When an investment in people – and their investment in you – align to return dividends
When General Manager Project Execution David Bickerton first met Project Engineer Armin Musa at OceanaGold’s Didipio Mine in the Philippines, he knew he was looking at one of the company’s future leaders.
“It’s not often you identify someone that early in their career as having the capability and capacity to lead, but that’s what happened when I started working with Armin,” David said.
The pair met at the Didipio Mine in 2012 when David was project managing the construction and commissioning of the site and Armin had recently commenced as a Distributed Control System Engineer (electrical engineer).
“Armin’s technical ability is second to none and he’s incredibly disciplined, but what made him stand out was his strong desire to succeed. He asks the hard questions, takes a challenge head on, coaches others and circles back for feedback…at OceanaGold, that’s the makings of a leader,” David said.
With the backing of OceanaGold’s Executive Leadership Team, David put Armin on an accelerated leadership pathway, which has involved a six-month secondment to the Haile Gold Mine in the United States where he gained invaluable operational experience commissioning the processing plant. More recently, Armin was offered a corporate position at the company’s Brisbane office where he is playing a key role in advancing an integral digitisation and electrification project that will significantly improve mining fleet efficiency, contributing to OceanaGold’s climate change objectives.
“So far, Armin has done exactly what I thought he would do: excel,” David said.
Armin is very humble about his future career path and is grateful for the opportunities that OceanaGold has provided, but there’s a definite spark when you speak with him about working with the company.
“There’s a visible leadership culture at OceanaGold. There’s been several times where I’ve been put on the spot and asked to contribute my ideas and thoughts to fix a problem, and while that’s sometimes difficult, I thrive in those moments; those times when I’m challenged,” Armin said.
“I’ve worked hard and OceanaGold has recognised that – they encourage their employees to develop sustained careers with them and they reward that effort. I think that’s rare for a global mining company.”
That commitment to personal and professional development includes sponsoring Armin to undertake a master’s degree in electrical engineering, which he completed last year.
“Working for almost eight years at the Didipio Mine, I have met and worked with many dedicated and skilled people who share the same work etiquette and career aspirations as I do,” he said.
“I’m not for one second wasting the opportunities that I’ve been afforded, and it’s my sincere hope that my Filipino colleagues have the same prospects in the near future.”
