Kier has appointed Helen Samuels as technical director, a newly created senior role within its construction business.

Samuels, a chartered civil engineer and fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, will join Kier on 4 January 2021, from her current role as CEO of Bibby Marine. 

She has previously held senior roles in the built environment, including as engineering director for Network Rail’s £6bn per year capital programme, where she also led the 700 strong multi-discipline design team. 

Prior to this, she was engineering director at United Utilities, where she created a new technical authority for full asset lifecycle. She has also held the role of managing director, Water Europe for CH2MHill (now part of Jacobs).

Liam Cummins, group managing director, Kier Construction said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Helen to Kier. I know she will be a great new addition to our construction senior leadership team. Helen’s outstanding engineering, technical and leadership experience and drive will be key to the implementation of our long-term strategy which has technical excellence at its heart.”

Samuels said: “I am delighted to be joining Kier at such an exciting time for the business. There are huge opportunities to close the productivity gap in the built environment through improved data and design, new technologies and modern methods of delivery. I’m looking forward to driving this forward, ensuring Kier is at the forefront of this transformation, working with our fantastic in-house teams as well as establishing strategic relationships with key consultant partners.”