SMIFutures Early Career Profile: Courtney Story

It’s time to introduce another of our valued SMIFutures members. Meet Courtney Story, Supply Chain manager at BAE Systems.

In this interview, Courtney discusses seeing the value in your challenges, the benefits of peer learning and what she learned from her time living aboard a Royal Navy warship.

What initially attracted you to your company, and why did you choose it for your career path?

The significance of what BAE Systems does for our country, to provide safety, security and support globally, is really inspiring, and I wanted to be part of a business where I could make an impact in something that is extremely important. I find great pride in supporting our Royal Navy (RN), providing capabilities and ultimately complex and incredible products, to support those who protect us. Working alongside the RN and in the maritime industry, where I actively see the great work we do being put into practice and even appear in the news, and noticing where we have collectively helped support RN tasking, countries worldwide and keep people safe globally is inspiring and motivating. I was also attracted to BAE Systems and the maritime industry, as it has a lot to offer; the environment is constantly changing, with some recent focal areas being geo-political tensions and on the other hand, sustainability aspects where we are all trying to improve our impacts on the surrounding ecosystems. There is space for growth, opportunities, innovation and career development. I think the maritime industry and BAE Systems can easily provide life-long, fulfilling careers, bursting with opportunity. I think it’s a great career path, because it will always be exciting, challenging and rewarding.

How did you navigate the transition from being a student in school or university to a working professional in the maritime industry?

I studied Biological Sciences at the University of Westminster, in London. Between the 2nd and 3rd year of my course, I applied to the Industrial Placement scheme at BAE Systems, which was my first introduction into the company and maritime industry. Transitioning to work in the maritime industry, without any prior maritime experience, and my degree topic not being directly transferable to my role in Supply Chain, of course, was a brand new challenge and a big step. However, the vast amount of transferable skills that I had acquired as a student on a STEM subject degree made the transition somewhat comfortable. Similar aspects were working with a range of different and interesting people, practicing good communication skills with a range of stakeholders, problem-solving, analytical skills, organisational skills, self-motivation, being adaptable, prioritising workloads, and delivering to deadlines, all of which helped, as I applied these skills in the workplace, whilst learning new ones.

During the transition into the maritime industry, I had to partly just throw myself in the deep end and make every effort to float (pun not intended). Approaching the industry, for the first time as a working professional, can be daunting but approaching this with a continued willingness to learn, staying open-minded, listening and absorbing as much knowledge as possible helped greatly. Upon transitioning, I found everybody accommodating and there was an abundance of experienced people, with a fountain of knowledge who were happy to share, so I instantly started learning and found the transition really interesting. I also felt supported throughout, so I enjoyed the learning curve.

Can you share any memorable experiences or projects you've worked on?

I’ve been fortunate to have worked on a range of projects in my career at BAE Systems, and across different stages of the lifecycle; from bid work, ship build programmes, to transition into service and in-service support, but also on a range of different platforms, such as Type 26, Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers and two different classes of Off-Shore Patrol vessels, each presenting a different set of complexities and exciting challenges. A key highlight in my career journey so far has been working to support the Batch 2 Off-Shore Patrol vessels, working across both the in-build and in-service contracts, two different parts of their lifecycle, and also enabling their deployment from the UK to overseas around the world. During my support of these Ships, I was afforded the opportunity to live and work onboard one of the warships, to gain a lived-experience of what it is like for our end users, the Royal Navy, gaining a firsthand perspective, to feedback and report lessons learnt into the business, to improve our future delivery designs and support. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, which I thoroughly enjoyed and am extremely grateful for. So this is definitely a top highlight.

What skills or qualities do you believe are essential for success in the maritime industry, especially for early career professionals?

Key skills and qualities for succeeding in the maritime industry, include being inquisitive, be willing to learn, having great communication skills, respectfully challenging the status-quo when suggesting improvements, enjoying working with a range of different stakeholders, being adaptable and embracing change. From my experience, I work with many professionals who have been in the industry a long time and are a fountain of knowledge, so it is a great place to learn, but also make an impact when improving long-established programmes and providing a new perspective. Furthermore, my advice for those who like a challenge, is to take on the “hard” or “difficult” projects, as I found that’s where I learnt, developed and grew the most in my career journey, but also built resilience, equipping me for future roles and the supporting my career journey.

What challenges did you face during the early years of your career, and how did you overcome them?

During the very early years of my career, I felt very in the “deep end”; being in a new industry, a new job, learning a new function, and embedding myself in a business of vast technical complexities, in terms of programmes and products. I found that every day is a learning day (and generally it still is), and although my colleagues recognised the value I added, I felt that I did not know enough, and needed to know more, to become more confident and successful in my career.

Whilst adopting this huge challenge to learn as much as I possibly could, it dawned on me, that my goal would never be achievable; “to know everything”, and reflecting, it may have led me to be more risk adverse than I am today. Therefore, from observing others around me and listening to leaders, I sensibly arrived at the perspective that I will never know “everything” in this vast industry or large organisation, as nobody does, and so I removed that pressure of thinking I needed to in order to be successful and progress. Instead, I tackled the challenge, by expanding my learning through professional qualifications, courses and peer learning to promote confidently making the right decisions, and leading with humility, listening to others’ views and knowledge. I feel confident being surrounded by amazing professionals in neighbouring and supporting functions and roles, trusting their experience, expertise and knowledge in their different areas, whilst also trusting my own, to complement each other’s roles and jobs, so that we collectively come to the right decisions and deliver the best results.