Career Profile: Ed Walker FIEMA CEnv, environmental specialist – coastal energy, Xodus Group

What was your first job in the environment/sustainability field? I worked for an environmental and sustainability organisation in Aberdeen. It was focused on leading landfill diversion in the area, and I had the chance to work with multiple oil and gas companies. It also led a number of social and environmental improvement schemes around the city/Aberdeenshire that were really progressive.

How did you get your first role? I completed a tutoring placement scheme with BP during my degree. This helped me with my application for my first role.

What does your current role involve? I support the development of coastal energy infrastructure, particularly subsea cables. My involvement varies a lot, from the early stages of project development where feasibility is assessed, and key decisions on routeing and siting are made; or it could be at the end of development when construction takes place and compliance is ensured. Environmental assessment and management is a key theme throughout.

How has your role changed/progressed over the past few years? I lead multidisciplinary teams and help ensure that those managing delivery have the right support. This means developing the right culture within teams, and making sure people are supported during what are often challenging projects and timescales. Alongside ‘the day job’, I am focused on helping support team development, growth and upskilling. This aligns with my involvement with IEMA (I am the North East regional chair, and a member of the marine working group).

What’s the best part of your work? Seeing the results of my work, which can often take a long time because of the timescales involved with infrastructure development.

What’s the hardest part of your job? Timescales! The urgent need for new low-carbon and renewable energy infrastructure and the constraints on the supply chain drive often very ‘keen’ programmes for project development.

What is/are the most important skill(s) for your job? Communication, leadership and organisation.

Where do you see the profession going? It’s getting busier, but we are also seeing new and additional challenges – pace of development is one example, where we are having to work in different ways to deliver infrastructure. Equally, regulators are just as busy, so we need to find new ways of working with them and helping them to fulfil their job.

Where would you like to be in five years’ time? Continuing to improve practice in infrastructure delivery, and seeing construction complete on one of the major projects I am involved with.

What advice would you give to someone entering the profession? Seek and take on opportunities for learning more about the profession as early and as regularly as you can. It will help provide a sound basis for a career, and will be valuable experience for job applications.

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? Passionate, leader, advocate.

What motivates you? Successfully supporting the growth of new infrastructure, especially in the energy sector – net zero is a massive challenge and doing my bit to meet this is motivating.

What would be your personal motto? I don’t really have a personal motto, but Churchill famously said that ‘success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm’ – a great turn of phrase.

Greatest risk you have ever taken? I relocated from Aberdeen to Newcastle for a new opportunity with a renewable energy company during the slump in oil and gas. I didn’t know how it would turn out and I was very ‘green’.

If you could go back in history, who would you like to meet? William Armstrong, the 19th century industrialist, inventor and engineer. As well as being one of the great leaders of his day in engineering and science, he was a philanthropist and left a real environmental and architectural legacy in the north-east.

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