Bechtel Construction Services

Ailie MacAdam is president of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals global business unit. Based in Brisbane, Australia, she is responsible for all aspects of the business unit’s worldwide portfolio.

Throughout her more than 35 years with Bechtel, Ailie has held a succession of senior executive leadership, operational, and general management positions.

Before leading the Mining & Metals business, she served most recently as the global operations manager for Bechtel’s Infrastructure business.   

Ailie has extensive expertise and experience managing complex transportation and civil infrastructure megaprojects in Australia, the U.K., and the U.S., in addition to oil, gas, and chemicals projects in Europe and Africa.

Ailie holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Bradford University in the U.K. and is a fellow of the U.K. Institution of Civil Engineers. She is a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) ambassador and a champion of diversity and inclusivity.

In 2008, Ailie received the Institution of Civil Engineers’ “inspirational leader” award recognizing women in the built environment, and in 2016, Ailie was named as one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering by the Women’s Engineering Society. In 2017, she was also recognized with an Outstanding Personal Contribution Award at the Rail Industry Association National Rail Awards.

Ailie is a senior vice president and was elected to the Bechtel board of directors in 2022.

Bill Caudle is the president of Bechtel Enterprises, Bechtel’s project development, investment and financing business. Under Bill’s leadership Bechtel is actively developing and partnering on projects in the clean energy, energy transition, transportation and communication sectors.

Previously, he was head of power and energy development and was a managing director in clean energy development for Bechtel Enterprises where he was responsible for evaluation, acquisition and origination of project development opportunities in both renewable and low carbon power, gas to power and water/wastewater related technologies and infrastructure. Bill rejoined Bechtel in 2011 and led the development of the 778MW Stonewall Energy Project, a combined cycle gas turbine project in Leesburg, Virginia, and later negotiated the Project’s sale.

Bill has more than 30 years of experience in the development and financing of infrastructure projects. Prior to rejoining Bechtel, Bill worked for Invenergy where he led development of both thermal and renewable energy projects in the US and Canada and US Generating Company (a joint venture of Bechtel and PG&E) in a variety of roles in engineering, development, finance and project/construction management. Bill began his career with Bechtel Power and worked for 10 years in increasingly responsible roles on a variety of solid fuel, gas, oil and nuclear power projects, both in the US as well as projects located in Mexico and Saudi Arabia.

Bill earned a bachelor of mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a registered professional engineer in Virginia.

Brendan Bechtel is chairman and chief executive officer of Bechtel Group, Inc. (“Bechtel”), which this year celebrates its 120th anniversary.

Prior to being elected chairman in April 2017, Brendan was named Bechtel’s chief executive officer in September 2016. He was Bechtel’s president and chief operating officer from 2014–2016.

Brendan first began working for the company during summer breaks in high school. After joining the company full time, he took on roles of increasing responsibility in field construction, project management, and executive leadership. Brendan is the 5th generation of the Bechtel family to lead the company.

Brendan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geography from Middlebury College. He also earned dual master’s degrees at Stanford University in business, and construction engineering and management.

Brendan currently serves on the board of trustees for the National Geographic Society, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Brendan is a member of the Business Roundtable, where he serves on the Infrastructure Committee and the Energy & Environment Committee. He is also a member of the American Society of Corporate Executives and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2016, Fortune Magazine named Brendan #1 on their annual “40 Under 40” list.

In addition to building strong relationships through industry-leading performance for Bechtel’s customers, Brendan is passionate about talent, innovation, improving productivity in the EPC sector, sustainability, and addressing future global infrastructure challenges.

Catherine Hunt Ryan is the president of Bechtel’s manufacturing and technology business, with responsibility for the worldwide markets of design, construction, and project delivery for semiconductors, electric vehicles, synthetic materials, and data centers. 

Catherine has two decades of EPC industry experience in energy, infrastructure, and water sectors. At Bechtel, she has held key project development, project management, and executive leadership roles.
Before leading the Manufacturing and Technology business, Catherine was the chief financial officer of Bechtel Group, Inc., responsible for leading the finance organization, which includes Bechtel Enterprises and the corporate planning, treasury, tax, and shared service functions. 

