An ambitious self-starter and administrative superstar, Sarah McCann is set to soar to new heights as she expands her horizons at Ahrens.
Joining the company as a FIFO Project Coordinator in August 2023, she quickly demonstrated to General Manager James Henderson she brought a wide range of knowledge and organisation capabilities.
Sarah’s hard work on Ahrens’s office refurbishment project in Newman marked a high point in her impressive resume and has broadened her prospects in other areas of the business.
“I love the diversity of the work [at Ahrens] – while my role was originally in an area I had experience with, I’ve already had plenty of opportunities to grow my skillset and I’m excited for what’s next.”
Sarah moved to Karratha from Perth as a teenager and began her career as a bookkeeper for a building and construction firm at just 17 years old.
With over ten years in the building, construction and mining industry, an extensive admin background and even her own business under her belt, she was able to quickly leverage her expertise to become a key player in the team.
“It was a great time coming into the business with James and Brad (Gregg) setting up the Projects Division – I was able to create the admin structure and processes from scratch, allowing everything to be highly organised and more consistent for future projects.”
Sarah’s understanding of the finance sector is also proving invaluable, with her ability to work with balance sheets and budgets giving her insight into how the overhead operations function.
“Making improvements in forecasting and budget tracking has enhanced everyone’s capabilities and means we can manage everything more efficiently.”
Sarah aligns strongly with the innovative spirit of the business and feels like a valued team member.
“I found in previous workplaces, some people aren’t open to change,” she says.
“The good thing about Ahrens is people are always willing to trying new things. Feeling like my ideas are considered and appreciated, especially as a woman in such a male dominated industry, makes coming to work so much more enjoyable.”
One project Sarah has proudly implemented is digitalising a majority of the checklists and paperwork on site.
As the admin team and herself are now based in Perth, a more seamless communication stream between head office and site allows better monitoring of workflow, an improvement in Quality Assurance and more scope to fix issues in real time.
Sarah is enjoying a step away from FIFO work, as she is in the final stages of finishing her brand new house – a project which has been ongoing for three years.
In her downtime, she likes to keep life cruisy and lowkey; balancing gym with catching up with friends, and travel plans for European summer festival season next year.
