Job Title: ESG & Sustainability Implementation Lead
Company: Janus International Europe
What is your background and how did you come to be in your present role?~
Just over a decade ago I was at a crossroads in my career. As you can imagine, there is a lot of offshore work in the North East and a friend of mine who works in that sector, suggested I would be well suited to health and safety and that I should take the NEBOSH General Certificate course.
I saved up, booked myself onto a course and was really excited to get going. However, the day before I was due to start, it got cancelled. What then followed was a year of travelling and a spell working in a bank before I finally returned to health and safety and studied for my entry level NEBOSH health and safety certificate.
It was then time to find a job and while applying, a role at Janus really stood out. I landed the job and worked in Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality for around three years. I loved it but I’m very interested in sustainability and environment. Luckily, Janus give me an opportunity to pursue this field and gave me sustainability related training.
I’ve now been with the business a total of five years and I’m currently the ESG and Sustainability Implementation Lead, which means I’m mainly focused on environmental management, sustainability initiatives and decarbonising the business.
What has been your greatest challenge so far in your career?
Taking the leap to learn a transferable skill that I can hold on to and work towards for the rest of my career; not something where I would potentially flip from career to career, starting at the bottom every time I took on a new role.
Taking the leap to do something that is going to secure my future was made even more challenging by the fact I came from a role in banking; it was such a culture shock. I went from working at a computer to having boots on the ground on the factory floor; doing safety walk arounds, learning how machinery works and speaking to people. It was a challenge, but a good one.
What has been your greatest achievement so far in your career?
I was very proud to be a part of Janus’ journey to be nominated as a finalist in the Sustainable Manufacturing category at The Manufacturer MX Awards 2024. I’ve been heavily involved in this part of the business for the past three years so that was one of my proudest moments, until now.
Being part of The Manufacturer Top 100 – to be recognised as an individual rather than a business – is definitely the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Forge your own path; don’t follow all of your friends to university. I ended up studying media production as I originally wanted to work behind the camera and do studio work. From quite a young age, I was very interested in design, art and illustration, and I do wish I was able to use that passion.
So, I’d say be a designer, learn CAD and do something practical that you enjoy. I also wish I had done an apprenticeship, and gone straight into engineering. The world would literally have been my oyster. However, I’m very happy at where I am currently.
How do you think we can raise the profile of careers in STEM?
When I was at school I just wasn’t aware of the types of careers that existed – I wasn’t told anything. So, it was never an option to go down an engineering or design tech route. Of course it’s different now; with social media, young people have the world at their fingertips and they can find information within seconds.
It’s vital to be able to show kids what they can do in engineering, what the opportunities are and where it can lead them. As manufacturers, we need to open our doors, let young people come in and see what it’s all about.
And it’s not just about working on the factory floor. A career in manufacturing means you could work in design, operations, production, procurement; there’s a whole world behind those doors. If more manufacturers opened their doors to young people it would make a big difference.
What is your favourite engineered/manufactured product?
A wind turbine. There’s a lot of them on the North East coast and I think they’re great to look at. They’re sleek, they blend in and they’re what the future should look like.
Please give one interesting fact about yourself that not many people know.
When I was younger, I sold all my belongings and lived in an old van in the Glass House Mountains in Australia. I volunteered at an animal sanctuary for five months which was life-changing. I couldn’t have paid for an experience like that.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in manufacturing?
Think of something that you like to do and relate it to industry, because you will find something. There’s a variety of different options and the opportunity to learn, grow and travel the world. So, go for it and don’t look back.
