Barbara Blume

I joined as a Design Engineer 20 years ago and had various design, chief design and functional leadership roles before taking my current role in late 2018. This is the path I’d like to continue down in the future. It has the right balance of technical challenges and people development responsibilities, and makes me feel very happy in my job.

I’m technically accountable for all 2-shaft airline-operated engines in Rolls-Royce Deutschland – the Tay Business jet engines plus the Rolls-Royce owned parts on the large V2500 fleet. In total, that’s more than 8,000 in-service engines with an age of between two and 60 years.

On one hand, we’re keeping the fleet flying safely with as little disruption as possible, and on the other, we’re earning the money the company needs to develop the power that matters.

Not only do I have technical accountability for our engines, but I’m also responsible if something goes wrong. Which means I need to ensure that the whole team is following the Rolls-Royce standards and processes. I manage communications with customers to keep them happy as well as representing our own interests. And I integrate with the global services team and our customer management team all over the world.

All these different aspects of the role require very good influencing and team management skills. The basis for success, however, is a good technical understanding of the engine’s mechanical and functional behaviour.

Despite being in the minority, I’ve never experienced different treatment because of my gender. Capability and personality are the things that bring you forward here.

The piece of advice I’d give any female entering an engineering role is: be yourself. Don’t try to be a ‘better man’. Also, only do the jobs you like, because those are the only ones you can be really good at. Finally, look for a good work-life balance. Pursue interests that allow you to actually switch off at the end of the day.