cv of ajith fernando september 2016

Ajith Fernando of 12

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name: Ajith Fernando

Gender: Male

Address (Home): 242D Blockhouse Bay Road, Avondale, Auckland

Email: [email protected]

Mobile: 021-08529613

Citizenship: New Zealand

Religion: Roman Catholic

LinkedIn Access: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ajith-fernando-20a00417

PROFILE STATEMENT: I am a multi-skilled manager and engineer with high energy, enthusiasm and motivation. I have served

in the energy (electricity, gas & geothermal) and marine industries for more than 20 years. I am well

qualified and experienced in areas such as regulatory compliance, risk management & internal audits,

health & safety management, performance management, business continuity management, process

redesign and improvement, ship management systems auditing, ship surveying, design engineering,

project engineering, and general business management. In addition to the engineering and

management skills, I also possess excellent accounting and finance skills.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) – University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) – 1991

2. Master’s in Business Administration (Distinction) –University of Waikato (NZ) – 2000

3. Master’s in Accounting (First class honours) - University of Waikato (NZ) – 2001

4. Master’s in Finance (First class honours) - University of Waikato (NZ) – 2008

AWARDS: 1. Tonga National Disaster Readiness Award – Tonga Power Limited, Tonga

2. Employee of the Quarter – WEL Networks Limited, Hamilton, New Zealand

3. Doctoral Scholarship – University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

4. Best Engineering Project (AutoCAD Based) – University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

PUBLICATIONS:

• Concurrent Land Use in Geothermal Steam field Developments, Proceedings World Geothermal

Congress 2010, Bali, Indnesia.

• Achieving Balance between Fuel and Non-fuel Tariffs, 24th Annual PPA Conference 2015, Majuro,

Marshall Islands.

https://nz.linkedin.com/in/ajith-fernando-20a00417


PROFESSIONAL TRAINING:

• Six Sigma Green & Black Belt Training (In Progress) – New Zealand, 2016

• LNG Master Class Certification (Tonga Power Limited) – Singapore, 2014

• Origin Energy LPG Ship Discharge Training (Tonga Gas Limited) – Tonga, 2013

• Advanced Project Management Course (MB Century) – New Zealand 2009

• Post Graduate Diploma in Business Research (WEL Networks) – New Zealand, 2008

• Quality Assurance and Lead QMS Auditor Certification (WEL Networks) – New Zealand, 2007

• Safety Ship Management System Auditor Certification (Lloyd’s Register) – New Zealand, 2000

• Health & Safety Audits onboard Ships Training (Lloyd’s Register) – New Zealand (2000)

• Ship Classification and Class Safety Control Systems (Det Norske Veritas) – Singapore, 1993

• Ship Surveying and Seaworthiness Certification (Det Norske Veritas) – India, Sri Lanka 1993

KEY PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: • Hold myself accountable for completing tasks on time with the highest possible standard and

inspires others also to perform tasks at the same standard. • Being able to demonstrate excellent coaching & mentoring and analytical skills • Volunteer for difficult assignments • Make personal sacrifices to meet company goals • Seek opportunities to learn and grow quickly • Willing to go the ‘extra mile’ to achieve goals • Being able to work effectively under pressure • Proactively seek and suggest improved ways of accomplishing tasks

COMPUTER SKILLS: • MS Office, MS Project, Xsol, Promapp, Quantate Risk Management, AutoCAD, AutoPipe

KNOWLEDGE OF APPLICABLE STANDARDS: • ISO 9000 for Quality Management (QMS) • ISO45000 (formerly NZS/AS 4801) for Safety Management (SMS) • ISO31000 (formerly AS/NZS 4360) for Risk Management (RMS) • BS25999 for Business Continuity Management (BCMS) • NZS7901 for Public Safety Management (PSMS) • ISO55000 (formerly PAS55) for Asset Management (AMS) • ISO14000 for Environmental Management (EMS)


WORK EXPERIENCE: Tonga Power Limited – Risk & Compliance Manager/Adviser: Jan 2012 – May 2016 Tonga Gas Limited – General Manager Transition: Mar 2013 – Mar 2014 Company: Tonga Power Limited (TPL) is a 100% state owned enterprise and its core business is in the

generation and distribution of electricity to over 22,000 customers across a four grid system

(Tongatapu, Vava’u, Ha’apai and ‘Eua) within the Kingdom of Tonga. TPL acquired Tonga Gas

Limited in March 2013 to supply, store, fill and distribute LPG to domestic and commercial customers

in Tonga.

