Merrin Keir

Merrin is an engineering manager based in our Brisbane, Australia office.

She is a mechanical engineer with substantial experience in design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and management of many projects and upgrades. She has successfully managed design projects for clients all over Australia, helping them to optimize their mining operations.

Why do you believe in diversity and inclusion?

I believe that everyone should be able to see a place for themselves wherever they choose to live and work. It’s important that we all feel that our presence, input, and ideas are valued by those around us. We often talk about the benefits that diversity and inclusion bring to business—which is undeniably true—however, for me diversity and inclusion benefits us all as individuals.

What do you think we need to do as individuals to improve inclusivity?

We should remind ourselves regularly that we cannot maintain diversity without inclusion. To be inclusive, we all need to do big and small things to make sure everyone around us feels included.

On any typical day, try to be mindful in every interaction; this means to listen more and speak with care. Ask yourself if you are really allowing everyone the space to contribute.

More broadly: educate yourself, challenge your own biases and be open to feedback and growth. Don't wait for those affected to show you how you can improve.

What does positive change mean to you?

To me positive change is a mindset where we are always trying to move forward to ensure fairness, inclusion, and equal opportunity in the long term, for our teams, communities, and clients. It is a lens we can all use when trying to decide what is the right thing to do.

What do you think are the toughest challenges facing our clients?

Without a doubt, climate change is one of the toughest challenges facing our clients. They are confronted with a market that demands a sustainable, relevant, and affordable product. This is coupled with ever-changing technologies, and a race to get to market first. For us as engineers, this is a very exciting time, with lots of opportunities to innovate!

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of many of the small projects that I have executed on client sites. They have not necessarily been the most complex projects, but they have all improved the daily experience of the people working on those sites.

What do you like most about working at Hatch? How do you think the Hatch culture is different from other companies?

At Hatch, I enjoy being surrounded by like-minded people who are all committed to creating positive change for our clients and communities. I feel like there are few other places in the world where everyone is so aligned on their core values. Our flat connected organization means that Hatch is a place where I can drive my own career and carve out my own opportunities. But what I really love is how Hatch is building a resilient organization by diversifying our teams as well as our business.