Catherine joined Bechtel in 2007, initially working in Bechtel Enterprises, the company’s project development, investment, and financing services group.
Catherine transitioned to Bechtel Energy in 2013 and was the project controls and commercial lead of the Sabine Pass Liquefaction project. She became the CFO of the Energy business in 2016 and became the CFO of Bechtel Group in 2018.

Before joining Bechtel, Catherine worked at the World Bank’s Infrastructure Economics and Finance unit with a focus on contract design and economic regulation for private investment in power and water utilities.

Catherine earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Stanford University, and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School. She is on the board of the Bechtel Group as well as educational institutions including the Stanford Construction Institute and Beauvoir School. Catherine lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children.

Craig Albert is president and chief operating officer of Bechtel Group, Inc. He is responsible for the management and oversight of Bechtel’s global operations, is chairman of the operating committee, and serves on the company’s board of directors.?He is based in the company’s corporate headquarters in Reston, Virginia.

Craig has held a series of executive leadership, operational, and management positions throughout Bechtel over the course of his 24-year career with the company.

Most recently, he served for four years as president of Bechtel’s Infrastructure global business unit in London, with responsibility for a worldwide portfolio of power, communication, aviation, rail, and civil infrastructure projects.

He also served previously as president of the Nuclear, Security & Environmental (NS&E) global business unit for five years, with responsibility for leading Bechtel’s environmental, defense and national security business, as well as its commercial nuclear power operations.

Craig joined Bechtel in 1998 from Westinghouse Electric Corporation. He went on to hold senior business development and project management roles on key energy, environmental, and national security projects in the U.S., Australia, U.K., the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.

Craig was elected principal vice president in 2001, became a senior vice president in 2009, and joined the board of directors in 2013.?He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from University of Pittsburgh.

John Howanitz was named president of Bechtel’s Nuclear, Security & Environmental global business unit in September 2021.

He oversees a portfolio of U.S., allied government, and civil nuclear projects with missions that protect people and the planet and help build the path to net zero.

Key customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and industry leaders in current and next-generation civil nuclear technologies. Project sites include a premier national laboratory, two chemical weapons destruction plants, three multi-billion-dollar construction projects, environmental cleanup projects in the U.S. and UK, and two nuclear defense plants. In civil nuclear, Bechtel is completing construction on the expansion of Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4 – the only nuclear plant expansion currently underway in the U.S. – and has joined forced with TerraPower and GE Hitachi on the Natrium advanced reactor demonstration project.

Previously, Howanitz was general manager of Bechtel’s business line that supports the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration. A veteran Bechtel project manager who joined the company in 1982, Howanitz has held leadership roles on a wide variety of projects including fossil power plants, commercial nuclear power plants, combined-cycle natural gas units, waste-to-energy facilities, and a NASA launch complex.

He has led teams building the $6.5 billion U.S. Uranium Processing Facility for highly enriched uranium in Tennessee and managing and operating the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, the Nevada Test Site, and the Y-12 National Security Site in Tennessee.

Howanitz was elected a principal vice president of Bechtel in 2011 and senior vice president in 2014.  He also serves as vice-chair of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Board of Managers.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Science degree from King’s College in Pennsylvania.

Justin Zaccaria is Bechtel’s chief human resources officer.

Responsible for global Human Resources (HR) and all enterprise-wide HR programs, processes, and operations, Justin partners with the company’s global business units, functions, and services to ensure HR programs and talent align with the enterprise strategy and customer needs. This includes governance of all people-related policies and programs as well as employee total rewards, talent, HR data & analytics, employee relations, and technology.

Justin joined Bechtel in 2001 in staffing and recruiting for the Power business, and, in the years afterward, he held HR positions of increasing responsibility across multiple businesses both in domestic and international home offices and field assignments.

In 2012, Justin was named HR manager of the Energy business, accountable for developing key strategic business partnerships with project, functional, and senior management. Justin then transitioned to Saudi Arabia to serve as project services manager on the Riyadh Metro project. In this capacity, Justin was responsible for HR, office administrative services, transportation, and accommodations for the Bechtel joint venture. He transferred to Reston, Virginia in late 2015 to fill the role of deputy corporate manager of HR, which he held until July 2017 when named global manager of HR, accountable for all core HR operations with functional oversight of people strategy and development. In March 2018, Justin was named Bechtel’s chief human resources officer, elected principal vice president in April 2018 and named senior vice president in September 2020.

