Meet Ramon Pérez Zaragoza

Tell us about your role on the San Francisco Waterfront Resiliency Program. What’s your favorite part?

I'm the Deputy Program Manager and Engineering Lead so I manage the teams that work on engineering-related activities and support the engineering lead at the Port of San Francisco (the Port). I get involved in any engineering-related task: design and predesign work, cost estimating, etc., as well as the logistics of keeping the program on track with schedule and budget. I think even though I tend to do more day-to-day management activities than pure engineering activities, I’m an engineer at heart so I like to be in touch with the activities that have to do with pure engineering work. I can tell you I much more enjoy it when I'm in a meeting about engineering topics than about organizing teams and schedules!

My favorite part of the job is participating in the opportunity to transform the City of San Francisco – or at least an important area of the city – with this exciting program. When I talk to people here in Spain, where I now live, about my work on this program, they’re impressed because San Francisco is so well known around the world—everyone knows the Golden Gate Bridge, for example. So, imagine how proud I feel knowing that I'm part of a team that’s helping to make this great city even better, more resilient to the impacts of a big earthquake and future sea-level rise.

Are there any interesting technologies or innovations Jacobs is bringing to the program?

We’re applying all management tools we believe can help the Port move this program forward. Jacobs has created, tested and used so many great tools on other large programs around the world, tools that enable teams to more precisely manage and develop programs. So, while I would say they are unique, they’ve been tested and shown to be effective. As an example, we’ve introduced the Port to a methodology that’s helping them evaluate and select project alternatives, something called “multi-objective decision analysis” or “MODA.” It’s a logical process based on decision analysis that steps clients through multiple, sometimes competing, objectives to arrive at a decision, for example, about which projects to implement first.

What excites you about the future of working on programs like this one for #OurJacobs?

I feel extremely lucky to be part of the Waterfront Resilience Program team and to know that, in some way, in 30 or 40 years, people will still be enjoying the waterfront and feel protected from sea-level rise and safer during an earthquake. It’s great to know that this program will continue to benefit the next generation even if they’ll never know how it came to be. Just thinking about that motivates me to sit down at my laptop every day and get to work. Not everybody can say they’re working on something with this kind of long-term impact.

When you aren’t working, what are we most likely to find you doing?

I love running – I'm a runner. So as long as my body allows me to continue, I’ll keep running! I love also cycling and I love to cook. One of my goals for 2024 is to become an expert at cooking paella, a traditional Spanish dish that originated here in Valencia, where I live, but is now popular all over the world. I'm really practicing hard, trying to learn how to cook it well!

What is your favorite part of working at #OurJacobs?

The opportunity to be part of big projects and having the flexibility that allows me to work from my home. It’s really great to work for a company that trusts you at this level, that allows you to work in a way that also takes into account the needs of family and life outside of work.