17 years, one pencil, and a career she has never left: Clare on flood risk, Brownies, and being yourself

Clare joined AtkinsRéalis as a graduate in 2008. Seventeen years later, she’s still here and she’s got a pretty good reason why.

“If I ever think about looking elsewhere, it’s the people, the mix of projects and the opportunities that keep me where I am,” she says. “I’ve been a graduate, a Project Manager, a Line Manager, a Project Director, and now a Delivery Director on the Environment Agency Modelling and Mapping Framework. I’m still always learning.”

“Real life geography”

Clare is a Flood Risk Associate Director in Water Management Consultancy, based in Epsom. It’s a specialism that sounds niche, but her day-to-day work is anything but.

“Yesterday I completed project reviews as Project Director and pulled together performance information for an internal framework board meeting,” she says. “Today I was reviewing contracts for a new opportunity and then technically reviewing a flood risk management report for a council. Tomorrow will bring hydrology and flood economics review work, as well as inputting to a consultation on proposed Government changes to national planning policy.”

She sometimes describes what she does as “real life geography” and the best bits are when the work has a direct impact on communities. “Typically that’s through better understanding their flood risk, raising awareness, and facilitating the construction of a scheme to better manage it. With an increasing focus on nature-based and place-based solutions, our flood schemes also increasingly deliver wider benefits to the environment and communities.”

Even when a business case doesn’t justify a scheme going ahead, she sees value in that too. “It helps to focus taxpayers’ money on where flood risk management investment can bring the greatest benefit.”

The Simmonds shield

Ask Clare about a moment that shaped her career and she’ll tell you about a pencil.

Early on in her career, she was due to attend an in-person stakeholder meeting that everyone expected to be difficult. Her manager at the time, who wasn’t even involved in the project, phoned around the team to make sure Clare had senior support before, during and after the meeting. Then she handed Clare and her colleague a pencil.

“She called it the ‘Simmonds shield’ for us to take into the meeting. It might sound odd, but it was an aide-memoire, something we could see and remember that whatever happened, we had her support. I’ve never forgotten it.”

That kind of support has been a constant throughout Clare’s career. “I’ve been lucky to work with people who have consistently made themselves available to provide a sounding board for advice, offer reassurance, help build confidence and self-belief, whilst also openly sharing ideas. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

From Brownies to Bangalore

Outside of work, Clare is an active member of both Girlguiding and The Scout Association. She runs a Brownie unit for seven to ten-year-olds, recently helped set up a new Beaver Colony, and is planning to start a Rainbow unit when her daughter turns four next year. Both organisations have taken her on international adventures - Guyana, Zambia, Canada, and Japan, as well as large-scale events in the UK for several thousand young people.

Her career highlights are just as wide-ranging: competitively winning and managing almost £1 million of flood risk work in Kent and South London, attending the ribbon-cutting on the Hampstead Heath ponds project having worked on the hydraulic models, working with the GTC team in Bangalore for a month in 2019, and presenting at Flood and Coast conference 2025 on the Lower Dorset Stour flood risk management strategy.

One highlight she’s particularly proud of sits outside the technical work entirely: presenting to the WMC and Environment practice Senior Leadership Teams to raise awareness of fertility issues and their impact on people in the workplace.

“Just be yourself”

Clare has seen the industry change around her. “Early in my career, I would attend meetings where there was a lack of diversity and I stuck out as a young female. The industry and the company have changed. Look around meetings and the office now, in my sector and teams, women are usually in the majority.”

Her advice? “Sex and gender don’t matter. Just be yourself.”

And if you’re thinking about joining her team? She keeps it simple: “Apply to join Water Management Consultancy.”

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