Paul’s job

 

One of the things I am proudest of in my career is having built something that did not previously exist.

I joined a two-person engineering start-up as its first Net Zero specialist and was given the opportunity to develop a new proposition around carbon reduction. I turned my experience in embodied carbon, Lean, management and engineering into a portfolio of commercially viable services, won client work, built the delivery capability and recruited and developed the people needed to deliver it. As demand grew, I established the processes and management structures required to support the organisation, ultimately helping transform a one-person engineering training business into a 20-person carbon reduction and sustainability consultancy.

What particularly motivates me about leadership is not simply managing people, but creating the conditions in which talented people can do their best work. I developed my original team to the point where two senior managers were able to take over my responsibilities when I moved on, leaving behind a capable and sustainable organisation rather than a role that depended on me.

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I build teams and capabilities where none previously exist: I joined a two-person start-up, created its carbon reduction business from scratch, won the work, built the team and management infrastructure, and ultimately left behind a 20-person sustainability consultancy with two senior leaders ready to take it forward.

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Capability	Your evidence
Strategy	Created an entirely new business proposition
Commercial	Developed services, proposals, pitches and won work
People leadership	Recruited, trained, mentored and developed a team
Organisational development	Created policies, procedures and management structures
Transformation	Helped turn a training start-up into a sustainability consultancy

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Created and led the carbon reduction service line, growing the capability from a two-person start-up function to a team of 10, generating £1.6 m revenue across 50 clients and contributing to company growth from 2 to 20 employees.

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Leader who understands technical work deeply enough to build businesses around it.”

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• Built a new business proposition from scratch, translating expertise in embodied carbon, Lean and management into a portfolio of commercially viable carbon reduction services for manufacturing and service-sector clients.

• Created and won new business, developing proposals, pitching services, delivering client work and working closely with sales to convert technical capability into revenue.

• Built and led the delivery team, initially recruiting and mentoring two part-time postgraduate researchers before growing the team through further recruitment as demand increased; developed both into full-time professional roles.

• Built organisational capability, creating policies, procedures, delivery methodologies and supporting management structures as the business grew.

• Developed company-wide carbon reduction capability, training delivery staff, sales colleagues and the CEO so that sustainability became embedded across the organisation rather than dependent on one specialist.

• Established the company's external profile, contributing articles, podcasts, industry and retail publications and marketing activity to build credibility and generate commercial opportunities.

• Provided strategic leadership at board level, helping establish a senior management tier and shaping the evolution of the business from an engineering training provider into a carbon reduction and sustainability consultancy.

• Built a sustainable leadership succession, leaving behind two senior managers capable of taking over my responsibilities and a skilled professional team capable of delivering the services I had created.

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  Joined a two-person engineering training start-up as its first specialist sustainability hire and built its carbon reduction and sustainability capability from the ground up. Created the service proposition, won and delivered client work, recruited and developed the team, established business processes and helped grow the company into a 20-person sustainability consultancy.

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  Strategic and commercially minded engineering and sustainability leader with 25+ years' experience turning complex technical challenges into practical, commercially viable services. Proven track record of building a sustainability business capability from the ground up: creating new services, winning work, developing people, establishing management systems and ultimately building a team and leadership structure capable of operating without me.