Darryl White
Associate Director & Project Manager
Name and role
Darryl White, Regional Director at Waterman Aspen (2 days) / On Secondment at Systra working on Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRUe) as a Project Manager (3 days)
When did you join Waterman Aspen?
6th September 2021
What does a typical day look like in your role or secondment?
Systra – I face daily challenges managing design teams ensuring we hit weekly milestones, typically within the structures discipline, solving problems utilising my experience, or engaging and liaising with the Alliance, Network Rail, and outside parties. I also review and manage the main design schedule and ensure we understand what resources are required within the team. Recently I have been assisting with a bid for the next phase of detailed design works.
Waterman Aspen – Regularly interviewing potential new members of staff, carrying out one-two-one’s with existing staff and undertaking business development meetings with existing and new clients.
What training or education have you received at Waterman Aspen?
Within my short space of time within WA, I have undertaken an introductory course on the NEC4 Contract, watched various LinkedIn Learning sessions to help me improve my excel and PowerBi Skills, as well as following a dedicated Associate Directors Development Plan and various one-two-one’s with my line manager to understand the various workings of the business.
What’s the best thing about working for Waterman Aspen?
It’s definitely the ability to learn new aspects of your own discipline within different client organisations. I spent the previous 13 years working with Network Rail who act as the client, so to be seconded into a design organisation, be able to transfer my skills and learn how designs are produced and progressed is great to get involved in. Systra have also utilised my project management skills to progress their bid for the next stage of design, and this is something that I have not been involved with before, so it’s great to be part of this process.
What would you say to someone interested in a career in your role?
Project Management provides so many transferable skills, which can be utilised by the client, designer or contractor, and therefore creates a wide and varied amount of work opportunities. And if you are looking for an organisation that enables you to learn and gain experience in different clients’ offices – within different parts of a specific sector – or enables you to transfer between sectors, then Waterman Aspen can facilitate these opportunities, whilst also providing significant training, guidance and rewards for achievements such as gaining professional qualifications.