Responsibilities at TPL: • Preparation of annual strategic and business plans in order to achieve company’s long-term and

short-term goals. Also preparation of company annual reports summarising the actual financial

and operational performance against the target performance.

• Preparation of company asset management plans (electricity generation and distribution) to

manage company strategic assets throughout their life cycles.

• Develop and maintain companywide policies, procedures and initiatives to support the strategic

vision and the best practice.

• Reporting to the Board on a monthly basis of financial/operational performance, HSE performance,

strategic projects progress, internal audit findings and any recommendations, update of the risk

register, issues in relation to regulatory compliance, network reliability performance, reworks and

customer complaints.

• Monitor annual Capex and Opex plans to ensure they executed within budgets and timely

reporting to all the stakeholders.

• Identify, assess and review major risks inherent in the business using Quantate Risk Management

Software. Also ensuring adequate and effective risk controls and risk management plans are in

place to mitigate impact and reduce likelihood of these risks.

• Develop company Business Continuity Plans and exercise them periodically in order to protect the

company assets and life and immediate recovery of key business activities after a disaster.

• Conduct risk management workshops and awareness training to all staff in identifying, assessing

and controlling risks inherent in the business activities and work practices.

• Overseeing the entire HSE function across all departments ensuring that the staff and field crew

strictly follow the company HSE policies and procedures. Also chairing the monthly HSE

Committee Meeting and preparing and distributing meeting minutes to relevant stakeholders.

• Prepare and submit monthly, quarterly and annual compliance reports to Electricity Commission

and Ministry of Public Enterprises about TPL’s compliance with regulatory performance standards

on measures such as voltage/frequencies, generation fuel efficiencies, line losses during power

distribution, reliability measures (e.g. SAIDI, CAIDI & SAIFI) and generation and network faults.


• Conduct periodical internal audit on various businesses processes in accordance with an annual

audit program and prepare audit reports outlining major findings of the audit with any

non-compliances. Suitable recommendations are also issued so that business unit managers

could take appropriate corrective actions to resolve the matters of concern.

• Prepare and submit electricity and LPG tariff reviews to the regulators for review and approval.

Major Achievements at TPL • I was involved in successful acquisition and transition of Tonga Gas LPG supply & distribution

business as per an acquisition and transition plan. Upon acquisition, I was promoted to General Manager of Tonga Gas Limited to improve the business performance and customer satisfaction.

Tonga Gas Limited was operating under Origin (Australia) protocol and it complies with the

Australian gas storage and handling legislation and standards.

• I developed a Regulatory Compliance Framework for reporting power generation and

distribution performance targets and associated periodical reports to Electricity Commission and

Ministry of Public Enterprises to ensure that TPL meet all regulatory standards.

• I was actively involved in the Electricity Tariff Reset Process where existing electricity tariff is

reviewed and reset for the 2015-2020 period in accordance with the Electricity Concession

Contract.

• I developed a Risk Management Framework where all the company risks are identified,

assessed, evaluated, mitigated and reviewed using Quantate Risk Management Program.

• I was involved in developing HSE policies and procedures and facilitating HSE workshops for

staff in both electricity and gas businesses.

• I developed Company Annual Reports and Business Plans for the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and

2016 in compliance with templates provided by the Government.

