How long have you worked at AWE?
9 years
Why did you choose AWE?
I was attracted to the technical challenge that comes with the delivery of complex systems that contribute directly to the security of our nation, together with the large variety of roles and opportunities that are available.
Tell us about your time at AWE?
I have been lucky enough to have the chance to take on several engineering roles across a number of projects and systems. As a systems engineer in my early career, I particularly enjoyed bringing together specialist information or assessment into a bigger picture, to evaluate the “so what” and communicate it clearly. As I progressed through my career I have led cross-functional technical teams in their delivery of key projects within AWE and I have had the chance to contribute to the strategic growth and direction of systems engineering, as well as the wellbeing and performance of our fantastic engineers through leadership of functional teams.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Whilst I enjoy taking a complex problem and breaking it down into smaller manageable chunks, what is really rewarding is bringing together teams of amazing people, setting out a vision and direction, then leading, coaching and mentoring the teams to ensure that the right outputs are delivered on time. I am particularly excited about being empowered in my current role to take the lessons from my early career both at BAE Systems and AWE and to make the decisions that transform the way we work. I have an amazing team around me, working alongside world class engineers and scientists and its really inspiring to see.
How do you see your career progressing?
It’s been a fantastic experience building up and developing a high performing team I can trust to deliver. Over the next few years, I hope to continue to hone my engineering leadership skills and take on a larger engineering leadership challenge with even greater influence over the direction of travel for the business.
Why are days such as International Day of Women in Engineering Day so important?
In my early career, I did not always value women engineer initiatives as it felt like it turned the conversation towards my gender and away from my engineering ability. But with so few women entering the field, it is incumbent on me to ask why and what needs to be improved. Why does the UK have the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe?
It is certainly true that my personal view of engineering was blurred, and I was not aware of the variety of roles and career paths on offer. Discussions about engineering portrayed either the fixing of engines or the wrangling of CAD models and I had no appreciation of the importance of soft skills or the full breadth of this diverse industry.
Research shows that typically people get inspired to do something when they see others like them and hence the difficulty with a pattern of low representation of women in engineering is that it can become self-fulfilling.
INWED is important to share a diverse range of experiences and to talk about them in a way that is accessible. If there is a chance that we may inspire even just one young man or woman to consider engineering then we should take that.
Who inspired you to become an engineer?
With an enjoyment of physics and maths, but with a narrow view of the field of engineering, it wasn’t until I took the chance to try out taster events ran by ‘The Smallpeice Trust’ that I realised that there was a role that suited me in the field. My inspiration are my parents and teachers who took the time to educate themselves as to the breadth of field, who never let me consider that I could be “less than” in the industry due to my gender and who encouraged me to give it a chance.
Why is gender equality and diversity so important to our industry?
Whilst diversity of thought drives high performing teams, it is essential when trying to develop creative engineering solutions. Whether these solutions be new technologies or innovation in process and ways of working, there is a need to bring together a wide variety of viewpoints and thought processes. Indeed, in safety critical industries, avoidance of “group think” is crucial!
Not only that, but in a world where there is a shortage of engineers, we are clearly missing a trick if we narrow our pool of potential candidates to half the population.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming an engineer?
There are a huge range of roles and opportunities. Just as people understand medicine to be a huge field, so is engineering. Whilst it can be useful to look to someone else’s career path to see where your progression may be, none of my colleagues have travelled exactly the same route. There is no linear path to the top. The key is to be open to opportunity and to not allow imposter syndrome to disproportionately affect you and you will find the right path for you.