From Oil & Gas to Low-Carbon Leadership

A Global Career in Oil & Gas

I started my career in Scotland in 2012 with an American multinational oil and gas engineering and technology provider. By 2013, I was working in Houston and later New Orleans, before moving to Oslo in 2017.

I began in engineering, achieved chartered status, and moved into project management, bid management, and technology management. My specialist area was topsides process equipment—gas processing, oil separation, water treatment, and power generation.

I worked all over the world, from Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to Brazil, Libya, UAE, Norway, and Australia, covering every stage of the project lifecycle.

Looking for change

I first started considering a transition to a low-carbon role in 2017, because I wanted to work on the energy technologies of the future. I even applied for a Sustainable Energy Futures MSc at Imperial College, but didn’t get in—a setback that ultimately led me to working in Norway.

I worked on some really interesting water treatment and injection projects in Norway for a few years and then in 2020, COVID hit. I took some time to reflect and decided to leave oil and gas, study for an MBA, and pivot into renewables. The timing felt right, the opportunity cost was low during COVID, and I wanted a commercial role in the low-carbon sector where I could utilise my technical background.

Advice for Others Considering the Move

I joined SSE four years ago as a Commercial Manager in SSE Distributed Energy and I’ve never looked back! I’ve continued to develop my career and I’m now Head of Business Development at SSE Thermal

I’d definitely recommend making the move to a low-carbon career. So many of the skills that I developed in my time in oil and gas continue to serve me well in my role now - project development, capital budgeting, cost control, bid management, commercial management, to name a few.

Making the move takes courage, adaptability, and a willingness to learn, but the opportunities are vast and growing.