Stephen Shipley, Contract Administration Manager, Tube Lines

Stephen Shipley is a contract administration manager for Tube Lines. Tube Lines are involved in the refurbishment and maintenance of one-third of the London Underground – the Jubilee Line, Northern Line and Piccadilly Line.

What does a contract administration manager do?

Stephen works in the procurement and administration of contracts for supply of equipment, design services and labour on-site for Tube Lines projects on London Underground. He has worked for Tube Lines for two years.

Although Stephen has worked in engineering for over the 20 years of his career to date, he started his career in the oil and gas industry working with MW Kellogg in the petrochemical industry. He then moved to the water industry and finally into rail.

What is it like being a contract administration manager?

The environment is quite challenging as it is project-based work with tight deadlines, but Stephen enjoys the challenge. There is a lot of variety and he seems to be doing something different everyday.

"What is really good is that there is a very good team environment and everybody pulls together to get the project finished," Stephen says. "I also like the fact that there are many people from different backgrounds giving a variety of skills and views on problems – not everyone here is from a rail background and I think this is good and gives more scope to the team making it much more successful."

Stephen can't find many things to dislike about working in the rail industry. The only thing he could say is it is sometimes difficult to learn all the new jargon and acronyms that are rife in the rail industry, especially when you have moved across from another area.

What advice could he give to prospective rail industry employees?

Stephen's advice would be to get the best education you can and don't flunk school. Try and make contact with the companies you are interested in working for and get some experience through work placements and vacation or gap year placements if you can.

Be enthusiastic and show lots of interest in your chosen area. Talk to lots of people and take advice from those who have experience of the industry. "Tube Lines are always interested in hearing from graduates and apprentices who would like to work for them," he says.

The graduate programme at Tube Lines has doubled in size since 2003 and is always looking for quality candidates. Another path is via an apprenticeship scheme, and again Tube Lines has an excellent apprenticeship scheme in all sorts of railway engineering disciplines.