• I developed and implemented a complete Business Continuity Planning portfolio and also

assisted other Public Enterprises to develop and implement their BCP plans. For its contribution in

disaster recovery management in Tonga, Tonga Power was awarded National Disaster Readiness Award in 2013.

• I conducted risk management and business continuity planning workshops to all government

organisations in Tonga.

• I prepared a comprehensive Power Generation Asset Management Plan to manage generation

assets throughout their life cycles for the period of 2014-2024. The plan included areas such as

asset investment, asset risk management, asset performance management, asset maintenance,

and asset disposal & replacement.

• I was engaged in forecasting economic variables (e.g. inflation, electricity demand etc.) using

various forecasting techniques such as Holt-Winter, Uni/Multi-variate Regression, Autoregressive

and ARIMA models.

• I managed business transformation and improvement phase of the $10 million smart metering

installation project.


• I was involved in improving all the business processes and activities (using Xsol software)

across all business units (generation, distribution, projects & risk & compliance) to embrace best

practice.

• I was involved in the preparation of business cases on renewable energy (solar, wind and

storage) projects in the achievement of Government’s 50% renewable energy target by 2020.

• I presented and published a paper on Achieving Balance between Fuel and Non-fuel Tariffs at

the 24th Annual PPA Conference in Marshall Islands, 2015.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Heartland Bank (NZ) – Operations & Performance Manager: Dec 2010 – Dec 2011

Company: Heartland Building Society (i.e. Bank) is $2.5 billion business listed in NZ Stock Exchange. HBS is one

of the leading finance company and was aiming to become a NZ registered bank by the end of 2011 to

provide funding and lending services to Small and Medium Enterprises around New Zealand.

Responsibilities at Heartland: • Map and review all operational processes for accuracy, completeness, and alignment with

business plans and strategic goals.

• Train process owners and experts in using Promapp Software.

• Conduct monthly Process Improvement Forums to achieve continuous and radical business

process improvement.

• Identify and assess operational risks inherent in processes and implement risk mitigation controls

in accordance with HBS’s Risk management Framework.

• Maintain HBS’s Risk Register ensuring all risk control audits are duly conducted.

• Develop and maintain operations performance reporting across all departments focusing

productivity, accuracy, SLAs and scalability.

• Prepare monthly performance reports to the senior management using business units, teams and

individual KPIs.

• Involve actively in operational hind sighting meetings and use the meeting outcomes to improve

the process performance.

• Develop and maintain HBS’s Business Continuity Management (BCM) System in order to restore

key business processes in the events of unexpected incidents and natural disasters. The BCM

documentation includes Business Impact Analysis, Incident Management Plans, IT Disaster

Recovery Plans, Business Unit Recovery Plans, Emergency Response Plans and Normalisation

Plans.


Major Achievements at Heartland: • I designed and developed a Business Continuity Management (BCM) System in accordance

with the requirements of BS25999 Standard for restoration of business critical functions in the

event of a disaster. The BCM documentation included Business Impact Analysis Report, Incident

Management Plan, IT Disaster Recovery Plan, Business Unit Recovery Plans, Emergency

Response Plans and Normalisation Plans.

• I designed and developed a Process Management System for the company from the scratch.

This included such activities as process mapping (using Promapp Software), process

improvements, risk identification, assessment and control, managing the company risk register,

follow-up risk/process audit corrective actions, and reporting outcomes to senior managers.

• I designed and developed a Performance Reporting System using Excel Software to report

departmental and individual performance targets to senior managers based on productivity,

accuracy, and SLA targets on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

_______________________________________________________________________________

MB Century (NZ) – Performance Manager/Design Engineer: Oct. 2008 – Nov. 2010

Company: MB Petroleum Services is one of the world’s largest oil, gas and geothermal energy providers

spreading its businesses over 18 countries from North Africa through Europe, the Middle East and

South Asia to the Far East. MB Century, a subsidiary company of MB Petroleum Services, has been in

the design, fabrication, installation and commissioning of geothermal and hydroelectric piping and

pressure vessels business since 1950s.

