Insights Stalled career progression? Here's how it works at AtkinsRéalis.

Meet talented Senior Consultant Lucy Stone. Over the past six years with AtkinsRéalis, she has advanced through a dynamic series of roles—from our UK Supply Chain to Corporate Real Estate teams—culminating in her current position as a Senior Facilities Management Consultant with our Projects and Programme Services team.

What does a Senior Facilities Management Consultant do?

I advise different organizations on managing their buildings and services. I help them plan their facilities strategy, decide what services they need, measure performance, and assess costs. I also work to include social and environmental benefits in the daily operations of these services.

In AtkinsRéalis, we all want you to succeed.

I joined the organization in 2017, enjoying support and guidance from the start. It's helped me set short-, medium-, and long-term career goals. I decided my immediate plan would be to gain my Chartership in Procurement. Looking medium-term, I wanted to progress into a management role. My long-term aim is to help clients and the Facilities Management industry keep up with and adjust to the big market trends.

Leading AtkinsRéalis' UK PPE Contract

The skills I learned in Supply Chain Management and the Procurement Life Cycle include scope definition, market analysis, tendering, and contract management. These skills were put into practice when I was given the chance to lead the AtkinsRéalis UK PPE Contract tender from start to finish.

Working on the PPE project helped me learn how AtkinsRéalis developed its vast PPE requirements to suit the safety needs of the whole business. These hands-on opportunities to 'learn' and 'do' simultaneously supported my promotion from Junior to Assistant Category Manager, recognizing my enhanced skill set.

The team works with one another, never against.

Meanwhile, in late 2017, I began working towards my Membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (MCIPS) to enhance my academic procurement and category management skills. My manager and team supported me through the three-year course to achieve this.

Once I gained my MCIPS, I was ready for a new challenge. Inside AtkinsRéalis, internal moves are supported globally, which allowed me to easily transition within the organization. This move to a management role was supported by the internal teams as the management of the UK Facilities Management (FM) moved to the UK Estates Team.

Pandemic response: working on projects that matter

While working with the Estates Team, I continued to develop by learning about managing UK FM and Furniture contracts. During this time, I had the opportunity to be part of the UK's Covid Response Team. This gave me great experience of how ever-changing business demands can be met with effective collaboration. This was recognized by the UK CEO Richard Robinson when my team was awarded the CEO Award of the Year in 2021.

Progressing on AtkinsRéalis' Mentorship Program

To continue my progression journey, I was supported by my line manager to engage with a mentor through the AtkinsRéalis mentorship program. Within the first six months of mentorship with Christina Leafe, Infrastructure's Building Design Practice Director, I identified my skills gap. This helped me understand the key areas I needed to focus on in my career development, such as delegation, time management, and prioritization.

"Support and guidance from a female leader within the business were pivotal in helping me understand where I could progress over time. They ultimately gave me the confidence to seek a new challenge to bridge the gap in my skills."

Lucy Stone, Projects and Programme Services

With our flat hierarchy, you're trusted to lead faster

The confidence gained through mentorship led me to secure my next promotion as a Senior Consultant in Facilities Management. This opportunity benefitted the business by allowing me to transfer the skills I'd gained from managing indirect corporate contracts to support our client base externally with my facilities management knowledge and experience.

My perspective and contributions are valued equally.

AtkinsRéalis has been pivotal in my career progression and continues to adapt to ensure everyone has equal development opportunities. AtkinsRéalis has the right tools, training, mentors, sponsors, and line managers that focus on you as an individual to support you to follow the career path of your choice.

We're hiring across Project and Programme Services—from project managers to senior program managers and directors, P3M Consultants to managing quantity surveyors: explore our latest live roles.