Dervilla Mitchell

Dervilla Mitchell is a Trustee and board member of Arup and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers and Engineers Ireland. As the firm’s most senior female engineer, Dervilla led the Arup team at T5 Heathrow, the largest construction project in Europe at the time.

Dervilla helped establish and is active in Arup’s women’s network, ConnectWomen, leading the team which researched and shaped proposals for mentoring. Her example of raising a family whilst working with a high level of responsibility is widely respected and she is much in demand as a mentor of both women and men, taking great satisfaction in their career development.

She is also a founding member of Arup’s Diversity Steering Group which aims is to create a work environment based on fairness, respect and merit, and is championing Arup’s Inclusive Leadership Programme: an initiative that addresses unconscious bias and helps deliver a more diverse organisation.

Dervilla is passionate about encouraging women into SET professions and has been involved in running careers evenings in schools. She recently headed Arup’s first female undergraduate open day, dedicating time to share her advice and experience with the undergraduates.

In 2009, Dervilla was identified as one of the 90 most inspiring women by the Women’s Engineering Society and gave the key note address at their ‘Shaping the Future’ event. Dervilla believes that qualities such as empathy and compassion are fundamental to effective project management and inspiring team leadership.