Rod is proudly from Canterbury and is a Civil and structural engineering graduate from UC. Prior to the earthquakes his career involved two decades in project management and direction for various property, building and hospital developments in Australia. Immediately following the Canterbury February 2011 earthquake, Rod was part of the team who created the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT), an alliance rebuilding the pipes, roads and bridges within the city. Upon its inception, he become the Value Manager within the Management Team. That role included establishing the value framework and reporting SCIRT performance against it, leadership of programme risk, and the capture of innovations. As it neared the completion of the $2bn-plus programme, Rod passionately championed the Learning Legacy of the organisation for Christchurch and New Zealand. This is drawing interest from around the world since going live in March 2017.