Emily Kiernan, Operations Manager
Emily is based at our Leigh depot and has worked for idverde for 3.5 years, having previously worked for a construction company. She moved into a Trainee Operations Manager role while completing a Level 5 Operational/Departmental Manager course with idverde, before being made Operations Manager for our Housebuilder operations.
Emily says:
I have always had an interest in this industry that probably comes from a family who are in the construction business.
In terms of a typical day, no two days are ever the same in this job! Work begins at 7am getting the teams out to sites. I usually let the maintenance teams know a rough plan for the week at the start of the working week and then confirm this for definite as the week unfolds. Things are always fast-moving and plans change constantly so being able to adapt and think fast is a big part of the job. There are so many external factors that can impact a day (weather/sickness/van issues). These can never be planned for and we just have to react to them as they occur.
As the teams complete jobs, I then complete these on the system and collate their paperwork along with any pictures they have taken from the site visit together ready for invoicing.
We are a small team of Operations Managers in our office and we have landscaping, fencing, bespoke and maintenance teams running from this depot. We mainly deal with new build housing developers carrying out installations of show homes, installing both the landscaping and fencing, along with plot work for these sites as they are developed. We also carry out maintenance across numerous developers’ Sales Areas and Public Open Spaces (POS areas). This is the area I look after predominantly. I do the scheduling of the works, liaise with the clients, raise ad hoc quotes for work relating to these sites and then invoice the works once we have been to site.
It is always so busy that the days usually fly by! I work with great people and we all really get on (most of the time!)
I wouldn’t say there are any particular challenges relating to women in my job. I think women in the construction industry is the norm now. I think in the past there would probably have been judgement/misconceptions about females in this industry, but I think in the world we live in now the challenges of being female in this industry are minimal. If you are good enough for the job then I don’t believe it should matter whether you are female or male. I think it is an industry where you can’t take things too personally or to heart, but I would say that is the same for both females and males!
From everything I have experienced in my time doing this job and working in this industry women are on a level playing field with their male counterparts and I have never been made to feel any other way.