Day in the life of...
Bid Manager – Jenny Raison
What does your role involve?
I work for Willmott Dixon and my role is to manage the preconstruction stage of projects, leading the preconstruction team (usually estimators, design managers, planners) through from feasibility up to start on site. This could involve planning, design management, estimating, risk & value management. A key part of my role is also to manage the relationship between our team and our client.
What do you like about your job?
I enjoy the variety – every project is different. Different buildings, different project teams, different client priorities, varying risk profiles. No two days are the same.
What’s your working day like?
My day usually involves meetings! I spend a lot of time in meetings and workshops with different project stakeholders – these could be client progress meetings, design team meetings, cost management meetings, value engineering workshops, planning consultations etc. It’s crucial then that I feed back the outcomes of these meetings to the teams I am working with at Willmott Dixon.
What skills do you need in your job?
I believe the key skill I require for my role is an ability to work with lots of different types of people. I use my people skills to represent the business, manage client expectations, direct consultants and influence colleagues. I also need to be able to plan and manage project activities within specific timescales – this introduces a need to be able to prioritise!
What was your background before starting this role?
My background is quantity surveying, which I did with Willmott Dixon for a number of years, working mainly on food retail projects.
What are you most proud of in your career?
Doing my degree part time, whilst being sponsored by my employer, was a fantastic choice. My industry experience meant I had a lot more to contribute to my learning experience. Completing my dissertation and doing my finals whilst completing a retail project was definitely ‘up there’ in terms of a challenge, but I got through it and got a good result in my degree.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time
Whilst I don’t know what my specific role will be, I picture myself still working in the industry – hopefully still for Willmott Dixon. I can’t really imagine doing anything else, because working in construction never gets boring. It’s a constantly evolving industry that brings us new technologies, fresh challenges and different kinds of rewards.
What advice would you have for anyone thinking of a career in construction?
Don’t hesitate – it’s an enormously satisfying industry to work in. It’s always challenging but ultimately very rewarding. Imagine walking past a flagship building with your friends and being able to tell them “I helped build that”. There’s nothing quite like that.