I am originally from Rangoon in Burma and I moved to the UK in order to study at a UK university. I now have a BSc in Computing and Information Systems and an MSc in Computer Science from Oxford Brookes University, and more recently completed my Microsoft Certified Professional qualification.

 

When I first started at EcoSecurities, I was the only IT person in the company! I was responsible for everything in relation to IT, including the company website, email, network management and hardware. Since then, our IT team has grown rapidly over the last two years, and I am now mainly involved in IT asset management, network management and user support for Oxford staff and our international offices.


As our company is growing so fast, the main challenges are to find different approaches for improving our IT services, i.e. upgrading internet bandwidth, implementing a centralised system, identifying and applying new technologies which will help to improve company performance.


What I most enjoy about my job is helping people when they have IT problems, as this pushes me to improve my IT skills and constantly learn new things. In addition, being in IT team means you get to know everyone in the company and they all know you!


It mainly consists of IT support for local users and overseas offices to sort out their day-to-days problems. I am also involved in managing the central servers and network to make sure everything is running properly.


You definitely need a technical background and adequate knowledge to provide user support and manage the network effectively. However, the most important thing that you need to have is good communication skills in order to deal with different user needs.


Not as much as others in the company who supervise our projects all over the world, but I do enjoy travelling. I've been to our Dublin and China offices to help with their IT issues, which was good experience and I got to put lots of names to faces! While I was there I took some days off to see the cities which was lots of fun.

One of the reasons why I joined Ecosecurities is that it is a highly international company, where you can meet different people from all over the world, who are all working for the same cause. Even though I have not come from an environmental background, I'm pleased to support the company’s aims as part of the IT team.

If you are the sort of person who seeks new challenges from day to day and likes to work in multinational global company, I can highly recommended EcoSecurities.

 

 

 

 

Before joining EcoSecurities, I did an MSc at the Environmental Change Institute here in Oxford. I actually did my thesis with the EcoSecurities forestry team on avoided deforestation and liked it so much that I stayed on! Prior to Oxford, I did an M.A. in Political Science (focusing on International Relations), Biology, and Geography, so not the most common mix. I also worked in between that and travelled through West Africa by bicycle (which I count as training!).


My work is split between project development in the forestry sector (specifically avoided deforestation) and strategic climate policy and carbon market advisory services. I do this as a Senior Consultant in our Oxford office where I am part of the Policy and the Ecosystem Services group and also work with the Corporate Strategy group (especially regarding offsetting through the voluntary market).


As our field of work is fairly broad - spanning project development, market intelligence and international policy analysis and advice - and rapidly changing, it is often quite challenging to keep on top of things and stay focused at the same time. My work also involves lots of international travel, consisting of scientific conferences, policy meetings, and site visits, often part of the same trip. Doing this while meeting deadlines for consultancy reports for external clients can be difficult! But challenges are part of the fun this job brings with it!

I actually most enjoy some of the things you could also call challenges, namely the exposure to such a broad field of work and partner organisations in the private, governmental and non-profit sector. Apart that, I love my team (most of the time) and the rest of the office of course! Feeling that you are working at the forefront of the climate debate which is grabbing headlines internationally is quite exciting!

Not surprisingly, typical days are few and far between, but when I am not travelling it is quite normal to work on several projects in parallel which involves a lot of coordination with other team members, writing of reports and preparation of project activities. On good days, I can do some research through phone interviews and literature. On the best days, I have lunch in the sun and a match of basketball with collegues.


I would say you need good analytical skills and be able to understand new fields very quickly and link them to what you have learnt elsewhere. You also need to be good at communicating with people, either for implementing projects together, to gather information, understand their needs and objectives, or convince them of certain strategies. In addition, multi-tasking (but also avoiding too much of that!) is indispensible, as is feeling comfortable working on something totally new to you.

By EcoSecurities' standards "often" probably means something quite different than in the "normal" world. I would say I spend over a week per month travelling and that is often split up into more than one trip - so I guess that is often.


As I said before, I wrote my MSc thesis with EcoSecurities on avoided deforestation. That introduced me to the company and I found out that people do much more than just counting carbon, which had been somewhat my previous impression. In the end, however, I mainly decided to join because I really liked the people!


Be prepared for quite a challenging and dynamic work environment and for often not being at the same place for very long. Learn some languages if you don't speak them already - you might even get by without English, however, Spanish and German are a definite asset! In the end, it is probably best to come into the office and meet some people working here - if you like them and are excited about the environment then you should definitely apply!

 

 

 

I completed an MSc in Environmental Management and Technology at Oxford Brookes University in 2002, where my research focused on how to promote sustainable industries in Sub Saharan Africa. That is how I became exposed to the potential benefits of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for developing countries.

I originate bankable emission reduction projects from East and West Africa, and primarily manage this portfolio of projects. I also get the opportunity to represent the business at various international events.


Although some of my target countries are relatively small, they cover a wide geographical spread, making the logistics of travel quite cumbersome and time constraining. I also have to manage my portfolio sometimes through complex and multi-layered relationships and one needs to strike a delicate balance between all stakeholders. Perhaps, because I understand the social and cultural contexts within which I operate I can adapt well.


