BCECA members provide engineering, design, project management and construction services for the process and energy industries.
Petrofac is a leading international service provider to the energy industry. They design, build, manage, operate and maintain offshore and onshore facilities upstream, downstream and across the new and renewable energy sectors. Petrofac has been supporting its clients for more than 42 years and today deploys engineering, project management and project execution expertise in support of a new generation of assets, spanning wind, CCUS, hydrogen and waste-to-value. With 8,500 employees, Petrofac operates across 31 offices worldwide.
The application of science
"I wanted to be an engineer from the age of ten. I was influenced by a physics teacher who was a mechanical engineer. She shared some inspiring stories from her work on the Concorde supersonic jet project. My chemistry teacher was an industrial chemist. Consequently, I gained a real appreciation of the application of science – in short, engineering. I was hooked, and a degree in chemical engineering from Loughborough was my next move. Fast forward to 2024, and my latest role has a wide remit, including ensuring smooth project delivery for clients, personnel development and taking a forward look to align our business with the demands of the energy transition. I am really proud to work at Petrofac. The level of global competence we have across the organisation is by far the highest I've seen in my career to date."
My journey so far
"I started work as a process engineer working on plant operations before moving on to design work. Armed with this experience, I specialised in process safety. My job was to identify and reduce – or better still eliminate – the safety risks in new designs and operating plants. I developed a real passion for process safety. It's a growing discipline as we roll out new technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen to support the energy transformation. I spent 15 years in process safety before moving to my current role. Over the years, I have been fortunate to have several mentors who have supported me at various times. Today, I seek to do the same with the next generation of professional engineers."
Enhancing engineering
"My proudest achievement thus far is building the capability of the technical safety and environmental team at Petrofac. I believe in creating teams that are more capable than you are yourself. This is a great way of covering your 'blind spots'. We are currently working on incredibly complex projects requiring new approaches to assess risks in energy transition work. Enhancing engineering is essentially what my job is all about. I am constantly working to develop our engineering teams and project execution to meet the energy transformation change and solve the climate crisis."
For more information about career prospects in the engineering contracting sector, contact BCECA at 10th Floor, Camelford House, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP
t: 020 7 091 8652
e: [email protected]
w: bceca.org.uk
