I joined Mace in September 2021 following my degree in Geology and Masters in Risk and now I am an Assistant Risk Manager. I wanted to join Mace because of the array of high-profile projects they’ve been a part of including the 2012 Olympics and the Shard to name a few. In addition to this, their values regarding sustainability and equality and diversity aligned with my own.
Whilst at Mace you will be based on a project. My role involves collating the risks to the project, evaluating the likelihood and potential impacts (particularly in terms of cost and time delays) and helping to set out mitigations to prevent these risks from occurring. Key responsibilities include maintaining a risk register, hosting risk reviews and workshops, and reporting on key risks to the project.
I was surprised by how easy it was to get involved in the wider Mace community. Although you sit on a project and may spend your time based at the project office, there are so many opportunities to get involved with Mace colleagues including through my business unit, the Grad Scheme, the D&I Networks, volunteering days and fundraising challenges.
The stereotypical assumption about risk managers is that they are “all about health and safety” and stopping ‘risky’ things from going ahead (and some would even say a bit boring too!).
In my experience this could not be further from the truth. Risk managers actually help to facilitate some the biggest and most exciting projects through formalising the process of risk identification and mitigation. It’s pretty cool being such an integral part of the team.
