Meet Becky Wood, one of our Top 50 Public Sector Women

Becky Wood is one of five inspirational women from the Transport cluster recently named on the inaugural NSW Top 50 Public Sector Women list.

She’s an innovative and transformational leader whose passion for diversity and inclusion shines through in everything she does.

Leading the Fleet Program Delivery branch at TfNSW, Becky champions the use of purchasing power to provide broader social benefits, working to develop social and Aboriginal procurement policies and best practice in accessible public transport. Her team led the delivery of Sydney’s six new ferries – and they’re thought to be the most accessible passenger ferries in the world.

Becky established and Chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Council in the Infrastructure and Services Division. She also personally mentors nine women, and has sponsored research into the experience of women in her division to help drive gender equality.

We spoke to Becky about her career at Transport and what it feels like to be one of the most influential female leaders in the Public Sector.

Tell us about your role and team at Transport.

I lead the Fleet Delivery team within TfNSW, responsible for the procurement and introduction of around $6 billion of new trains and ferries for our passengers across NSW. In the past two and a half years our team has grown from under 50 to almost 200 people. Currently, we have five major projects in different stages of delivery and it’s a really exciting – and hectic – time for the program.

What excites you most about working for Transport and the Public Sector?

What I love about being in Transport is that what we do has such potential to make a genuine difference to people from all walks of life, every day. Something we are particularly proud of is that the new fleets we are designing and delivering will create significant improvements in accessibility and safety for our passengers, as well as improving the general customer experience.

What is your biggest career highlight to date?

It was tremendous fun being able to include my three year old daughter in the launch event for one of our new ferries. Even if that means she now assumes she’s able to walk right into the wheelhouse and take the Captain’s chair every time we’ve travelled on them since!

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to progress their careers at Transport?

Throughout my career I’ve found that the support of colleagues and genuine sponsorship can be invaluable. I’d encourage other women who are keen to progress, to view senior leaders as a source of support and to seek it out because there is a lot of support out there.

How do you ensure you keep a good a good work/life balance?

Technology helps me flex my hours around my daughter’s schedule to an extent, but it’s a constant juggling act. My senior team have really come together in sharing and trying to respect each other’s personal priorities too.

But it’s important that we keep discussing and promoting the importance of work/life balance and support each other. The responsibility is shared – by leaders who can keep finding ways to offer flexibility to their team, as well as us as individuals to remain mindful of keeping that work/life balance in check.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I was surprised and honoured to be included in a list of such impressive individuals. I hope it encourages other women to consider infrastructure and transport as industries that offer the opportunity to transform communities for the better. In particular, I’m grateful to Tim Poole who nominated me and gave me the encouragement I needed to believe that it was even possible that I’d make the list!

Tell us a fun fact that people may not know about you?

I’m a big fan of Tim Minchin but the one chance I had to chat to him, I entirely lost the ability to speak.


Read our chats with our other inspirational Top 50 Public Sector Women: Jane Richardson and Peta Gamon, Susannah Le Bron and Samantha Abeydeera.

Becky Wood is one of five inspirational women from the Transport cluster recently named on the inaugural NSW Top 50 Public Sector Women list.

She’s an innovative and transformational leader whose passion for diversity and inclusion shines through in everything she does.

Leading the Fleet Program Delivery branch at TfNSW, Becky champions the use of purchasing power to provide broader social benefits, working to develop social and Aboriginal procurement policies and best practice in accessible public transport. Her team led the delivery of Sydney’s six new ferries – and they’re thought to be the most accessible passenger ferries in the world.

Becky established and Chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Council in the Infrastructure and Services Division. She also personally mentors nine women, and has sponsored research into the experience of women in her division to help drive gender equality.

We spoke to Becky about her career at Transport and what it feels like to be one of the most influential female leaders in the Public Sector.

Tell us about your role and team at Transport.

I lead the Fleet Delivery team within TfNSW, responsible for the procurement and introduction of around $6 billion of new trains and ferries for our passengers across NSW. In the past two and a half years our team has grown from under 50 to almost 200 people. Currently, we have five major projects in different stages of delivery and it’s a really exciting – and hectic – time for the program.

What excites you most about working for Transport and the Public Sector?

What I love about being in Transport is that what we do has such potential to make a genuine difference to people from all walks of life, every day. Something we are particularly proud of is that the new fleets we are designing and delivering will create significant improvements in accessibility and safety for our passengers, as well as improving the general customer experience.

What is your biggest career highlight to date?

It was tremendous fun being able to include my three year old daughter in the launch event for one of our new ferries. Even if that means she now assumes she’s able to walk right into the wheelhouse and take the Captain’s chair every time we’ve travelled on them since!

What advice do you have for other women who are looking to progress their careers at Transport?

Throughout my career I’ve found that the support of colleagues and genuine sponsorship can be invaluable. I’d encourage other women who are keen to progress, to view senior leaders as a source of support and to seek it out because there is a lot of support out there.

How do you ensure you keep a good a good work/life balance?

Technology helps me flex my hours around my daughter’s schedule to an extent, but it’s a constant juggling act. My senior team have really come together in sharing and trying to respect each other’s personal priorities too.

But it’s important that we keep discussing and promoting the importance of work/life balance and support each other. The responsibility is shared – by leaders who can keep finding ways to offer flexibility to their team, as well as us as individuals to remain mindful of keeping that work/life balance in check.

What does this recognition mean to you?

I was surprised and honoured to be included in a list of such impressive individuals. I hope it encourages other women to consider infrastructure and transport as industries that offer the opportunity to transform communities for the better. In particular, I’m grateful to Tim Poole who nominated me and gave me the encouragement I needed to believe that it was even possible that I’d make the list!

Tell us a fun fact that people may not know about you?

I’m a big fan of Tim Minchin but the one chance I had to chat to him, I entirely lost the ability to speak.


Read our chats with our other inspirational Top 50 Public Sector Women: Jane Richardson and Peta Gamon, Susannah Le Bron and Samantha Abeydeera.

Page last updated: 02 Aug 2018, 09:05 AM