Abi Lovejoy

If your teenage self could see you now, what would they think?

Probably be quite surprised. Never considered a career in construction and thought I would end up in more traditional business management sort of role - marketing etc. 

What drives you on?

• Feeling of being useful and helpful for others
• Quiet an impatient person so always thinking about what next 
• Others around me drive me. Quite often at start of career you are the most inexperienced person in the room and desire to have the knowledge/experience/expertise of others is a drive

How has the graduate programme benefited your career at Mace?

Viewed as the next generation of leaders. Company invests a lot of money and time in developing the graduates through training etc. Most colleagues are willing to help a graduate however they can and this has really helped me network, increase exposure and understanding of and find opportunities available within Mace. 

What your roles includes e.g. typical activities and key responsibilities

• Monitoring site progress 
• Developing and maintaining fully integrated target construction programme. Weekly progress updates, re-sequencing and scenario planning using scheduling software
• Managing interfaces and coordination of works on site working with Mace construction and project/package managers and contractors, including through use of 4d model
• Facilitating conversations surrounding schedule and potential issues - flagging milestones, delays, asking questions, determining impact on bigger picture of works
• Fulfil planner responsibilities under NEC contract  

What makes Mace a great place to work

• The people and opportunities. If you don’t ask you don’t get 
• Generally people are forward thinking/ innovative/looking how we can improve processes etc. and I like that sort of culture 

What training have you received?

• Mix of soft skills and more construction specific on the graduate scheme 
• From being part of PMO Services Practice Group - software specific training including Primavera P6, Powerproject, Power BI as well as for qualifications including APM Project Planning and Controls Practitioner 

The best and worst pieces of your job  

Best: 

As a Planner, you get to be involved across the whole building which is great exposure to different elements of construction, people and aids your thinking of looking at the job from a bigger picture rather than just in isolation. All this means its a great learning opportunity.

Worst: 

Can be quite intense sometimes when looking at scheduling software to determine logic changes/variance. Or in reporting periods quite easy to get bogged down in scheduling software

How has your career progressed at Mace?

Started in providing project reporting support, then moved into a consultancy planning role as assistant planning manager providing schedule assurance across strategic level schedules client side. Now work in construction planning role as Planning Manager developing and managing a fully interfaced construction schedule