Meet Alex Lane

Alex started his career as an engineer after studying at the University of Sheffield and earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He joined the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and quickly progressed through rank and responsibilities in the British Army to become a captain.

In 2008, Alex left the army to start his civilian career. Over the next four years, Alex thrived in several roles within the built environment as they aligned with his purpose of delivering projects for people, including building and maintaining schools and managing property contracts for government clients. He later became an operations director covering architecture planning and environment design working across the private sector and government projects — including defense and education.

In 2012, Alex joined Jacobs to lead the building design team, working across several markets and geographies. He quickly progressed into a head of operations role, which broadened his infrastructure experience. Alex has been involved in projects as diverse as football stadium expansions, major transport schemes, airport upgrades, asset management, major acquisitions and a transport planning innovation called Project Edmond — one of the first transport planning projects to integrate digital data. 

Outside of his golden thread of purpose, Alex’s second recurring career theme is his talent as a problem-solver, relying on his deep cross-sector (rail, aviation and highways), cross-capability experience. Alex’s career has gone full circle as his current role focuses on local government as a client and delivering infrastructure that supports both civilian and military communities. Alex also serves on the board of Ringway Jacobs, a key supply chain partner for Cities & Places, and is a board director for Simetrica-Jacobs, a leading social value consultancy which he led the acquisition of. Social value is a key driver for Alex; it aligns with his leadership formula of purpose, planning and people.

What inspired your move from working in the British Army to the civilian sector?

There were two drivers. The first was because I was newly married and wanted to spend more time at home. The second was that I was privileged to have been a troop-facing officer, but my role was steadily becoming more desk-based. 

I decided then that I wanted some certainty about where the desk would be and to tackle an interesting challenge that continued to offer some meaning, as the army had provided me: a feeling of purpose. I thrive when taking on complex jobs where the solution requires doing things differently. 

What are the main career lessons you’ve learned from your military background? 

There’s a lot of value in the military’s deep focus on planning and preparation, but one of my favorite army phrases is: “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” It emphasizes the need for agility and resilience in dealing with the unexpected, but it also relies on teamwork and trust in the people around you.

I had the privilege of being an engineering officer, and at one stage, I was 23 years old and in charge of 50 very experienced, highly trained soldiers. This is where I learned one of the most crucial lessons in self-awareness and leadership versus being really good at your job. In business, many progress through technical competence. I learned to value that I’m rarely the technical expert, but I’m good at finding and surrounding myself with the most talented and technically gifted people. My role then is to support them, create the right culture and ensure we’re all driving towards the same purpose.

That’s critical, especially when times are tough or when plans fall apart. The most successful teams are built on trust, and that requires being transparent about your own skills and empowering others. It’s about collective outcomes rather than individual ones, and that’s something that’s reflected in Jacobs’ culture.

What are the biggest challenges for our national security and defense clients and how is Jacobs well-positioned to meet them?

To help our military perform at their best, we need to start with providing housing that’s safe, warm and comfortable, and to upgrade vital facilities such as healthcare.

We’re well-positioned to provide this key support as we leverage our global learnings and pedigree from our regions such as the U.S. and Australia. We have new ways of working and technology that we combine with our cross-sector understanding of the built environment to tackle the systemic asset challenges.

Building military infrastructure is like developing mini cities as they require all the same things: housing, education, transportation and utilities, including water and power — all areas in which we have market-leading talent and experience. This is where we differentiate ourselves, as we’re not a solely defense-focused business. We offer an interdisciplinary, cross-sector mix of infrastructure experience and capabilities, all delivered with a sustainability- and social outcomes-focused lens.

Why do your projects matter to clients and communities?

We get excited about the projects that make our places safer and more sustainable and enable people to live healthier and happier lives. A great example is the Wolverhampton Homes project, as we’re improving the quality of life for the community through architecture and design. It’s a major project that will retrofit over 20,000 social homes, but we’re using innovation and collaboration to heavily reduce the traditional carbon impact associated with this kind of infrastructure project and, critically, giving people somewhere nicer to live and helping them work toward better health outcomes. 

This goes beyond the singular value of building a new road or bridge and starts driving better social outcomes and equity through infrastructure like schools, community centers and more. It also offers key lessons that we can apply in other sectors, such as transforming defense housing and offering more value for the end-users in the military, the nearby communities and clients. We’re highly focused on supporting the decarbonization of cities, and creating safer and more sustainable cities, so that they enable inclusive, stable economic growth and greater social equity.

When you're not at work, what can we find you doing?

I’m either spending time with my two teenagers and wife, or you’ll find me running somewhere outdoors, preferably on a trail. My happy place is on a mountain or in a forest.