Responsibilities at MB Century: • Involved in geothermal pipeline design and construction projects. Projects managed at MB

Century were: NAP pipe line design and construction, MK15 piping design, Rotokawa RK13 &

RK15 piping re-design, and NAP lifting beam design and project management.

• Develop, negotiate and monitor of contracts and service level agreements for large and small

scale projects.

• Manage tender management which includes preparation of various tender documents such as

invitations to tender, tender review, evaluation and awarding processes, scope of work,

pre-qualification documents, H&S plans, quality plans, technical drawings, technical schedules,

insurance requirements, consent requirements from local authorities and other supplementary

documents.

• Ensure all projects are implemented and commissioned within scope, time, and budget

requirements in accordance with the tender submission documents.

• Translate Company’s strategic objectives (financial, operational and health and safety) in to a set

key performance indicators (KPIs) and then cascading them down to company, team and

individual levels.


• Develop various IT models to capture, trend and analyse data for the KPIs and delivered them to

all departmental managers for action for the purpose of continuous improvement.

• Deliver quality business cases (using excel models) scoping the opportunity, the outcomes and

the processes to facilitate informed decision making by the company management.

• Provide information to support engineering and drilling functions in the development of effective

work schedules and risk management plans including possible maintenance and replacement

plans.

• Ensure all financial and non-financial aspects of the contract process are accurately recorded and

reflected in budgets and forecasts.

Major Achievements at MB Century: • I was involved in winning several multimillion dollar geothermal piping design and construction

projects for the company by preparing tender documents as required by principal companies

such as Mighty River Power and Contact Energy Limited. This included preparation of various

tender documents such as invitations to tender, pre-qualification documents, H&S plans, quality

plans, technical drawings, technical schedules, insurance requirements, consent requirements

from local authorities and other supplementary documents.

• I co-authored an article on NZ Geothermal Industry which was published in the Proceedings

World Geothermal Congress 2010.

• I was involved in designing and developing a Performance Management Framework that

produce real time reports to senior managers on key quality, safety and productivity reports for

geothermal construction projects, departments and employees.

• I have managed design and fabrication of several design engineering projects including

Hydraulic Pellet Extruder, Brick Crusher, Generator Rotor Lifting Beam, 50T Turn Buckle, and

Geothermal Production/Re-injection Pipelines using software such as AutoPipe, Nozzle Pro and

AutoCAD software.

_______________________________________________________________________________

WEL Networks Limited (NZ) – Risk & Quality Audit Manager: Jan. 2006 – Oct. 2008 Company: The core business of WEL Networks is to provide electricity distribution services to Waikato area in

Hamilton. As an electricity distribution company WEL owns, develops and maintains electricity

networks of power lines, poles, cables, substations and associated infrastructures. WEL networks

connect 80,000 customers to national transmission and generation facilities.

Responsibilities at WEL: Risk Management Duties

• Lead a focus on risk management throughout WEL Network, communicating and engaging risk

management processes, and employee awareness of risk management.


• Facilitate the development of organisational risk registers, including the identification, assessment

and reporting of those risks requiring mitigation using “Quantate” Risk Management Software.

• Oversee compliance with the risk management policy and framework, and that risk is identified

and managed in a consistent way across WEL Networks.

• Review critical control systems for adequacy and effectiveness and provide recommendations for

improvement.

Quality Management Duties

• Initiate, develop and implement strategies, systems and processes of a quality management

system to a level to achieve ISO 9001, Test House and Reconciliation Participation Certifications.

• Analyse business processes and assist in identifying problems and developing strategies for

continuous quality improvement.

• Contribute towards the implementation of long term strategic objectives by facilitating the timely

development of new and improved business processes.

• Manage and coordinate training and education programmes on quality concepts and procedures.

• Implement a risk based approach to planning and executing the internal audit process.

• Conduct risk based process/field audits and report the audit outcome to the senior executive team

to make informed strategic decisions.

