Just five months in, tender engineer Lara Bussen (31 years old) is already pursuing her professional and personal ambitions in renewable energy at Boskalis’ Offshore Energy division.
Growing up in New Zealand, nature and outdoor life have always played important parts in Lara’s life. “When I moved to the Netherlands three years ago”, she starts, “I had a job in civil infrastructure for an engineering consultancy. But my love for our planet drew me towards a future in the offshore industry. I’m really interested in renewables and how quickly the market for clean energy is developing. I knew I had to be at Boskalis to explore this market and make my mark in the energy transition.”
Lara’s job as a tender engineer at the Offshore Heavy Lifting department matches her ambitions and mostly revolves around offshore windfarms. Lara: “I play a very broad role in the tender phase of these projects. It’s up to me to support the tender manager and commercial manager in the process of bidding for projects. This involves preparing the construction methodology as well as coordinating different commercial aspects. For example, we’re currently in the last phase of a bid for a Danish monopile tender, including multidisciplinary work around the construction of over 70 wind turbine foundations. Several last minute adjustments make this a very interesting and challenging tender.”
Brainstorming and coming up with the best possible solutions is what I love about this job”, Lara continues. “Especially at the very start of a tender, things can change very quickly. One day it’ll be this way and the next day everything can be completely different. That has to suit you as a person, but I like the dynamics of it. I also enjoy how working in our department gives you an excellent overview of the other Boskalis disciplines. In order to prepare an installation bid, we work together with other departments such as Heavy Marine Transport and Seabed Intervention to submit an integrated bid.”
Lara: “My first impression of Boskalis is very positive. There’s a strong team spirit of encouraging each other towards success. I realized that before I even started working here. When I applied for the job as a tender engineer, Boskalis’ talent managers didn’t just discuss my suitability for the job I applied for, but we sat down together to look at other opportunities within the company. My previous job was in quite a different discipline, civil infrastructure, I therefore knew I had to expand my knowledge base and upskill in the heavy lift discipline. The cooperation and openness of my colleagues has been a huge help in allowing me to upskill quickly. Everyone’s more than happy to share their knowledge and lessons learned from previous projects. So as far as I’m concerned, I have a bright future ahead of me in the Offshore Heavy Lifting department. My goal for now: working towards a more strategical position as a tender manager.”
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