Making the transition: How Leandro decarbonised his career with the help of his leaders

Making the transition to sustainability

Before starting at Ramboll, Leandro had worked primarily on oil and gas projects and had been very focused on often narrow aspects of pipeline construction.

“My work changed completely when I joined Ramboll,” Leandro explains. “Right from the beginning, my manager took an interest in my ambitions. I shared that I wanted to contribute to the green energy transition and that I was interested in decarbonisation projects in particular. Decarbonisation was a growing discipline at Ramboll so I was given the opportunity to dive into the subject – I studied the topic (even wrote a research paper that got published) and created an internal network that helps us deliver industry-leading solutions to this day.”

Leandro shares that he feels lucky to work at a company where employees are encouraged to share what they are most interested in with their manager; and that there is a leadership culture that implores leaders to distribute work so that people focus on what they also find most engaging.

The impact you can have is astounding

“When you start seeing the numbers and realise how much impact your work has on CO2 emissions it’s inspiring,” describes Leandro. “We’ve worked on a carbon capture project for a cement factory in Sweden that will reduce Sweden’s emissions by 4%. I’m also working on a project right now where we’re helping define the offshore hydrogen pipeline network for the Netherlands.”

As Leandro has gained expertise in decarbonisation, he has quickly progressed from being someone who is mostly focused on learning to someone who plays an important role in the learning of others.

“I have managed to advance from being a junior consultant to a senior engineer in just a few years – and I have been encouraged to learn and given responsibility and support from day one.”

“I’m also now a Sustainability Manager for Ramboll Energy which means I’m responsible for advocating for sustainability-focused approaches across all our projects. Ultimately, we’re trying to help our clients understand the choices they can make to redefine the environmental, social, and economic impacts of their activities. So it’s important that we ask ourselves those key critical questions first.”

Balance and flexibility are high priority

The culture of openness and support at Ramboll, according to Leandro, plays an important role in helping colleagues find balance in their project work. So while the clock is ticking to implement the right solutions to combat climate change, Leandro explains that the quickest way to the best solutions is through a sustainable work environment.

For Leandro, having flexibility in terms of when, where, and how he works is essential. And with a proactive approach to managing project work, he feels supported to create balance in his work life.

“I believe that the quality of the work you produce is directly related to how rested and happy you are in your work environment. A healthy workplace starts with allyship between you and your manager and your colleagues to make sure you take care of each other."

“It’s a shared understanding and approach that we have. I care about my colleagues' work-life balance and know that they won’t be happy on projects if they have too much to do. And I want them to be happy! We have a lot at stake in our projects and I have ambitious colleagues so it’s something we highly prioritise.”

“In my team, we use a tool that tracks our workload and at weekly meetings look at our workload and the flow of our projects to make sure everyone is managing well. In those meetings, our manager asks if anyone needs help, if anyone is doing too much of one task, that kind of thing. In my experience, there’s usually an opportunity to delegate or help each other. That’s not always the case in our industry.”

A supportive and stimulating workplace

When asked to describe Ramboll in one word, the first one that jumps to mind for Leandro is ‘dynamic’. The next one is ‘open’. And the next is ‘friendly’.

“There’s always an exciting new project, something new to learn about, someone interesting to meet,” he explains. “And part of making our projects work is the culture of openness that makes it easy to reach out to a colleague and ask for help or ask them to share their expertise. Ramboll is filled with people who are motivated by their work. We spend half of our waking hours at work. It’s important that it’s a friendly and fulfilling place to be.”

And when it comes to finding purpose and fulfillment at work, Leandro has a pretty simple stance.

“Human societies need to decarbonise,” he says. “And I’m here at Ramboll helping us do that. That makes me feel proud.”