Throughout his career, Justin is known for his commitment to delivery, collaborative leadership, and inclusive partnership with business and project partners.

Justin is a graduate of Loyola University in Maryland

Keith Hennessey is the chief financial officer of Bechtel Group, Inc., responsible for leading the finance organization, which includes Bechtel Enterprises and the corporate planning, controller, treasury, tax, and shared services functions.

In his previous role, Keith served as the president of Bechtel Enterprises—Bechtel’s development, investment, and financing services business. He joined Bechtel in 2012 as the CFO of Bechtel Power Corporation. During his career at Bechtel, Keith served, as the head of public-private partnerships and as the manager of strategy and business development for Bechtel Infrastructure, and as the executive assistant to Bechtel’s chief executive officer.

Keith has more than 20 years of experience in the investment banking industry. He worked for Morgan Stanley and Bank of America in a variety of roles including global chief operating officer and head of the U.S. industrial group at Morgan Stanley Investment Banking; and head of Bank of America’s diversified industrial group.

Keith is an Advisor Emeritus of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy, a board member of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and a board member of After-School All-Stars, D.C. chapter, a non-profit organization. 

Keith graduated from Georgetown University magna cum laude, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kevin is responsible for developing a vision, strategic Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) roadmap, and enterprise plan to implement key program actions to support progress in our DE&I efforts. This often includes programs to advance diverse talent within leadership roles; talent acquisition process updates to drive intentional and deliberate actions to improve opportunities for existing and new early career diverse talent; and cultivating work or learning environments that encourage and support diversity and inclusive practices. 

The overall objective of the DE&I efforts is to ensure each employee can show up to work as they are, have hope and continuous opportunities to advance within our organization, regardless of their race, gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, or disability.? 

Before leading diversity and inclusion, Kevin led the Quality and Six Sigma Infrastructure functional team and other Corporate EPC quality roles. Prior to his quality assignments, Kevin was?field engineering manager (PFE) for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail project in Virginia. Kevin has also served in roles including lead field engineer, lead resident engineer and project engineering. 

Kevin was elected a principal vice president in 2022. He has a Master of Engineering in environmental engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Rutgers University.? 

Paul Marsden is president of Bechtel’s Energy global business unit, based in Houston. He has more than two decades of international experience in engineering, construction, project management, and executive leadership roles at Bechtel, with deep expertise in the energy and petrochemicals sectors. 

Before becoming Energy president, Paul led Bechtel’s delivery of Shell’s Pennsylvania Chemicals project, one of the largest construction projects in the U.S. 

Paul began his Bechtel career in London in 1995. He went on to hold key engineering and leadership positions on numerous projects in the U.S., Australia, Asia, and Europe. These included rail projects in the U.K., the CSPC Nanhai Petrochemicals Complex in China, and the TPX Revamp project in Thailand. 

Paul held key project management roles on the six-year design and construction program for the award-winning Curtis Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) program in Queensland, Australia. Comprised of three major facilities that now produce 8% of global LNG supplies, the construction of Queensland Curtis LNG engaged over 30,000 people across seven countries and four continents. Paul served on Queensland Curtis LNG from inception as the deputy site manager, commercial manager, deputy project manager, and ultimately, senior project manager, taking the project to completion in 2015. 

After this, Paul then served as senior project manager of the Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia. In 2018, he returned to the U.S. to lead the Pennsylvania Chemicals project. He was elected principal vice president in 2014 and a senior vice president in 2017.

Paul holds a Master of Engineering degree from Durham University, England. He is a chartered engineer and fellow of the U.K. Institution of Civil Engineers, a chartered engineer and member of the Institution of Engineering Technologists, a chartered engineer and fellow of Engineers Australia, a registered professional engineer of Queensland, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Shaun Kenny is president of Bechtel’s Infrastructure global business unit, with responsibility for a worldwide portfolio of power, communication, aviation, rail, and civil infrastructure projects.

