Education and qualifications:
MBA Executive MBA, Distinction, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass Business School)
MSc Power Distribution Engineering, Distinction, Newcastle University
BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Leicester

Job title:
Engineering and Maintenance Lead

Employer:
Nokia

What inspired you to become an engineer or pointed you towards an engineering career?
As a child, I was inspired by my grandfather’s story of how he fled from his humble village in rural India to pursue his passion, established himself as the first Chief Engineer for the state government and led major electrical generation and transmission projects for the state. This combined with my interest in Maths and Science at school pointed me towards electrical engineering as a career.

Please describe your role or position within your workplace.
I define global engineering and maintenance strategy for Nokia and assist the Real Estate operations team to deliver efficient facility management services. Key tasks include authoring engineering standards, leading the global asset management programme and providing subject matter expertise for projects and programme management.

Can you describe a typical working day?
I joined the organisation during the pandemic and have been primarily working from home. A typical day  involves several virtual calls with colleagues and third parties from across the globe. I ensure I book in time to focus - to read and update standards, ways of working and relevant documentations. I also facilitate several workshops to implement real estate infrastructure strategies, such as location strategy and data optimisation. I have also gradually started visiting our key facilities for several real estate topics and meeting our stakeholders.

Are there any particular challenges or unusual aspects to your role?
I do not have any direct reports and need people from various departments to deploy any improvement opportunities. Hence, I need to use my influencing skills to get teams aligned with my initiatives. Also, communication is a key part of my role as I act as a liaison with different service providers to promote collaboration.

What do you find most enjoyable about your job?
I am a people person and I enjoy the interactions with different teams, companies and stakeholders that happen on a day-to-day basis. I also enjoy the technical challenges that the job involves, such as reviewing designs and providing advice on standards.

Is there a great professional achievement or high-profile accomplishment that you would like to tell us about?
I am particularly proud of my first £1 million project that I led from inception to completion. We installed an 800kVA rotary Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for a key manufacturing facility to support production through voltage disturbances.

What contributed to your decision to become professionally registered?
Professional registration gives you credibility as your capabilities are peer assessed and not specific to one industry or company. This drove me towards getting professionally registered. Additionally, the graduate programme I was on was well structured and enabled me to achieve the criteria required as I progressed my career.

In what ways has registration benefitted your career?
Registration has directly supported my career as it is becoming one of the key requirements for engineering leadership positions. It has also enabled me to reach out to a wider network and attend events relevant to my interests and activities.

How does your employer benefit from your professional registration?
Registration provides my employer with the assurance of my competency. This is necessary for me to take responsibility for the high-hazard systems that have business and health and safety impact.

Is there any advice you would pass on to someone considering professional registration?
Get a mentor and maintain a professional development plan, which should be reviewed regularly to ensure that your projects and activities are aligned with the requirements of registration.

Where do you see yourself in your career in five years’ time or what are your future ambitions?
I would like to see myself progressing into engineering executive roles where I lead large teams to significantly add business value.

Outside work, is there any activity you enjoy doing in your spare time that relates to engineering? For example, do you participate in mentoring, volunteering or membership of other engineering groups?
I am a member of the Women in Engineering (WIE) chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and have been a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassador in the past.

I tutor GCSE and A level students in Maths and Science as I enjoy teaching.

Do you identify as disabled, or as a member of a minority or under-represented group? Would you like to comment on what impact or influence you feel this has had upon your career?
I belong to an ethnic minority group. I feel that the organisations I have worked for have been supportive and I have been able to express my beliefs and thoughts without hesitation.