Engineering Leader · Energy · New Zealand

Ben
Vaughan

Arup Associate & Energy Business Leader — New Zealand

Engineering leader taking on complex, high-consequence challenges across energy, offshore and infrastructure — from delivering offshore systems to shaping renewable investment and New Zealand's energy strategy. I turn technical complexity into clear direction, aligned teams and deliverable outcomes.

CEng IMechE PEng PEGNL CMEng EngNZ BSc Hons Mechanical Engineering
Ben Vaughan
18+ years
3 chartered registrations
Engineering · Advisory · Business Development

Professional Mission

Turning complexity into direction and delivery

I lead where technical depth, commercial judgement and public consequence meet. From systems design on a billion-dollar offshore structure to assessing over US$22.5 billion in publicly disclosed transactions and AU$2 billion in government energy funding, I bring specialists and stakeholders together to test ambitious options and make decisions that withstand scrutiny.

AU$2B
Hydrogen funding assessed
$20M
Capex savings — West White Rose
3
Chartered engineering registrations
US$22.5B+
Public transaction value assessed
CEng
Chartered Engineer
Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) · United Kingdom
PEng
Professional Engineer
Engineers & Geoscientists NL (PEGNL) · Canada
CMEng
Chartered Member Engineer
Engineering New Zealand (EngNZ) · New Zealand
BSc
Mechanical Engineering (Hons)
University of KwaZulu-Natal · 2007
BOSIET
Offshore Safety Certified
BOSIET / CAEBS · OEUK Offshore Medical Certificate

Leadership Approach

Creating momentum in complex work

My approach is to set a clear direction, invite strong technical challenge and give capable people the responsibility and confidence to turn ambitious opportunities into delivery.

Complexity into direction

Bring engineering, commercial and policy perspectives together to make clear, defensible decisions in uncertain or high-consequence environments.

Ambition grounded in delivery

Challenge conventional approaches where better outcomes are possible, while keeping innovation anchored in technical reality, risk and implementation.

Growing capable teams

Create momentum through clear expectations, meaningful responsibility and encouragement, enabling people to grow capability, confidence and opportunity.

Areas of Expertise

Four pillars of practice

Cross-disciplinary engineering leadership spanning complex delivery, investment decisions and energy strategy — connecting operational reality with ambitious, commercially credible outcomes.

01
Energy Transition & Renewables

Leading renewable energy opportunity development and project delivery in New Zealand. Deputy Project Director and Lead Assessor on ARENA Hydrogen Headstart, and author of an energy strategy perspective presented to government.

Solar PV BESS Hydrogen Offshore Wind Grid Infrastructure
02
Technical Due Diligence & Advisory

Turning complex technical and ESG evidence into investment decisions across gas networks, LNG terminals, pipelines, refineries, distributed energy, transport fleets and offshore assets in international markets.

M&A Advisory Asset Integrity Investor Reporting Risk Assessment
03
Complex Project Leadership & Delivery

Leading multidisciplinary engineering through high-stakes design, supplier interfaces and offshore delivery. Lead MEI engineer for the West White Rose CGS, from detailed design through offshore installation support.

FEED & Detailed Design Offshore Project Leadership Commissioning
04
Energy Policy & Strategy

Translating technical evidence into policy influence: author of the NZ Business Energy Council energy-strategy perspective, offshore wind speaker at the 2025 Renewable Energy Forum and NZ sustainable-finance technical advisory group member.

NZ Energy Strategy Government Advisory Market Analysis Conference Speaking

Thought Leadership & Policy

Translating engineering into policy

Contributing to New Zealand's energy future through research, strategy, and public advocacy — working at the intersection of technical rigour and policy relevance.

Illustrated map of New Zealand's connected energy network
Policy Paper
An Energy Sector Perspective on New Zealand's Proposed Energy Strategy

Authored the NZ Business Energy Council's perspective on the Government's proposed Energy Strategy. The paper sets out industry perspectives on energy security, affordability and decarbonisation, and was presented to government.

NZ Business Energy Council · May 2025
Renewable Energy Forum 2025
Conference Presentation
Offshore Wind: Taranaki and the NZ Wholesale Electricity Market

Presented analysis at the 2025 Renewable Energy Forum on the impact of offshore wind development in Taranaki, price support mechanisms, and their effect on the New Zealand wholesale electricity market.

Renewable Energy Forum · 2025
ARENA Hydrogen Headstart Programme
Government Programme
ARENA Hydrogen Headstart — AU$2 Billion Assessment

Deputy Project Director and lead assessor for ARENA's Hydrogen Headstart programme. Led comparative techno-economic analysis of competing projects and feedback meetings with ARENA to inform the AU$2B government funding allocation to kickstart Australia's hydrogen economy.

