In Your Shoes
A blog by Declan Muir, Project Manager at SSEN Transmission
We’re proud to showcase the people who power the energy transition. Our East Coast 400kV Project Manager, Declan Muir, was recently invited by the Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce to take part in their In Your Shoes series - a blog where local professionals share a week in their working lives.
In his piece, Declan takes readers behind the scenes of what it’s like to manage projects that play a vital role in delivering a net zero future. From coordinating with colleagues and stakeholders to tackling the daily challenges of building electricity infrastructure, his blog offers a personal look at life inside SSEN Transmission.
We’re delighted to share Declan’s reflections here, originally written for Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, to give you a closer look at the people and projects driving Scotland’s clean energy transition.
Over to you Declan!
Spend a week with me, in my shoes
Hi, I’m Declan Muir, Project Manager at SSEN Transmission.
In my current role, I oversee delivery of the East Coast 400kV Overhead Line Upgrade Project – a major electricity transmission project in the north east of Scotland, upgrading the existing overhead line route between Kintore and Kincardine substations from 275kV to 400kV operation. Once complete, this will provide an essential upgrade to Scotland’s electricity transmission network which is vital to Scottish and UK net zero ambitions.
From catch ups in Glasgow, to site visits in the north east of Scotland, and back to the comforts of home, no two days are ever the same in my role so here’s a look at what I got up to this week.
Monday
The week began with a train journey to Glasgow, where I spent the day working from SSE’s office. I had arranged to meet my line manager there and used this opportunity to catch up over a coffee and update him on the progress being made on the project, as well as recent challenges we’ve faced, and the steps taken to overcome them.
As Project Managers, we rely on our teams to keep various aspects of the project running smoothly so my diary on Mondays tends to be focussed on catching up with my team, reflecting on past events, planning for the week ahead, and identifying where my time will be best spent to support the project.
Later, I had the pleasure of calling the successful candidate from our recent Site Construction Manager recruitment campaign. It’s fair to say they were pleased to receive my call and quickly accepted the offer, so the next step was to reach out to our recruitment lead and kick off the contractual process.
After finishing for the day, I managed to squeeze in enough time to visit a nearby sports shop and bagged myself some new running shoes, just in time to catch the train home!
Tuesday
As the Transmission Operator for the north of Scotland, travelling and staying away from home can be common when working for SSEN Transmission. Our project covers a vast area in the north east of Scotland, so we set up an office in Edzell, Angus, to service the works. On a good day, this means driving 2.5 hours just to reach the office so for me, it’s important to line up a good podcast for the journey and this week it was The Diary of a CEO.
Tuesday featured several meetings with our Contract Partner, Balfour Beatty, utilising the shared spaces we have in the Edzell Office to discuss all aspects of the project from health, safety and the environment, to programme, quality, and commercial. Often, it’s easier to arrange Teams meetings and discuss things virtually, and while they have a place, I really believe in the benefits of meeting in-person, getting round a table together and solving problems as a team.
Later, I headed off to the hotel to check-in. I then went for a run before meeting up with colleagues staying at the same hotel where we shared a meal and the anguish of a disappointing football result.
Wednesday
At SSEN Transmission, utilising our health, safety, and environmental reporting software, we identified a trend whereby Wednesday was a leading day for incidents to occur on our sites. To curb this trend, within our wider east coast team, we designated Wednesday as the day for Project Managers to prioritise being on-site, visiting live construction works, and actively engaging with those on the ground (or often with overhead line projects – in the air!).
This week we visited the overhead line gangs working in the Angus and Perth areas. It’s amazing to see the gangs at work and great to have the opportunity to speak with them directly. It’s comforting to know that SSEN Transmission’s policy of, “If it’s not safe, we don’t do it”, is shared across our Contract Partners, and this was evident from discussions on-site today.
At night, I visited the gym with colleagues before sharing another meal together. It can often be lonely staying away from home for work, but I find it helps to keep busy in the evenings and by spending time together we can better support each other outside of work.
Thursday
I checked-out from the hotel this morning and headed down to Edzell for my final day in the Edzell Office this week. By normal standards, this Thursday was quieter than most since our Contract Partner was preparing for a long weekend without construction works due to the bank holiday weekend.
We had a commercial call in the afternoon, where we discussed commercial aspects of the project, with a focus on the contractual mechanisms of an NEC3 project, including Early Warnings and Compensation Events. This regular catch up helps to ensure we manage the project in line with the ethos of NEC3, in the “spirit of mutual trust and co-operation”.
Our new Trainee Project Manager joined us today for his first visit to the Edzell Office. He received his project induction in the morning and after providing an overview of the project, we headed out on a walk for lunch. It’s only now I realise that next month will be ten years since I left school to start a very similar role as a Trainee Construction Site Supervisor at Aggregate Industries (now Holcim) – how time flies!
Friday
While fully believe in the importance of working together in-person, with so much traveling and staying away it’s great that SSE offers a “flexible first” approach, and I utilised this today by working from home.
On days I can work from home, I take full advantage and catch up on tasks that require my focus. Sometimes this looks like an ‘admin-day’, while I complete some of the more mundane tasks and other times this is a ‘do-not-disturb day’, where I hone in on my to-do-list, which always feels good to wipe out before the weekend!
Working from home also means an opportunity to get the steps in and, weather permitting, I’ll walk my dog in the morning and again during lunch. I find the fresh air helps keeps me focussed throughout the day.
With the bank holiday weekend, there will be no construction work on the project until Tuesday, which I’m sure the operatives on-site will be pleased about, and is hopefully an opportunity for them to rest up after all their hard work.
Signing off now as it’s time to fill up on pasta as I begin a carb-load ahead of running the North Lanarkshire Half Marathon on Sunday, wish me luck!
Update: Declan completed the half marathon with a new PB time of 1:36. He will take back to the road in Glasgow later this year, and we wish him all the best in breaking his new PB.