
Earlier this year, Sain Associates promoted Nathan Currie to Team Leader for the infrastructure group. Nathan joined Sain as a Project Manager for the infrastructure team after moving to Birmingham from Atlanta in 2016. Five years later, he became a shareholder. With over 16 years of engineering experience, his background includes work with state and county DOTs, municipalities, and local and national private developers.
In today’s blog, Alicia Bailey provides insight into Nathan’s leadership skills and advice as he steps into the position of Infrastructure Team Leader.

“I am excited to see Nathan take on this new role. Nathan views this position as an opportunity to strengthen relationships within his team and to encourage team members to develop and grow within the company. He leads by example and makes himself accessible to help with any issues that arise on projects. Nathan is always willing to step in and step up. For instance, if his team is required to work overtime, he also tends to work overtime and typically the most hours. This behavior is an example of a true leader.
Another example of Nathan’s ability to lead is the “problem” project he was given when he first came to work at Sain. It was riddled with issues – being over budget, going through a plan-review process, and the review agency was unfamiliar with the intersection designs. Nathan stepped in, became familiar with the project, figured out how to complete it, and led the team through the process. Reflecting back, the team learned a lot from the project and its challenges. Nathan did a great job keeping the team motivated and moving forward.
When it comes to resolving any issues on projects, Nathan actively participates in conversations, debates where there are differing opinions, and gives feedback. The way he handles problem-solving always sets the company on the right course of action.
One piece of advice I would give to Nathan as he embarks on this journey is that the team leader position is like a “catch-all” position for a team. Nathan will be involved in all decisions regarding the team and have things come at him from many angles requiring him to make decisions. I have heard it described as “whiplash” when you become team leader. It is important to take a breather occasionally to think about the response to the problem or question.”