Serina
Rose

Serina began her career as an architect but soon developed a thirst for understanding how a building progresses from a drawing on a piece of paper to becoming a tangible asset. It compelled her to pursue project management.   

In 2021, Serina joined the RCP team in Christchurch to work on the new Dunedin Hospital, initially as early contractor involvement lead and more recently taking on the role of design management lead,.  

There’s not much that Serina doesn’t enjoy about project management, and it fits with her own description of herself as a “happy allrounder”. What she likes best is identifying roadblocks and bringing the right people together as a team to carve a way forward. Another satisfying aspect is the breadth of topics that she gets to explore alongside an array of subject specialists.  

Serina employs a flexible management style that allows her to adapt to situations, switching seamlessly between decisive manager and quiet leader as required.  

Serina notes there is increasing complexity in the construction market and clients, as a result, struggle to be as nimble as they would like to be to make decisions. So it’s even more important to nail the front end early; it’s something she says RCP knows plenty about. 

New Zealand is a small industry and it becomes even smaller the further south you go. Serina highly values the relationships that she has built over the years, working on projects in Christchurch and around the South Island.   

Exercise and fresh air are Serina’s ingredients to unwind. She likes to mix it up – hiking, camping, biking. Fiordland is currently a favourite destination, but the Port Hills in Christchurch are her go-to for a quick decompress. 

“Project managers bring people together to solve problems. We are the oil in the machine that gets everything moving.”