• Review corrective actions and conduct follow-up audits where non-conformities have been issued.

• Oversee the development of the annual Internal Audit Plan and develop audit processes with team,

work with senior executives, and the external auditors, to ensure the plan is agreed and

implemented.

• Provide regular monitoring and trend reports to relevant stakeholders.

• Assess, monitor, exercise oversight and follow through on matters raised in reports to

management and reports arising from the organisation’s external audit.

• Monitor and report levels of compliance with NZ electricity legislative requirements.

Major Achievements at WEL Networks Limited: • I developed a methodology for risk based field/process audits. Using this approach, I conducted

field/process audits such as Electricity Design and Construction Manual, GIS & As-built Process,

Underground Cable Location Process, Network Maintenance Process, Electricity Governance

Reconciliation Process, Health and Safety Systems, Subcontractor Performance, Data

Management Systems, IT Systems and Test House Citification. I was awarded Employee of the Quarter for this substantial achievement.

• I was involved in process mapping and improvements using Xsol Software, risk identification,

assessment & control, follow-up risk/process audit corrective actions, and reporting outcomes to

senior managers.


_________________________________________________________________________ The University of Waikato Management School (NZ) – Lecturer: 2002 –2005 Company: I served a three-year teaching contract at the University of Waikato (UoW) Management School as a

lecturer in the Sino-NZ International Program. At UoW, I taught management subjects such as

Economics, Corporate Finance and Business Communications.

Responsibilities at University of Waikato: • Teach above subjects to 1st and 2nd year management students

• Prepare course outlines, exam questions, quizzes, lecture notes, tutorials and other relevant

documentation.

• Facilitating students in the development of academic/professional capabilities.

• Create a positive learning environment by providing constructive feedback on students’ learning

needs.

• Encourage learners to think critically and encourage reflection and self-evaluation

• Stimulate curiosity and engagement by understanding learners needs and challenging their ideas.

• Facilitate shared learning experiences whereby learners participate in shared conversations with

others.

• Perform administrative responsibilities including preparation of reports such as students’ progress,

disciplinary issues, conflicts resolved, end of semester statistics and review etc.

• Maintain constructive and co-operative working relationships between academic and

non-academic staff.

• Participate in and assist with moderation as required.

____________________________________________________________________________ 2000 – 2002 – I was engaged in postgraduate studies in management at University of Waikato (New Zealand). ____________________________________________________________________________ Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (NZ) – Safe Ship Management Auditor: 1996 – 2000

Company: The Lloyd’s Register of Shipping is the world largest ship classification society operating in more than

125 countries. The core business of Lloyd’s is carrying out ship safety verification inspections to

comply with various national and international maritime regulations. While I was with Lloyd's, I

designed and implemented a ship safety management system for New Zealand commercial ships.

The safety management system which I developed brings Lloyd’s an annual income of circa $200,000

per annum.


Responsibilities at Lloyd’s Register:

• Provide consultation services to ship owners and on-board crew on development and

maintenance of ISM systems for large NZ convention ships over 500grt.

• Manage the safe ship management (SSM) system for New Zealand commercial and

non-conventional ships which are less than 500grt.

• Prepare policies, processes, procedures and checklists for different types of SSM vessels in

accordance with various national/international rules and standards.

• Travel around New Zealand to meet new clients and acquire new vessels into Lloyd’s SSM

system.

• Carry out and overseeing SSM audits in accordance with the requirements of SSM Code and

other safety and quality rules/standards.

• Maintain a robust SSM audit programme for all vessels in the system.

• Prepare audit reports, non-conformity notes and responds to queries from industry participants

• Ensure consistency of delivery and auditing to defined procedures to benchmark the system

against international standards.

• Identify improvements and provide corrective strategies reflecting best practice.

• Provide best practice advice on safety improvements/audits to ship owners and other industry

participants.

• Provide timely response to enquiries in a manner which will enhance the credibility and reputation

of Lloyd’s Register SSM System.

