Back Row, left to right: Fraser Whineray, Nik Airina Nik Jaffar, Suhaimi Halim, Alan Isaac, Keith Watson. 

Front Row, left to right: Dato Seri Ismail Shahudin, Kerry McDonald (Chairman), David Prentice.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Opus is responsible for setting the strategic objectives of the Company and the policy framework  within which business is conducted. The Board is also responsible for monitoring performance of Opus and the enhancement of Shareholder value. The Board comprises eight Directors: an independent Chairman, three further Independent Directors, three representatives of the Company’s majority Shareholder, and a Managing Director. The Directors have an appropriate range of proficiencies, experience and skills.


DIRECTORS

Kerry McDonald
BCom, MCom (Hons), DCom (hc), AFInstD, FAICD, FNZIM
Chairman and Director
Independent

Kerry was appointed to the Board of Opus on 1 April 2007 and elected Chairman on 1 September 2008.  He has economics degrees from the University of Canterbury and received an Honorary Doctorate in Commerce from the University of Canterbury in 2008.

Kerry is currently a Director of Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, Chairman of BNZ Wellington Partners, Deputy Chairman of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, a Director of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Ltd and member of the Board of the National Army Museum, Waiouru.  He is also a Life Member of the Australia-New Zealand Business Council.

He was previously Director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research before he joined Comalco/Rio Tinto in Melbourne in 1981.  He had various senior executive roles in Australia and New Zealand until 2003, including  Managing Director of Comalco New Zealand and Managing Director, Energy, Environment and External Affairs, and was a member of the Comalco Executive Committee from 1988 to 2000.

Kerry has held numerous directorships  including: Bank of New Zealand ( Chairman), National Australia Bank, GRD Macraes and OceanaGold (Chairman of both), Oceana Gold Corporation  Vice (Chairman), Carter Holt Harvey, Ports of Auckland, Gough, Gough & Hamer, Grant Thornton NZ (Chairman) and Owens Group.  Kerry was President of the Institute of Directors NZ, chaired both the New Zealand-Japan and Australia-New Zealand Business Councils, was the New Zealand Chairman until 2006 of the Australia–New Zealand Leadership Forum and a Member of the APEC Business Advisory Council. He was a Director of Antarctica New Zealand, a Trustee of WWF NZ, a Trustee and Executive Committee Member of the Business Parliament Trust and a SPARC-appointed Advisor to the Board of Swimming NZ.  Previous  State Sector roles include  the Savings Working Group (Chairman), the State Sector Standards Board (Chairman)and the Department of Conservation Oversight Committee after Cave Creek (Chairman),  the e-Government Advisory Board and the Foreign Direct Investment Advisory Board.

Dr David Prentice
PhD, BEng (Hons), CPEng
Managing Director
Non-Independent and Executive

David graduated from Edinburgh University with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree and a PhD in Engineering. He is a Member of the Institute of Professional Engineers of NZ and is a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), New Zealand.  In his early career, David worked for Blyth and Blyth Consulting in the UK before returning to Edinburgh University to undertake his PhD. On completion, he joined Keith Borer Forensic Consultants as a Forensic Engineer before he immigrated to New Zealand in 1997 to join Opus as a Structural Engineer.  In 1999 David joined Working Knowledge in Wellington as an Information Technology Project Manager and Business Analyst on a number of significant software development and rollout projects. After four years David returned to Opus and was appointed Manager of the Business Solutions Group in Wellington which provided management consultancy services on a wide range of infrastructure-based projects.  In April 2006, David was appointed General Manager for Business Development and in February 2009 was appointed Director of Opus’ UK operations.  David commenced his role of Chief Executive and Managing Director on 1 October 2010.

Suhaimi Halim
BSc (Hons) (Civil)
Director
Non-Independent and Non-Executive 

Suhaimi Halim has been Director since 2002. Suhaimi holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Glasgow, Suhaimi is currently the Managing Director (Designate) of the Asset and Facility Management Group of Companies within the UEM Group Berhad. He assumed this position in October 2010 after relinquishing his post as the Managing Director of Opus Group Berhad. He has held general management roles within the UEM Group since joining in 1988 where he was the Managing Director of Linkedua Berhad and Expressway Lingkaran Tengah Sdn Bhd before taking up the post as Managing Director of Opus Group Berhad in 2002. He is also on the Boards of Opus Group Bhd, Faber Group Berhad, Propel Berhad and several other private companies.