Shaun has more than three decades of EPC industry experience in the infrastructure, mining, and water sectors. At Bechtel, he has held key construction, project management, strategy and business development, and executive leadership roles in the U.K., Australia, the U.S., Chile, and the Middle East. As president of the Infrastructure business, he is based in the unit’s London headquarters.

Before leading the Infrastructure business, Shaun was project director for the Bechtel-led consortium designing and building Lines 1 and 2 of the Riyadh Metro project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was previously general manager for Bechtel’s infrastructure business in the Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions.

Earlier, Shaun served as president of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals global business unit, based in Brisbane, Australia. Shaun joined Bechtel in 1997 as a construction engineer on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in the U.K. He began his career in the U.K. civil construction industry.

Shaun holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Liverpool Polytechnic. He is a chartered civil engineer in the U.K., a member of the U.K. Institution of Civil Engineers, a fellow of Engineers Australia, and a registered engineer in Australia.

Stu Jones leads Bechtel’s international and domestic government relations and corporate communications as president for regions and corporate affairs. He joined the company in 2018 as region president for Europe and the Middle East. He assumed his current role in 2019. 

Before joining Bechtel, Stu served for three decades as a U.S. Foreign Service officer.? His domestic and international assignments included acting assistant secretary and deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs, ambassador to Iraq, and ambassador to Jordan.? 

Stu also served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, deputy chief of mission in the U.S. Embassy, Iraq, and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy, Cairo. ?Other foreign tours include Turkey, Colombia, and El Salvador. 

Hailing from Philadelphia, Stu is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Duke University. He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Council on Foreign Relations. ? 

Emad Khedr is the commercial manager for Bechtel Group, Inc. He reinforces the commercial aspects of major bids to help Bechtel win key prospects. In addition to winning new work, Emad is also responsible for supporting delivery throughout the project life-cycle.

Emad’s career spans nearly 40 years of outstanding commercial and execution experience. Prior to his current role Emad served as manager of operations in Bechtel's Energy business unit, where he has been a key part of Energy leadership team for years, including as LNG operations manager, operations manager in London, general manager of the pipeline business line, commercial manager, and general manager of the petroleum and chemicals and pipeline businesses in Asia Pacific.

Emad began his career on pipelines and spent more than 10 years on jobs around the world, managing several projects, including the Khursaniyah gas plant in Saudi Arabia as well as the Brass LNG project in Nigeria.  His wide range of experience in home office and project roles is instrumental to supporting the buisness units as they develop new prospects.

Emad was elected principal vice president in 2000, and became a senior vice president in 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

Emad Khedr is the commercial manager for Bechtel Group, Inc. He reinforces the commercial aspects of major bids to help Bechtel win key prospects. In addition to winning new work, Emad is also responsible for supporting delivery throughout the project life-cycle.

Emad’s career spans nearly 40 years of outstanding commercial and execution experience. Prior to his current role Emad served as manager of operations in Bechtel's Energy business unit, where he has been a key part of Energy leadership team for years, including as LNG operations manager, operations manager in London, general manager of the pipeline business line, commercial manager, and general manager of the petroleum and chemicals and pipeline businesses in Asia Pacific.

Emad began his career on pipelines and spent more than 10 years on jobs around the world, managing several projects, including the Khursaniyah gas plant in Saudi Arabia as well as the Brass LNG project in Nigeria.  His wide range of experience in home office and project roles is instrumental to supporting the buisness units as they develop new prospects.

Emad was elected principal vice president in 2000, and became a senior vice president in 2007. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.

Rayna Farrell leads Bechtel’s corporate communications and marketing teams, and global communications function, with responsibility for internal- and external-facing communications.  

Rayna joined Bechtel in 2022 with more than a decade of experience helping America's largest and most innovative companies achieve critical communications and advocacy goals. Prior to Bechtel, she served as deputy head of communications for Business Roundtable (BRT), a Washington, D.C.-based association of chief executive officers of America’s leading companies, including Bechtel.

