PhD Programme: PhD in Management
Completed: 2019
Research focus: Integrating Public Service Motivation and Environmentalism
What is your current job title?
- Managing Director – Greenfriars Sustainability Consultants (Oct 2019 – present)
- Policy Lead for Impact Assessment – Institute for Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) (Nov 2019 – present)
- Environmental and Social Policy and Risk Advisor – International Finance Institution (IFC) – (Jul 2020 – present)
How would you describe your current role in one sentence?
As Director of Sustainability at Greenfriars, I advise senior and executive management in private, public and not for profit organisations on sustainability, environmental and social governance and impact assessment.
How did you find your career opportunities?
- Greenfriars – I set up myself in late 2019 following 15 years working at large international consultancy firms.
- IEMA: I was directly approached, based on my previous contributions as a volunteer and Fellow of the institute.
- IFC: I was directly approached based on positive client feedback from my previous work for the World Bank Group, when I worked at Royal HaskoningDHV.
What advice and reflections would you like to share with current students, particularly those considering a transition from a PhD into a non-academic role?
Career success is for most people a marathon not a sprint. My current success is built on a step by step process starting in the most junior role (as a graduate consultant on 16K) to eventually becoming a world expert after 20 years and now on 160K. This is a result of a methodical application of skills, knowledge and behaviours over a variety of roles, and organisations over the length of my career.
- In each role you need to put maximum effort and diligence into completing your assigned duties, whilst always looking for ways to improve the status quo.
- Volunteer for opportunities inside and outside of work, and within professional organisations.
- Get out of your comfort zone to join groups, start initiatives, speak at events, continuous professional development is important to develop new skills and knowledge, and keep abreast of latest developments
Which skills developed during your PhD do you use in your current role?
- Deep research (reading lots of materials and getting really deep into the insights).
- Use of statistics and large data models.
- Concise writing and good narrative skills.
- A focus on evidence based practice.