Engineering Rebellion

Emma-Jane Houghton is a senior commercial director in the cabinet office. Since January 2021, the Cabinet Office appointed her Commercial Director for the New Hospital Programme - responsible for the commercial strategy, procurement and end to end market creation - one of the biggest and most challenging major programmes for UK government policy and manifesto commitment. A chartered quantity surveyor by training she is highly experienced in infrastructure and the built environment. Her expertise is based in both coal-face and Big 4 advisory with roles at Terminal 5, East London Line Extension, KPMG and Heathrow Expansion. Through the wide range of roles and delivery environments of her career a deep interest in the link between commercial ethos and the performance of major programmes and their supplier networks was sparked.  

Alongside her passion for the construction sector is Emma-Jane’s commitment to her role as a Major in the Engineering and Logistics Staff Corps, where she is commissioned to provide impartial and confidential advice to the British Armed Forces. She chairs the Institution of Civil Engineers' (ICE), Civil Engineer of the Future Working Group ‘Engineering Rebellion’ - championing the way to a new definition of what our traditional construction professions need to focus on to be ‘current’ and how they can attract new and broader talent to their doors.

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