It’s exciting to take a project from an initial lead to closure. I see myself as an ambassador of EcoSecurities in Africa and am confident to sell what EcoSecurities offers, because it is best value. Selling is essentially transference of feeling and I think I am gifted in doing that quite well. However, I also benefit from the unique atmosphere of mutual support from my colleagues within the company, and so it is easier to make things happen.

Work, work, work and more work. But, seriously, it is interesting work. In a day I’ll do some project assessments, developing client proposals, chasing clients or agents for data, multiple phone calls, meetings and on and on. But then comes the fun hour like going to a favourite Chinese restaurant with colleagues for lunch, or eating outside on a nice patch of grass by the river.

The position requires client relationship management, project management and negotiation skills so you will need gravitas, tact and diplomacy. And sell you must! I guess one should also be well organized, being to be able to prioritize one’s work load.

I do have to do what is necessary to get the job done so if this means frequent field trips, so be it. Fortunately, I have a very supportive wife so it is easier to go away when I should. It is also nice meeting people on their own turf if it helps move our negotiations forward.

I joined Ecosecurities a few months after the IPO - back then I thought it was an opportune time to make a difference by contributing to the company’s projected development and growth. I still think it was a good career decision. Looking back I can see that I have come a long way but there’s still much to be done.


There’s such a diverse mix of highly charismatic people under one roof - people from all over the world and doing such diverse work, yet all working towards the same goal. i.e maintaining our leadership position in the carbon market. That is really unique and special - everyone is valuable and one is offered the best opportunity for career development.

 

 

I have a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia. My previous experience includes roles with the Asian Development Bank, the Sustainable Energy Development Authority of New South Wales and Australian Water Technologies. I joined EcoSecurities originally in 2000, left to join the Asian Development Bank in 2003, then returned to EcoSecurities in early 2006.

As Head of Implementation my responsibilities include coordination of CDM project registration with the UNFCCC CDM Executive Board, and monitoring and verification activities for EcoSecurities’ portfolio of more than 400 projects worldwide.

The rapidly changing regulatory environment definitely poses a major challenge alongside managing projects in developing countries, as inevitably something goes wrong when you least expect it! Communicating with many different offices is also challenging but more often than not it is a rewarding experience.


What I most enjoy about my job is being in a constantly challenging environment, filled with smart, motivated people – it is a very energised company. I also enjoy the fact that my job involves doing something good - I sleep well at night!


A typical day at work involves the day-to-day managing of the Implementation team, which includes 90 people worldwide. I spend a lot of time checking on project progress and solving problems for different projects. I also monitor the activities of the CDM regulatory bodies and the progress of our projects through the project cycle.


Technical knowledge definitely helps. As does the ability to communicate with many different people and cultures (both internally and externally). Persistence is also an essential quality!


I travel quite often, yes – so far in 2007 I have visited Malaysia, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates.

Primarily, I joined the company because I believed in the vision of the company, which is very important to me. I was also attracted to the challenge of working in a new market.


If you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, with a highly motivated international team, then EcoSecurities would be right up your street. There are constant challenges, and you do require excellent juggling skills, but in return you get a lot of responsibility and very rewarding work.

 

 

 

I obtained my Bachelors degree in Business Economics at Oxford Brookes University in 2000 and obtained my Masters degree in International Finance at Reading University in 2001. I was then trained as a management accountant at the Institute for Animal Health. I passed all my CIMA exams in August 2004 and prior to joining EcoSecurities, I worked at RPS plc as a Systems Accountant.

My role is all about fulfilling the financial system and reporting needs of the Finance Team worldwide. We use Accpac as the financial system and we have 40+ active users within EcoSecurities. I have routine tasks such as supporting the monthly consolidation and revaluation process, and more bespoke tasks such as creating data views in SQL on demands.

The main challenge is related to communication, as technically I can fulfill the majority of reasonable requests. The users and I need to talk through the exact needs and agree on the best solution to solve a problem effectively.


I like interacting with lots of different people and resolving their problems.


The requests from users can vary so much during the day. It is not easy to describe a typical day but I can say that communication and problem solving are the key regular elements in my daily job.

Technically, I need to have good understanding of all modules within Accpac, including the Chart of Accounts and a good understanding of how financial activities / transactions are being handled within the financial system. In addition, I need to understand the data structure for writing SQL views to fulfil user's reporting needs. For softer skills, I need to communicate with the users, understand their needs and be willing to listen and provide appropriate solutions.

I don’t travel very often with EcoSecurities but I used to travel a lot in my personal life, however, I have definitely reduced my travelling since something called a "mortgage" kicked off in my life!

I joined EcoSecurities because financial systems are something that I love to work with and I could contribute a lot to the company in the early stages of implementation. A further special reason is that EcoSecurities has kindly provided the flexibility to work for only three days a week. as I need to spend the rest of the days working for my sandwich bar business.

Working for EcoSecurities involves a lot of hard work but it is highly rewarding, particularly when you are working with people who work to such professional standards as you can learn a lot from them and you don’t feel that your time is wasted with unprofessional issues. It is a truly multinational company where you will get a good global business perspective.