Perfect Circle People | Graeme Watson
Here is another article in Perfect Circle's 'People Profile' series, and we are delighted to introduce Graeme Watson, Director, and Project & Cost Management Lead, Scotland and North of England, AECOM.
Career History
'I have been with AECOM nearly 20 years, having started my career as a Graduate Project Manager. My first few years were in England where I delivered a series of highly complex laboratories for the University of Cambridge and passed the RICS APC. I transferred back home to Scotland over a decade ago where I have led our work across a range of sectors including Healthcare, Defence and Industrial'.
Career Highlight
'During the pandemic I was honoured to be selected as Project Director for NHS Louisa Jordan, a 1,000 bed emergency hospital delivered within 3 weeks at the SEC in Glasgow. To top it off I then led a fast track programme of work to deliver laboratories across the country to massively increase PCR testing capacity. These were extremely challenging and rewarding projects to have been involved in - with the added bonus that I was able to leave the house during lock down!'.
Tell us About a Perfect Circle commission you've worked on?
'My most memorable Perfect Circle commission was the £80m new Forth Valley College campus in Falkirk. The building is a truly exceptional design and we were delighted that it secured the RIBA National Award, and was then shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize'.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
'Usually my alarm clock very early in the morning! My team spans 5 different offices and I'm a firm believer in being present in person as much as possible. Therefore I'm regularly woken at the crack of dawn to creep out of the house to catch a train, without waking my young family'.
What does a typical day look like?
'As well as regular travel, my day to day work is a real variety including meeting existing and new clients, engaging with my team, bidding and overseeing our project work'.
What do you like most about your role?
'Meeting and building relationships with people. As an industry we’re expected to find creative solutions to complex issues, the key to doing this is collaborating with industry colleagues to get different perspectives and expertise'.
If you could switch jobs with someone, who would it be?
'A month ago I'd have said a football player representing Scotland in the World Cup - however given recent results we'll go with a polar explorer!'
