Engineering excellence: The inspiring journey of Alex Payne-Billard

Alex Payne-Billard has always been driven by curiosity. At three years old, she locked her parents out of their computer by changing the password, a feat that still puzzles her today. When that wasn't challenging enough, she moved on to dismantling VCRs (videocassette recorders), determined to understand how they worked (though putting them back together proved impossible, much to her parents' expense).

Fast forward to today, Alex has channeled that same insatiable curiosity into a thriving engineering career that's taken her across Australia, from remote derailment recoveries in Queensland to mentoring the next generation of STEM professionals. Her journey from a mechanical engineering graduate to a respected voice in the industry showcases what happens when natural curiosity meets relentless determination.

Building a foundation

Alex completed her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Melbourne. Even during her graduate interviews, her motivation was crystal clear: she'd always been fascinated by how things work and had spent countless hours watching manufacturing documentaries that most would consider mind-numbingly boring.

"I've always been curious about how things work and always loved watching the boring documentaries about how things are made in a manufacturing environment, how things are maintained," Alex explains. This passion drove her to seek opportunities in regional Australia, where she could get hands-on experience with plant and equipment.

Outside of work, Alex enjoys the full spectrum of entertainment, from deep dives into true crime documentaries to what she calls "really crappy reality TV shows like Love is Blind." It's this appreciation for different perspectives that has shaped her approach to both engineering and life.

A career built on saying “yes”

Alex's career philosophy can be summed up in one word: opportunity. For the last 10 to 15 years, she's worked all over Australia, deliberately putting herself "in the deep end of cultures, climates, whatnot." Her strategy was simple but effective, never saying no to new challenges.

This approach led her from Rockhampton, where she worked on plant and equipment, to increasingly complex projects across the country. Each role built upon the latter, creating a diverse skill set that would prove invaluable in her current position.

Derailment recovery in the outback

When asked about the most interesting place she's worked, Alex doesn't hesitate. Charlieville, a remote town about 10 to 12 hours west of Brisbane, became the setting for one of her most challenging assignments, managing a derailment recovery operation.

"I was only working there for about two weeks, but I was in charge of a derailment recovery," Alex recalls. The town had just two motels, and the train line was so critical that the Queensland government was obligated to run it once a week. The pressure was immense, hourly updates went straight to the minister.

The logistics were staggering. Alex had to coordinate massive cranes from Brisbane, waiting for them to make the 12-hour drive to the remote site. The entire operation had to be completed within a week, over the ANZAC Day public holiday weekend, when getting any resources was nearly impossible.

"It certainly taught me about interacting with people, communication," Alex reflects. "It was definitely the deep end, and I really enjoyed it because I got to meet some really nice people in Outback Australia. It wasn't part of a normal day-to-day."

Finding home at AtkinsRealis

Alex now works as a Principal Consultant at AtkinsRéalis, where she's found an environment that allows her to utilize her diverse background in asset management, operations, and engineering. The role represents everything she's worked toward, a position where she can combine all her skills into systems integration work without being pigeonholed into a single specialty.

"I love that I've been able to bring all of that to the table and combine it all into a systems integration piece," she says. "Being able to not be pigeonholed into asset management or pigeonholed into systems engineering and just broadening and deepening the skill set that I have."

But it's not just the technical aspects that make AtkinsRéalis special for Alex. As a solo parent to an almost one-year-old daughter, flexibility isn't just nice to have, it's essential.

Balancing parenthood and professional growth

Alex's daughter started daycare earlier this year, and as any parent knows, the first year involves constant illnesses and schedule disruptions. The flexibility at AtkinsRéalis has been game-changing, allowing Alex to start later in the day when needed and make up hours in the evening.

"She's very temperamental. She likes to boss me around, and I'm like, why are you like this? And my mom tells me it's because you were like that," Alex laughs. Her daughter is crawling everywhere, climbing everything, doesn't like being told no, and responds with a cheeky smile that helps Alex understand why her own mother was frequently exasperated.

