Aurecon civil engineer and Olympic medallist Jane Moran has been named one of six Young Executives of the Year in the 2018 Australian Financial Review BOSS awards.

This year Moran was appointed to lead the 65-strong Newcastle office of global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon, making her the youngest office leader globally and one of the youngest in Aurecon’s history.

This is the second year in a row an Aurecon employee has received the AFR BOSS Young Executive award, with chief people officer Liam Hayes a recipient in 2017 for his human-centric leadership.

Moran received the accolade in recognition of her ability to build high performing teams, strong client relationships and commercial success in her role in the fast-growing Hunter Valley region.

Run in association with DDI, a leading HR consultancy, the awards are Australia’s foremost recognition of aspiring leaders, with finalists facing a rigorous panel of heavyweight business leaders and required to participate in a gruelling ‘CEO for a day’ simulation exercise.

“I am looking forward to continue kicking goals in Newcastle for our operations out of the Hunter. I am excited to build relationships with key clients and partners, develop the capability of our people, and help our team and clients become future ready,” says Moran.

“I really enjoy collaborating with a diverse cross-section of people to drive business direction and believe the most important attributes of good leaders are empathy, compassion, honesty, firmness, trust and presence.”

Moran also credits her training in the Olympic pool to her success in the boardroom.

“I was selected to join the Australian Water Polo team to compete at the 2012 London Olympics where we won bronze,” she says.

“The lessons I learnt during training, such as the importance of teamwork and the value of real-time feedback are directly transferable to the workplace and I believe have contributed to making me a better leader.”

“To achieve my Olympic dream, I also had to balance full-time work at Aurecon with full-time training, touring and competing. I was one of only two members of my team with a career outside sport and while the juggle proved challenging at times, my passion to also excel at business kept me on track and has only benefited my career long-term,” says Moran.