ARENA · Australian Government · 2023–2024
Sustainable finance and environmental stewardship
Technical Advisory Group
Energy Sector TAG - Aotearoa New Zealand Sustainable Finance Taxonomy

Current member of the Energy Sector Technical Advisory Group convened by the Centre for Sustainable Finance: Toitū Tahua. The TAG provides technical input to develop practical energy-sector criteria for the NZ Taxonomy, including climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience.

Centre for Sustainable Finance: Toitū Tahua · Current

Digital Products

Building useful tools, not just advising on them

Alongside engineering leadership and strategic advisory work, I build digital products that turn complex information and emerging needs into focused, practical user experiences.

Shipped on the App Store

SwiftBrief

Developed and shipped a privacy-first iPhone and iPad app for focused reading of PDFs and web articles, combining rapid serial reading, progress tracking and on-device document summaries using Apple Intelligence on supported devices.

ClearCurrent Limited · Productivity · 2026
In Development

GridConnect

A web application for exploring New Zealand's electricity transmission network and wholesale electricity market. Built on Cloudflare Workers, it makes grid topology, nodal pricing and VSPD dispatch data directly interrogable for analysts and developers — providing insight on generation headroom and connection capacity and curtailment risk.

ClearCurrent Limited · NZ energy data · 2026

Global Project Footprint

Projects across four continents

Eighteen years of work spanning energy, offshore oil & gas, renewables, mining, and infrastructure — from North Sea drilling platforms to New Zealand's energy strategy debate. Explore project locations on the map, compare them in a table, or read the full project list.

View projects as
Key project
Click a sector to filter  ·  Click markers for detail
16
Countries
4
Continents
18
Years active
6
Industry sectors

Career Trajectory

Eighteen years, four continents, multiple industries

From commissioning safety-critical HVAC on a remote Irish gas terminal to standing offshore as the West White Rose CGS that I helped design was towed into position — a career measured in projects that matter.

2023 — Present
Arup
New Zealand
Associate & Energy Business Leader — New Zealand

Returned to Arup in late 2023, relocating from Newfoundland to New Zealand; to lead and grow the NZ energy consulting and engineering business: delivering renewable energy projects, developing client relationships and contributing directly to national energy policy conversations.

  • Doubled the size of the New Zealand energy team and empowered team members to grow the opportunity pipeline alongside project delivery
  • Project managed engineering delivery for grid-scale solar farm developments in New Zealand, including the Bay of Plenty
  • Deputy Project Director and Lead Assessor — ARENA Hydrogen Headstart, leading comparative techno-economic assessment of applicant projects
  • Authored an energy-sector perspective on the Government's proposed Energy Strategy, presented to government by the NZ Business Energy Council
  • Presenter at the 2025 Renewable Energy Forum: offshore wind in Taranaki and impacts on the wholesale electricity price
  • In 2025, served offshore as Arup's engineering representative during the tow and installation of the West White Rose CGS, whose systems design he previously led in Canada
Standing on the West White Rose CGS helipad during offshore installation, June 2025

West White Rose CGS — offshore tow and installation, Newfoundland, June 2025

Aug 2023 — Dec 2023
Career Break
Pacific Ocean
Relocated from Canada to New Zealand

Before joining Arup in New Zealand, he took time out to travel with his family, journeying from North America to Australia aboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas. The trip included stops across the Pacific Islands, followed by an extended road trip along Australia’s East Coast.

2022 — 2023
ERM
North America / International Assignments
Principal Technical Consultant — Technical Due Diligence

Led and delivered technical due diligence assignments for banks and private equity investors, assessing infrastructure and energy-transition assets across North America and international markets.

  • North America: Texas microgrids, a California school bus operator, Alberta unconventional oil, Ksi Lisims LNG and the Braya renewable fuels conversion
  • Europe: a Belgian gas network and LNG terminal, an Italian multiproduct fuel pipeline, and a German gas network considered for hydrogen and CO2 conversion
  • Africa and South America: Engen buy-side TDD in South Africa, seller-side TDD for Shell's Nigerian onshore assets, and carbon-accounting due diligence for South American energy assets
  • Managed client relationships and project delivery across the full bid-to-close lifecycle
2021
Pennecon
Newfoundland, Canada
Senior Technical Project Engineer

Authored Pennecon's first Engineering Management Policy for the Services & Maintenance group of companies and delivered training across the business, alongside leading project capture and delivery across multiple industry sectors.

