Insights

As a Regional Operations Leader, Ella has 30 traincrew who directly report to her and can be responsible for up to 100 crew on any given day. In her role, she provides frontline leadership to ensure the safe, reliable and cost-effective delivery of train services for our customers.

Ella says she loves the challenges that come with the responsibility of her role and that no two days are the same.

“I wear many hats in my job and get to interact with a diverse range of people from across the broader Aurizon business.

“Working in the rail industry, things can change quickly, so it’s important to be able to solve problems and manage different and competing priorities,” said Ella.

“Ultimately, my responsibility is my train crew, and I’m really passionate about being a great people leader and ensuring they have everything they need to do their jobs effectively.

“Since I started in this role, I’ve also been involved in driving and implementing projects to help improve processes for our train crew, which I’ve really enjoyed.”

Ella says Aurizon has been a great company to develop her career by providing her with experience across a range of roles that she had never thought of doing.

“I worked in Human Resources for a number of years before stepping into an operational leadership role in 2015 where I led a Customer Service team of 13 across five locations around Australia.

“Building on this experience, in 2017, I took the opportunity to get some blue-collar leadership experience under my belt by taking up this role in Newcastle,” she said.

“I love being a Regional Operations Leader and the fact that every day is different keeps me challenged, which is what I really enjoy.

“My operational experience has now led me to backfill a leadership position for the next 12 months where I will lead our Capability team to deliver leadership capability programs across the Company.

“Being a frontline leader, I know I will be able to provide some valuable insights to the programs, but I’m equally excited at the opportunity to grow and challenge myself and take these new experiences back to my role.

“One of the things I value about working at Aurizon is the opportunities I have been given for development and the diversity of the people I work with,” Ella said.