| 15 T T Karen Phelps Recognition for Mark’s meteoric rise RCP senior project manager Mark Simento was judged the Emerging Achiever of the Year Award at the 2026 RICS Awards. Auckland Council REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Six years into his career, Mark Simento is already managing multimillion-dollar public infrastructure projects, helping communities recover from major storms and contributing to the development of the next generation of industry professionals. That combination of responsibility, community impact and professional leadership has seen the Resource Coordination Partnership (RCP) senior project manager collect the Emerging Achiever of the Year Award at the 2026 RICS Awards. Mark was also a finalist in the Building People Emerging Leader of the Year Award further adding to recognition of his leadership. “I was truly honoured to be nominated, let alone recognised alongside such a strong field of emerging professionals from across our industry,” says Mark. The RICS Emerging Achiever award recognises an individual with fewer than 10 years’ experience who has demonstrated excellence in their field, high professional standards and the potential to make an outstanding contribution to the profession. Working for RCP, Mark has provided client-side project and programme management services for organisations including Auckland Council, National Infrastructure Funding and Financing (NIFF) and Watercare. His work spans parks and public realm projects, storm recovery, natural hazard response and climate adaptation, often in environments where projects face significant public scrutiny and complex technical challenges. “Bringing structure and clarity to complex projects and keeping sight of the people who ultimately use and benefit from them is a big part of what I do,” says Mark. He says one of the most significant periods of his career came following the Auckland Anniversary storms and Cyclone Gabrielle when he played a key role supporting Auckland Council’s Flood Recovery Office and Engineering Assets and Technical Advisory Team. His responsibilities included managing Shoreline Adaptation Plans, geotechnical land categorisation programmes, landslide susceptibility mapping and coastal cliff LiDAR remediation. Mark also played a role in a programme designed to help homeowners affected by the storms navigate the recovery process. In 2024, he received Auckland Council’s Recovery Office internal Aucklander’s First award for his commitment to whānau after establishing a rapid building assessment placard review process and facilitating optional technical and customer support for homeownDelivering small to large-scale Civil Engineering projects with con dence and precision. Environmental Engineering Seismic Engineering Civil Engineering Structural Design Land Surveying Resource Management P: +64 9 576 3276 E: clc@clcgroup.co.nz W: www.clcgroup.co.nz 30 Karaka Street, Eden Terrace, 1010 office@resilio.nz resiliostudio.nz Proudly Supporting Auckland Council We help to co-create resilient and regenerative places. We are an agile team of highly skilled designers with a proven track record of delivering diverse projects. We are landscape architects and co-designers who work across design, planning, management, and strategy. ers outside formal buy-out or part-funding pathways. Mark currently manages an Auckland Council Parks and Community Facilities local board project portfolio worth about $10 million. The projects, largely located in parks and reserves, require a balance between community needs, environmental considerations and long-term asset performance. Engagement with communities and mana whenua is another important part of his work. Mark has worked closely with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Ngāti Paoa across the Tāmaki and Howick areas, including on Shoreline Adaptation Plans and reserve developments such as Elstree North Reserve and Maybury Reserve. He was also seconded to NIFF as an Infrastructure Manager, supporting transport projects funded through the Cyclone Recovery Fund and working with Hastings and Gisborne district councils on funding approvals, project scope and delivery approaches. Mark is Co-Chair of Infrastructure New Zealand’s Auckland Infrastructure Collective and was Vice Chair of Engineering New Zealand’s Auckland Young Engineers from 2023 to 2025.
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