Introduction
Andrew works as Head of Engineering at Twiflex Ltd, a company that designs and manufactures industrial clutches and brakes for heavy-duty applications in the marine, oil and gas, wind, tidal and mining sectors. His role is a combination of technical leadership and engineering management, and he has overall responsibility for mechanical engineering design, new product design and R&D.
From apprentice to manager
Today Andrew looks after a team of seven engineers, but his career actually began as a mechanical craft apprentice at the company.
“This gave me a great practical grounding in general engineering, fitting and machining,” he explains. “After my apprenticeship I moved up the company into a technical application engineering role, continuing to study part-time at college to increase my mechanical engineering qualifications.”
After completing his HND and continuing to work in this role, Andrew applied for and was awarded, Incorporated Engineer (IEng) status via the IET
After ten years at Twiflex Andrew moved to a new company, Allianz Engineering, where he worked as a Lift and Crane Engineer Surveyor. During his seven years there, he gave up his free time to study, topping up his qualifications to gain a First Class BEng Honours degree.
He then chose to return to Twiflex as a mechanical design engineer and was promoted into his current role in 2010.
Career highlight
“This is my main career highlight,” he enthuses. “I was relatively young for a position of this seniority at the time, and my line manager showed a lot of faith in my ability by giving me the opportunity,” he says.
“It’s great to look back at my achievements over the last four years and see the process and improvements in engineering that I’m responsible for. Exceeding expectations makes it all the more rewarding.”
Recognising leadership capabilities
Having been in a management role for only four years, Andrew believes he’s still “relatively new” to managing people or departments, but during his time in the job, he’s been able to show a strong level of technical and commercial leadership.
“Using lean manufacturing tools I have successfully developed and implemented visual management tools to track departmental performance to an agreed set of KPI’s. I have also been able to demonstrate a strong awareness of business and profit when presenting commercial plans to either the managing director or customers,” he says as examples.
It was a matter of timing that led to Andrew’s application for CMgr – he’d recently completed his Chartered Engineer (CEng) application when he received a leaflet inviting potential CMgr applicants to attend a webinar, which he did.
“It was something I hadn’t considered previously, but as I take my management responsibilities seriously I thought I would take the opportunity and put myself forward,” he says.
CMgr complements engineering-focused professional registration
Andrew believes achieving CMgr status allows him to come across as a more well rounded professional.
“Like me, many engineers are also practicing managers. Like IEng or CEng, CMgr provides recognition of my status as a professional manager and a commitment to continued professional development,” he says.
“I believe it can help career prospects through management recognition and the fact it demonstrates dedication to my profession, plus CMI membership opens up access to all kinds of useful resources, practical advice and learning tools that will help me do my job more effectively and make me a better manager,” he continues.
“I’d definitely recommend it to others - “It complements existing IET certifications, improves career prospects and recognition as a professional manager. As an added bonus, IET members get a 50 per cent discount on standard CMI fees. If you’re serious about your management responsibilities, want professional recognition as a manager and access to great management resources and advice, then apply!”
Find out more about becoming a Chartered Manager.