How did you get into this role?

13 years ago I was working on a lot of rail industry research projects to help RSSB help the industry improve safety. Becoming a risk analyst at RSSB seemed a very logical next step. Now I’m an engagement manager working with people in the industry more directly but on the same issues.

Why RSSB?

After joining RSSB on a secondment I did go back to consultancy very briefly and decided I liked it better at RSSB. When improving safety you help make a difference and feel good.

What do you enjoy most about your current role?

In my current role I most enjoy helping people solve problems and making efficiencies as well. There’s no point reinventing the wheel if RSSB’s already got something that’s going to help. That’s what your membership is for so come and use it!

What are your possible career opportunities?

Being an engagement manager can lead to many different possibilities. It’s about key client management and helping drive change and improvement through implementation. It’s probably more of a management route than a technical or engineering route, but I have an engineering background so there’s no reason why I can’t do both.

What skills have you developed at RSSB?

I used to love projects where you work out a project plan, do exactly that and say ‘no’ for contractual reasons if anyone wants to change anything. But the world doesn’t stand still and we are practical at RSSB. We need to produce products and services that are useful and meaningful. A key skill I’ve developed is being able to adapt, re-prioritise things and react to what’s going on in the industry.

Key achievements or career highlights at RSSB?

We’ve done so many things it seems mean to highlight only some. My team and I are very proud of the way we’ve turned a cornerstone in making SMIS more reliable and usable. I enjoyed the challenge of undertaking a risk analysis that demonstrated, and convinced industry, that there wasn’t a legal justification for it to spend £50 million on upgrading train doors. And I really loved working with the level crossing community on upgrading the All Level-Crossing Risk Model.