After a competitive procurement process, Newsom Consulting in partnership with Steering Point were awarded the recruitment partner contract for the MetroLink programme.
After a competitive procurement process, Newsom Consulting in partnership with Steering Point were awarded the recruitment partner contract for the MetroLink programme.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s (TII) MetroLink programme is the most ambitious transport infrastructure project in Irish history. This transformative initiative will introduce Dublin’s first metro railway, setting a new standard for public transportation in the region.
MetroLink promises to revolutionise Irish infrastructure, delivering a high-capacity, high-frequency metro system featuring 16 new stations from Swords to Charlemont. This state-of-the-art network will seamlessly interconnect with multiple transport modes, including Dublin Airport, Irish Rail, DART, Dublin Bus, and Luas, fostering a fully integrated transport system for the Greater Dublin Area.
After a competitive procurement process, Newsom Consulting in partnership with Steering Point were awarded the recruitment partner contract for the MetroLink programme.
Initially TII required four key roles to be recruited, including the Programme Director.
The Programme Director is fundamental in leading the delivery of the largest ever transport infrastructure project undertaken in Ireland (c€20bn).
The successful candidate would oversee the entire programme ensuring it is delivered safely, on-time, for the best-value, and will meet the satisfaction of the customer. This person would lead the MetroLink directorate, including all TII MetroLink staff, Client Partner, Project Delivery Partner, Contractors, Sub-Contractors, and the wider supply chain.
TII needed to find an exceptional leader who ideally had a proven track record of leading and delivering large-scale metro or urban rail projects.
To find candidates with the level of experience required to deliver a project of this magnitude, we began by researching metro programmes worldwide. We developed a list of new build and major expansion programmes over the past decade and from there found the Programme Leaders from the client, contactor and programme partner sides.
Alongside this, it was important to look for candidates within Ireland who had experience leading major infrastructure programmes but were unlikely to have metro project experience as Ireland had not built a metro line previously.
Being a public sector organisation, TII required extensive salary benchmarking data in order to justify the remuneration package required to attract candidates with this level of experience. We provided TII with a report detailing compensation packages at two levels; those within budget who had less experience and those who had delivered a metro project of this scale.
The report went to government who backed the decision to authorise the required salary package to attract appropriately experienced candidates.
An additional challenge for this role involved addressing concerns about the project's progression. The MetroLink programme – like many significant infrastructure programmes – has had several false starts in the past. Having spoken with the client about this point at length, along with other associated stakeholders, everyone involved was confident in the progression of the programme.
So, a key role of the consultant was to alleviate these concerns, by underscoring the government and stakeholders' commitment and emphasising the phased project timeline.
Newsom Consulting presented a shortlist of 6 excellent candidates. The successful candidate, Sean Sweeney, had 30 years of major programmes experience across New Zealand and Australia, and 5 years as CEO for a $5.5 billion new underground metro rail service for Auckland.