During her eight years at BRT, Rayna led strategic communications planning and implementation, oversaw the execution of communications initiatives and multimillion-dollar campaigns, and ran all CEO engagement efforts for the association. Earlier she served as BRT’s chief of staff of public affairs leading both the communications and government relations day-to-day operations. Among her achievements, Rayna led communications for the launch of the group’s landmark “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” COVID-19 relief efforts and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Prior to BRT, she worked for the lobbying firm Mehlman Castagnetti in Washington, D.C., helping clients develop winning strategies and build relationships with policymakers in Congress, the White House, government agencies, and regulatory bodies. She began her career working on Capitol Hill for U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond.

Rayna holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and communications studies from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Vikas Joshi is corporate manager of EPC Functions for Bechtel. In this role, he leads the company’s enterprise-wide Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H), Quality, Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Project Controls functions, including responsibility for critical work processes, procedures, tools, innovation, and value chains.

Over the span of 30-year Bechtel career, Vikas has gained domestic and international EPC execution experience ranging from small projects to mega projects across multiple industries, including petrochemicals, refining, power generation, utilities, and infrastructure.   

Previously he served as the manager of functions for Bechtel’s Energy business unit, manager of engineering for Energy, and project manager on major projects in Australia, India and China. Vikas was elected principal vice president in 2010 and senior vice president in 2015.

Vikas holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, a master’s degree in polymer engineering, and a graduate certificate in business administration. He is registered professional engineer in Virginia.

Paul leads Corporate Business Development for Bechtel.

Prior to this role, Paul served as project director for Bechtel on the Crossrail Programme – the Elizabeth Line. He was managing director of the U.K. Infrastructure business with responsibility for overseeing all projects and strategy.  He also served as general manager of the Water business line, where he was responsible for P&L, strategy, development and execution globally.

Paul has 30 years of international business experience. He joined Bechtel in 2005 in London. After serving in business development at company’s Civil business unit for four years, Paul joined Crossrail – a £19B rail metro megaproject as project performance and prime contract manager. In 2010, he was named project manager for the design, construction, and delivery of Crossrail’s £500 million Bond Street station.

In 2012, Paul became Bechtel’s region president for Africa responsible for overseeing company’s operations and development. He served in this role until 2014 when he relocated to the USA to become executive assistant to Bechtel’s chief executive officer, Bill Dudley, and chief operating officer, Brendan Bechtel. He assisted the board, chaired by Riley Bechtel, and served as Secretary to the Group Operating Committee and Finance and Strategy Committees.

Prior to joining Bechtel, Paul served as international finance manager for the international exploration drilling services of Anglo American Plc in Canada; an executive director for South Africa’s engineering and construction giant, Grinaker-LTA; business development manager for LTA in the UAE; and manager of capital project donations for The Anglo American and De Beers Chairman’s Fund – the largest social investment fund in southern Africa.

Paul holds an M.A. Hons. in political science and geography from Dundee University, Scotland. He studied accountancy to degree level through the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and further business study at INSEAD in France and Singapore. He serves on charitable trusts.

Michael Bailey is general counsel of Bechtel Group, Inc. His responsibilities include the legal, ethics and compliance, internal audit, and risk management functions. He is based in Reston, Virginia, Bechtel’s corporate headquarters.

Prior to his current position, Michael was based in London from 2005 to 2010 as a managing director in Bechtel’s global Civil business. His responsibilities included managing the global Aviation business line as well as a number of services and functions.

From 1998 through 2005, Michael served Bechtel Enterprises (Bechtel’s finance, development, and investment arm) as general counsel, managing director for human resources, and manager of its direct investments and technology ventures portfolios. During 2004 and 2005 he was executive vice president and general counsel of InterGen, a global energy business then owned by Bechtel Enterprises and the Royal Dutch Shell group.

Prior to 1998, Michael was a senior counsel in Bechtel’s Legal Department and spent a year as executive assistant to Bechtel’s chairman and CEO as well as its president and COO.

Michael was elected a senior vice president in 2001 and elected to the Board of Directors in 2010.

Michael earned his law degree from the University of Toronto and was a partner in the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP before joining Bechtel in 1994. He serves on the board of directors of Coalition For Integrity (formerly Transparency International-USA).