James Jackson

Name: James Jackson
Job: Graduate engineer
Area of work: Project management
Employer: Balfour Beatty Management Ltd
Qualifications: BEng civil and structural engineering, University of Leeds, 2006

I chose project management because I wanted to get a broad exposure to the project lifecycle. As a student, I did two summer placements on site with the construction branch of my organisation. Being on site allowed me to see the benefits of gaining project management experience.

Modernising Earl’s Court

Until recently I was involved in the modernisation of Earl’s Court station – a project that is still ongoing. I supported the delivery manager for the refurbishment of the roof: replacing timber and glazing,stripping paintwork and repainting the structural steel. We erected a protection deck above the platforms with birdcage scaffolding to reach the roof, to enable the station to remain active.

When I started, I completed reports,carried out surveys and compiled assurance documents. Once the works began, I was on site most days to monitor progress and feed back to the project team. I liaised with the client, co-ordinated contractors, took care of contractual communications, arranged track access, filled in progress reports and kept the ‘as built’ construction sequence up to date.

A sense of ownership

There’s a strong sense of ownership when taking a project from conception through to commissioning. It would be nice to have spent more time on site, but it’s not always possible. Eventually, I’d like to move into senior management and be responsible for my own projects.