ARUP
With 15,000 employees in 33 countries , Arup is an independent firm of designers , planners , engineers , consultants and technical specialists working across every aspect of today ’ s built environment .
www . commbank . com . au
EA PROFILE
“ Be curious . Learn about the company you ’ re in , understand other peoples ’ roles and don ’ t sit in a bubble ”
From suddenly co-managing a team of 17 while doing her day job to rapidly transitioning to a pandemic-induced way of working , it ’ s been two years of change , adaption and challenges for former Executive PA of the Year Runner Up , Sue Spink . A business assistant at Arup in Leeds , UK , she tells us more …
Let ’ s rewind – tell us about your career journey to date … I started my working life after leaving college with some secretarial qualifications . I was offered the role of office junior / trainee accounts clerk at a house builder , which was the best foundation to office / admin anybody could have had . Being able to clearly see all the steps in the process of how a house is designed right up to it being sold and beyond gave me a really solid basis on which to build my career on – of course , I didn ’ t realise it at that point .
I sort of worked up to the assistant role – but a bit of right-place right-time helped , too . I ’ d done some assistanttype work and my organisational skills were clear to see so when I moved companies and began a team secretary role that included PA support to the team leader , it just worked . Later , I moved departments and became second in command to the CEO ’ s PA before being tipped off from a former colleague about a role at their company – PA to a director . Off I went and here I am , 17 years later !
50 Executive PA | Autumn Issue 2022