the rock revetment undertaking stability checks in deep and shallow water, overtopping checks and scour at the toe of the structure. She used the In-house software “Sands” to locate the lowest point on the coast to place the rock revetment. Felixstowe – Berth Extension. The project was developing a 3rd terminal in the port. Ayo supported the production of design drawings, specification, bills of quantities and undertook the calculations of the reclamation/fill required for the finger quay extension and the back-water region. Greenport.  The project was a port project in Hull.  The role of Halcrow was to provide the tender design for the client ABP and BAM Nuttall. Ayo carried out the design of Rock Revetment Scour Protection using the EAU Recommendation of the committee for the waterfront structures harbours and waterways and PIANC guidance, specifying the diameter of the rock required, layer thickness, the filter underlayer required as well as detailing the feasibility of the mattress fabrication, installation, and placement. Teesport, River Tees, Middleborough. The project was to upgrade and deepen the existing 50-year-old berth to accommodate larger vessels. The role of Halcrow was to undertake the outline design. Ayo designed the fenders that goes along the quay wall that take the impact from the vessel berthing impact according to BS6349: Part 4 code of practice for maritime structure and with reference to Marcom report WG 33 guidelines for the design of fender system 2002.   RVCP – Royal Victoria Country Park, Hampshire, Southampton. CH2MHILL was commissioned to undertake the study of the sea defence wall (cantilever and anchored) which runs along the frontage.  Ayo undertook the visual inspection along the 500m span of wall measuring the sheet pile thickness and using Prosheet to create a model to calculate the length of sheet pile needed. Queen’s Beach Montenegro, Bar – Marina Design. The project included a new specialised terminal for general liquid, bulk and container cargo. Ayo calculated the length of the pontoon and the separation for the port layout using the Australian standard. Royhill, Australia. The project was a new fuel terminal at Royhill.  Ayo designed a horizontal wave deck, calculating the wave load on the proposed decks for 4 different situations: two different return periods (1 in 25 years and the 1 in 100 year) and the two level of deck (+5mOD and the +6mOD). Through this project Ayo assessed the best approach, analysing probabilistic or deterministic design and how to design an open grated deck.  Ayo used Mathcad and Excel to carry out the wavelength calculation producing innovative solutions to technical issues such as the open grating and the air pocket between the water-level and the deck. Ayo also created a Mathcad template calculation to save time and manage resources and a long-term standardised template for such a project. Tema Port, Southeast of Ghana. The project was for the expansion of a container port built in 1960 to make it suitable for the traffic expected at port and the addition of 2 new berths. Ayo calculated the material of armour layer, filter layer and the core material needed for the quay structure construction and new crown wall in term of reclamation, pavement.  Ayocarried out the Cost estimate, quantifying material and decide the rates and the impact of inflation to estimate the overall project cost for the duration of the construction. Samalaju, Malaysia. The client was the Sarawai state government. Halcrow were employed to undertake the port layout. Ayo designed the Fender for a Panamax and handy size vessel berthing for normal and abnormal berthing energy. Carr’s Bay Port Development, Monserrat. The project was the expansion of the existing ports. Ayo designed 30tonne and 300 tonne bollards.

2011 Undergraduate Civil Engineer, Summer Placement (2 months) – DENNE –LEADBITTER GROUP

Regeneration of the Brighton open market site (£20 Million). The project was to build a residential and mixed development. Ayo assisted the site engineer setting out. She carried out concrete cube tests, observed non-destructive testing on concrete piles and inspected the rebar prior to every pour as well as checking the cover achieved afterward was according to the British standards. She managed drawings on site, prepared site documents for NHSB inspection and BREEAM assessment and undertook her CSCS qualification.

2009 Summer Placement Student (2 weeks)  – EAR Sheppard Civil and Structural Consulting Engineers

Ayo worked for two weeks in a consulting engineering company where undertook site surveys and used AutoCad for producing drawings (property plans). Ayo also got an opportunity to shadow an engineer and sit in on meetings regarding the tendering process for a bid.

Ayo Full CV is available on Request.