Azadeh Farhadmehr

Azadeh was introduced to the world of construction after starting her career with a civil engineering company. One architectural engineering degree later, Azadeh joined Mace and now, with a Master's in construction project management, is bringing unrivalled value to projects as an MEP planner manager.

How has your career progressed?

I did a degree in architectural engineering and started my career at a civil engineering company where I got five years’ experience of project engineering and managing. In 2014 I started a Masters in construction project management and in 2015 joined Mace as an assistant MEP planning manager before taking on a managerial position.

What does your job involve?

Project MEP planning, identifying and defining the project MEP tasks, duration, and the logic to implement the project plan. Monitoring and updating the programme in order to reflect the current status against the plan and in order to be informed of the impact of project changes. It all helps the wider team to deliver a project in the most effective manner.

What do you enjoy most about your role at Mace

The role is challenging and I love that. Identifying and breaking down the complexity of MEP activities from project schematics and drawings, and sequencing the activities through pre-construction, construction and commissioning, is what makes the role so fulfilling. But what I really enjoy is being part of a team that works together to deliver incredibly visible and iconic projects. Working at Mace has given me opportunities to work on some incredible projects and I don't think I would have got that level of exposure anywhere else.

What skills do you need to be good at your job?

You need good communication skills in order to collect information from an entire project team, work through the issues and find solutions. Technically, you need to be able to identify the tasks involved in the project through schematics, design and 3d models, and have good planning software knowledge to develop the project programme. 

What advice would you give someone looking to get into what you do?

Before committing to university, try to gain experience to make sure you have a passion for the industry. You can increase your knowledge later through long and short courses. When I joined Mace I was halfway through a Master's. Mace sponsored the second year, which I was really grateful for, and it's been great to put my learning into immediate practice as I've been working.

If you hadn't gone into MEP, what might you have ended up doing?

I have always had a passion for the construction industry but a career as an architect would have been more predictable given my degree in architectural engineering technology.