What's your job about?
Ecolab works to provide clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments.
In my role, I manage a team who ensure that all of our fixed invoicing for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji is completed in a timely manner every month.
My main focus in my role is people management – I support my team to ensure they achieve their daily tasks along with their personal development goals. My job is to support the business needs by ensuring that my team have everything needed to do their jobs and if not, I come up with solutions for the problems faced. I am also involved in various projects within the wider business.
There is no such thing as a standard day at Ecolab. Each day brings a new challenge that needs a solution or a new task to complete. The variety in my role is fantastic – there is never a second to get bored!
What's your background?
I moved around a lot as a child – most of my schooling ages were spent between Dubbo, Wilcannia and Kempsey.
After completing my degree at the University of Newcastle, I moved to Vanuatu where I worked and lived for several months. It was a fantastic experience!
I came to hear about Ecolab through a recruiting company and asked to be put forward for the role of Contract Administration Officer. I started with Ecolab in July 2017 then moved into my current management role in December 2017.
My personal motto is say ‘yes to new opportunities’. My career has not taken a straight path, I have tried many different industries and roles to find the one I am in now and I think it makes it even more satisfying knowing that I am in a position I love.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes – anyone with a love of people management and problem solving would have the main capabilities to do this role. There is no university degree for ‘Billings Management’.
The role requires problem solving, critical thinking, attention to detail, people management and conflict resolution.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
When a question is raised by an internal stakeholder that no one can answer, I love the problem-solving aspect of firstly finding out what the issue is and then working with my team to come up with an answer. I always learn a lot during this process, from different aspects of the company to different capabilities of the systems we use, through to historical knowledge held by the people I work with. I know there will always be something to learn in this position.
What are the limitations of your job?
Some situations require numerous teams to solve an issue or numerous people’s knowledge and at some stage I have to let go of the responsibility to resolve a problem and essentially hand it over. I find this to be a limitation as I personally like to see things through to the end.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student…