Wendy Owen
Director of Systems Safety & Assurance at Costain
Have a very vivid imagination, be good at networking, be strong-willed, be a good writer, a good mathematician, and be dedicated to reducing the risk of accidents saving people's lives. Not advised as a job for the squeamish.
About Wendy...
Who am I?
"I'm a team and line manager (manager/influencer), I lead technical workstreams, I campaign for safety in design (campaigner), I'm an international expert in my field (influencer)."
What do I do?
"I support delivery of major infrastructure projects in various sectors and internationally. I help make sure that systems are safe to use or operate.Projects, bids and business development. Mentoring less experienced staff.Starting salary - reasonable to high compared to other engineering fields."
How did I get here?
"From O-levels and A-Levels, being a Physics graduate, to becoming an analyst and engineer, senior engineer, principal engineer, technical director, and head of discipline/ director.I was only the 4th woman in the 40 year history of my main professional society to be elected as a Fellow.I have now been in my field for over 30 years, and am with my 8th employer.As well as my main job, I'm also now a visiting lecturer on an MEng/MSc course in transport and law at a universityI was inspired by Ada Lovelace (who worked with Charles Babbage who went to same school as me), and my father, who was an electrical engineer and had faith in my abilities."
The life I live
"Outside work, I like hiking, cycling, gardening and visiting historical sites. I'm a patron of the Landmark Trust and contribute to many other charities, including wildlife and humanitarian aid, including 4 sponsored children."
My typical day
"Desk-based, with travel on and off - in UK and overseas. I've worked elsewhere in Europe and Australia, and worked remotely on projects in the USA, Canada and the Middle East. Work mainly from home these days. Typically work on several projects and bids in any given week.Cover highly-regulated sectors; transport (mainly rail), energy (nuclear, oil & gas), chempharma, defence, aerospace, occasionally other sectors such as water or manufacturingJob often involves engineering (from drainage to digital), and maths (mostly probabilistic calculations and statistics)."
My qualifications
"BSc (hons) Theoretical PhysicsFSaRS (Fellow of Safety & Reliability Society)MINCOSE (Member of the International Council of Systems Engineers)MIAM (Member of the Institute of Asset Management)MWES (Member of the Women's Engineering Society)various sector-specific safety qualifications"
Wendy's Photos
