There is never a dull moment for Phillip Sjøsletten Bresemann in his role as engineering manager. Find out why taking an aerial view of a project makes his job so interesting.
What is it like to work as an engineering manager?
I have yet to be bored in my four months at NNE. On top of that, I am always at least a little busy – and I think busy is good. Every day is different. Urgent subjects will crop up and, as an engineering manager, it is my responsibility to deal with those as they appear while keeping an eye on the overall project.
The core of engineering management is making sure that everything meshes. It is imperative to get the right people together to solve the customer’s issues. I work with many different discipline leads to make sure this happens. For this reason, I am not specialized in any one discipline or area. It is more critical to have a general understanding of all areas in order to keep an overview of the entire project.
How has your career progressed?
When I joined NNE, I was assigned a mentor who worked alongside me on a shutdown project. This close collaboration ensured that I was quickly introduced to new colleagues and customers, easily completed my work tasks, and got familiar with procedures and tools used in NNE. Alongside this, the mentorship is reassuring as it gives me the security of always having someone to ask about and confirm my decisions.
An engineering manager can work with colleagues and customers every day, but the balance tips in one direction or another depending on the project. I happen to work quite frequently on site with the customer in my current project, and I enjoy the efficient decision-making that comes with it. However, this is not the case sometimes and my role involves managing stakeholders.
What personality traits should an engineering manager have?
I think they should be outgoing – at least to some degree – in order to talk with different people in all kinds of positions to get a hold on the core of the project. I try to unify the project and find the best solution by working with people in an organized way and explaining things in a structured manner.
Ultimately, it is this coordinated solution that we must deliver to our customers and it is my job to take the aerial perspective to ensure it happens.
Bio:
- Phillip Sjøsletten Bresemann trained as a carpenter before graduating from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) with a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering
- He has worked for E. Pihl & Søn A.S. in Sweden as a site engineer and later for Ramboll as a project manager
- He joined NNE in November 2015 as an engineering manager