Keith Watson 
Director
Independent

Keith Watson was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2008.  Keith is the Managing Director of Hewlett Packard New Zealand (HP) and has held executive roles with HP in Australia, Asia Pacific and at HP Corporate Headquarters where he was Senior Vice-President and General Manager Worldwide Commercial Channels. Before returning to HP New Zealand in 2001 he was Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Silicon Graphics. Keith has considerable international leadership experience in technology related and professional services business. Keith is a member of the Auckland University Business School Advisory Board and has attended Wharton Business Schools advanced MBA and Governance Programs.

Fraser Whineray
BE (Hons) (Chemical), MBA (Cambridge), GRADDIP DY.SCI.TECH (Distinction) 
Director
Independent

Fraser Whineray was appointed to the Board on 13 October 2008.  He is the General Manager Operations for Mighty River Power.  Prior to this he held a number of senior positions in Carter Holt Harvey and the dairy industry, including the New Zealand Dairy Board, Fonterra and the Puhoi Valley Cheese Company. Between 1997 and 2002 he was an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston, based in Wellington and Sydney. Fraser has considerable international business experience including commodities, professional services, strategy and innovation.  Fraser has a Bachelor of Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Business Administration from Cambridge University.

Alan Isaac
BCA, FCCA, FICS
Director
Independent

Alan Isaac has an extensive background in accounting and finance. He is a former national chairman of KPMG , the current President of the International Cricket Council, Chairman of Acurity and is a Trustee of the New Zealand Community Trust and the First Foundation.  In addition he is Chair/Advisor to a number of independent committees – including the New Zealand Fire Service Audit Committee, among others.  Alan has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington, and is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. He is also a Member of the Institute of Directors (NZ).

Dato Seri Ismail Shahudin
BEC (Hons)
Director
Non-Independent and Non-Executive

Dato Seri Ismail Shahudin was appointed to the Board on 8 December 2010.  He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Malaya, majoring in Business Administration. Dato Seri Ismail became the Vice-President & Group Head of the Public Sector and Financial Institutions Group in Citibank in Malaysia in 1985, and has held a number of executive positions in the banking sector in Malaysia- the United Asia Bank Berhad (Deputy General Manager), Maybank (General Manager Corporate Banking, then Executive Director). He became the Group Chief Executive of MMC Corporation Bhd. In 2002, was appointed to the Board of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, and became the Chairman until his retirement in July 2008. He is a Director of MCB Bank Pakistan.

He is currently on the Board of UEM Group Bhd, Opus Group Berhad, Nadayu Properties Berhad,Propel Berhad, UEM Enviroment Sdn Bhd, Kuality Alam Sdn Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, SMPC Corporation Bhd, EP Manufacturing Bhd and Aseana Properties Ltd.

Nik Airina Nik Jaffar
MSCE
Director
Non-Independent and Non-Executive

Nik Airina was appointed to the Opus Board on 8 December 2010. She holds a Master degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami and started her career at Beisweinger, Hoch and Associates. Nik Airina joined Pengurusan Lebuhraya Berhad in 1989 for the North-South Expressway project in Malaysia, before joining PLUS Expressways Bhd , the largest toll expressway company in South-East Asia, in 2001 as the General Manager of Planning and Development. She became the Chief Operating Officer of PLUS Expressways Bhd in 2006 and was appointed Managing Director of Opus Group Bhd on 1 October 2010. Nik Airina is one of the Malaysian representatives for the World Road Association’s Technical Committee on Management of Road Assets. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, Vice Chair of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (Malaysian Branch) and Honorary Treasurer of the Intelligent Transport System Association of Malaysia.

Nik Airina is currently on the Board of Opus Group Bhd, Opus International (M) Bhd, Opus International Consultants Ltd, Builders Credit & Leasing Sdn Bhd, Opus International (NZ) Ltd, Expressway Lingkaran Tengah Sdn Bhd, Linkedua (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Konsortium Lebuh Raya Butterworth-Kulim (KLBK) Sdn Bhd and PLUS Helicopter Services Sdn Bhd.