  • Wrote and rolled out the Engineering Management Policy and accompanying training programme
  • Member in Responsible Charge (MIRC) for mechanical engineering
  • Project managed the rebuild of an offshore drill pipe handling system and repurposing of active heave-compensated winches for subsea operations
Offshore drill pipe handling system rebuild

Offshore drill pipe handling system — Pennecon, 2021

2020
Genoa Design International
Newfoundland, Canada
Document Review Officer — Polar Security Cutter

Supported development of the 3D model and production drawings for the Polar Security Cutter — a heavy polar icebreaker commissioned by the US Coast Guard.

  • Designed and implemented configuration management processes from scratch
  • Built a database system to automate earned value and progress reporting
Apr 2017 — 2020
Arup
St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Lead Mechanical, Electrical & Instrumentation Engineer

Lead engineer responsible for all mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, controls and automation for the West White Rose Project Concrete Gravity Structure — the concrete base for a fixed drilling platform offshore Newfoundland.

  • Full responsibility for power generation, distribution, and ancillary systems design
  • Design innovations directly saved CAD$20M in Capex
  • Revised contracting strategy generated over CAD$5M in new work for Arup
  • Member in Responsible Charge (MIRC) for mechanical engineering
West White Rose Concrete Gravity Structure during tow-out offshore Newfoundland

West White Rose CGS during offshore tow-out — Newfoundland, June 2025

Feb 2016 — Apr 2017
Arup
London, UK
Senior Mechanical Engineer — Energy Infrastructure & Investor Advisory

Worked in Arup's London office across energy infrastructure design, strategic consultancy and transaction advisory before transferring to Canada for the West White Rose role.

  • Technical due diligence for National Grid Gas Distribution, the SAGE terminal and subsea pipeline assets, and the Redexis gas network
  • Designed mechanical systems for the Wushi concrete gravity structure and evaluated process and operational modifications for the Probolinggo LNG carrier-to-FSU conversion study
  • Value-engineered cryogenic waste-heat recovery options for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, identifying approximately US$110,000 Capex and US$450,000 operating savings
  • Delivered strategic studies for Scottish Enterprise's water sector opportunities and CBI's ultra-high-speed intercity transport concept
2014 — 2016
RDS (KCA Deutag)
London, UK
Senior Mechanical Package Engineer — Mariner Project, Equinor

Detailed design on the drilling facilities scope for Equinor's Mariner North Sea platform. Led the Ancillary Drilling package — 10 sub-orders, managing 6 engineers — and drove improvements in QA/QC across the supply chain.

  • Managed technical compliance of mechanical packages with Statoil and project requirements
  • Worked closely with DSME (Korean fabricator) and end-client on QA/QC processes
  • Equipment scope: Top Drive, MudCubes, slops treatment, cuttings handling, personnel elevator
Mariner Platform, North Sea

Mariner Platform — Equinor, North Sea

2010 — 2014
AMEC Natural Resources
South Korea & UK
Drilling Mechanical Engineer — Clair Ridge, BP

Key member of the Site Engineering Team at HHI's offshore fabrication yard in Ulsan, South Korea — providing engineering support for construction and commissioning of the Clair Ridge drilling modules.

  • Focal point for all mechanical discipline engineering issues on the topsides drilling modules
  • Managed vendor packages and mechanical handling through construction, commissioning, and T&I
  • Prior London-based role: Requisitioning Engineer for Gas Dehydration Package (TEG) and other rotating equipment
  • Also: Project Engineer — Corrib gas terminal (Shell, Ireland), commissioning safety-critical HVAC and diesel generators
  • Mechanical Engineer — Ichthys FPSO FEED (INPEX, Australia)
  • Mechanical Engineer — Tamarack oil sands processing study (Ivanhoe Energy, Canada)
Clair Ridge Platform, North Sea

Clair Ridge Platform — BP, North Sea

2008 — 2010
GBM Mineral Engineering
London, UK
Mechanical Engineer — Mining & Process

Design and engineering for a 1 MTPA gold processing plant in Kyrgyzstan — including bulk materials handling, acid wash and elution circuits, reagent storage, lime crushing, and plant-wide piping layouts.

2005 — 2008
Illovo Sugar Ltd
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Engineer in Training

Working across multiple sugar mills for Africa's largest sugar producer during tertiary studies. Equipment failure investigations, brownfield plant modifications, and quality control of third-party contractors across coal and bagasse-fired operations.

Get in Touch

Let's work together

Available for consulting engagements, advisory roles, and strategic conversations about energy transition and major infrastructure projects in New Zealand and beyond.