The supportive environment at AtkinsRéalis extends beyond policy to genuine care. When Alex brought her daughter to the Brisbane office for half a day, she was worried about disruptions. Instead, she found a welcoming community that embraced both her and her daughter.

"I don't like to use the phrase that it feels like a family, but it feels like a community," Alex explains.

Mentorship and advocacy

Alex's commitment to the engineering community extends far beyond her day job. Her LinkedIn presence showcases her involvement in industry topics, school programs, and volunteering, all driven by her recognition of the advantages she had and her desire to create opportunities for others.

Growing up in a privileged background with a father in Architecture, Alex had early exposure to STEM fields that many others, especially females, never receive. She knew early what she wanted to study and pursue as a career. However, her first few years in the industry were challenging, with no female mentors and regular exposure to bullying and harassment that she simply endured.

"I just kind of swallowed that and just built a tough shell," Alex admits. "But now, over the last 5 to 10 years, I've been doing a lot of mentoring and volunteering to kind of say, you don't have to put up with this stuff. This is what you can do. This is the guidance that I would have liked to have had."

CSIRO STEM professionals in schools

Alex volunteers with the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools program, where she was initially assigned to her old primary school. Returning to her childhood school was particularly meaningful, as she could see how much had changed while sharing her journey with year six students.

"I talked about why I became an engineer and had a lot of boys and girls asking me, 'oh, how did you do that?' And I was really proud of it because they knew I came from that school," she recalls.

More recently, she's been working with an all-boys high school, focusing not just on STEM education but also on teaching students how to interact respectfully with female colleagues, addressing issues she's encountered throughout her career.

Cultural challenges and growth

Alex's journey across Australia exposed her to significant cultural differences within her own country. Moving from Melbourne's inner north, where diversity was second nature, to Rockhampton provided a cultural shock that opened her eyes to different attitudes toward gender and diversity in the workplace.

She remembers one particularly telling moment when she became a supervisor in Perth. A tradesman reporting to her asked her fellow male supervisor, "How do we talk to her? How do we treat her?"

These experiences fuel Alex's commitment to sharing her stories on LinkedIn and through mentorship, ensuring others understand what has been "regularly accepted over the last 10 to 15 years" in the industry.

The art of authentic LinkedIn engagement

Alex's LinkedIn presence has become a platform for sharing both professional insights and everyday observations. Her posts often stem from her experiences using public transport or navigating complex systems like hospitals, where she questions design decisions and user experiences.

For those looking to build their own LinkedIn presence, Alex offers hard-won advice: don't force it and don't overthink it.

"When I first started posting quite a lot in May last year, I was scheduling posts and doing it three times a week, and I just felt so forced. It just didn't feel genuine," she shares.

Her approach has evolved to posting only when she's genuinely mulled over ideas, similar to how she approaches work projects, thinking them through before executing quickly.

Alex also embraces technology to help structure her thoughts. She uses AI tools like ChatGPT to organize her initial stream-of-consciousness writing into coherent posts, then modifies the output to match her voice.

"I purely use ChatGPT to structure it because if I just wrote whatever I had initially written, it would be like, what the hell is this person talking about? Like the madness of my mind," she laughs. "It's really good to use the tools that you have at your fingertips. It's not being lazy, it's just being smart about how you use it."

Her final piece of advice? "Simply just write from the heart."

Continuing the journey of curiosity

Alex’s current role at AtkinsRéalis represents the culmination of years of saying yes to opportunities, building diverse skills, and refusing to be limited by others' expectations. But perhaps more importantly, it provides the foundation for her ongoing mission to ensure that future engineers, especially women in STEM, have the guidance, support, and opportunities that she had to fight to create for herself.

If Alex's story inspires you to make an impact and push boundaries in your career, consider joining AtkinsRéalis. Explore exciting opportunities today and begin your own rewarding journey.