• Build close, effective working relationships with industry to enhance the creditability of Lloyd’s

SSM System as a professional, knowledgeable and respected organisation.

• Identify, when conducting audits on ships, safety deficiencies and potential breaches of maritime

rules in order that these can be rectified.

• Report to the NZ Maritime Safety Authority of the outcome of inspections, problems identified,

and necessary corrective actions imposed in relation to the ship’s safety construction, safety

equipment, and the safe operation of on-board machinery.

• Issue interim ship safety management certificates to ships that are in compliance with class and

NZ maritime rules and regulations.

Major Achievements at Lloyd’s Register:

• I designed and implemented a Safe Ship Management System (SSM) for NZ commercial and

non-conventional ships from the scratch. This included activities such as obtaining accreditation

status from the Maritime Safety Authority, development of shipboard plans, processes, checklists

and manuals, marketing SSM and acquiring new vessels. The new SSM certification business

brings Lloyd’s about $500,000 per annum income.


______________________________________________________________________________

CPC (Lanka) Limited – Project Manager: 1993 –1996

Company: CPC International is one of the largest food manufacturing companies in the world. In 1992, CPC

launched a US$15m new business venture in Sri Lanka.

Responsibilities at CPC: • Working with an overseas project team in the new factory construction project from the site

selection to the construction and then to the commissioning stage.

• Involving in various project management activities such as site selection, ground tests, zoning,

obtaining approvals from local authorities, tender evaluation, design review, project planning,

monitoring and control, liaising with contractors, compiling progress reports, travelling abroad for

selection and procurement of machinery, monitoring machinery installation and witnessing

commissioning tests. ________________________________________________________________________________________ Det Norske Veritas (DNV) – Ship Surveyor: 1991 – 1993

Company: The DNV is an international ship classification society similar to Lloyd’s Register that undertakes ship

classification and surveying activities in accordance to the international maritime legislation.

Responsibilities at DNV: • Conduct surveys throughout the ship's life (except building new ship) including annual survey,

interim survey, special survey, and dry dock survey to ensure classification standards are

maintained. Some of the surveys conducted were:

hull and tank inspections,

boiler inspections,

main engine and propulsion machinery inspections,

container safety inspections, safety equipment,

construction and load line inspections,

international oil pollution and prevention inspections,

on-board auxiliary machinery inspections, and

piping and pumping systems inspections.

• Perform inspections required by domestic statutes and international conventions by the

International Maritime Organization (IMO);

• Witness tests and operation of emergency and safety machinery and equipment;

• Report to the head office in Norway of the survey outcomes including ship condition, corrective

actions, penalties, certifications, and recommendations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Maritime_Organization


____________________________________________________________________________

Haycarb Limited – Mechanical Design Engineer: 1990 – 1991

Company: Haycarb Limited is one of the leading companies in Sri Lanka which manufactures activated carbon

products that are used in water purification.

Responsibilities at Haycarb: One of the Haycarb’s company policies is to design and manufacture its own machinery and

equipment by a highly skilled design engineering team. One of the major design engineering projects

that I successfully completed at Haycarb was designing and manufacturing of a Hydraulic Pellet

Extruder that extrudes activated carbon powder into pellet form for export purposes.

REFEREES:

1. John van Brink

Chief Executive Officer, West Coast Energy Limited (Australia)

Former Chief Executive Officer, Tonga Power Limited

Phone: +61 89412 4900 Mobile: +61 476 854 102


2. Harvie Probert

Director, Fiji Gas Limited

Mobile: +679 9998500


3. Kevin Koorey

Engineering Manager, MB Century

Office: 07 376 0924 Mobile: 027 4354036


4. Huazhuo Lin (Lin)

Principal Advisor, WEL Networks Limited

Office: 078503132 Mobile: 0211412733


5. Russell Shaw

Chief Executive Officer, Top Energy Group

Office: 09 401 5622 Mobile: 021 223 0012


mailto:[email protected]




cv of ajith fernando september 2016

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