In this #PeopleFirst, we speak to a woman working at the forefront of the renewable energy sector. Based in our Inverurie office, Brishay Stalker works across multiple projects to connect sustainable energy sources to the grid for SSE.

She leads an agile team of six who design, construct, and upgrade new and existing substations across Scotland, delivering cleaner homegrown energy through the transformation of energy infrastructure.

Power and renewables sector

Brishay’s journey to becoming a Senior Project Manager wasn’t a traditional one. She joined a project and engineering trainee scheme after school and later completed her degree in Business and Project Management at Robert Gordon University.

She has been with Kirby for two years, joining shortly after we established an office in Inverurie to serve client projects across Scotland.

“I fell into the sector at 18. Initially, I took a project administration role, and when a traineeship scheme became available, I went for it. I was drawn to the engineering and project management side of the industry and haven’t looked back,” she says.

Increase in demand for renewable energy

“The sustainable energy market in Scotland has accelerated due to increased demand across the grid.”

“One of my projects is non-load and non-core, which is the upgrade of 22 substations across Scotland. Working with SSE we are making the network more resilient, with each substation upgraded to include diesel generators, new Low Voltage Alternating Current (LVAC) systems, solar panels, and EV charging stations,” explains Brishay.

A message to women in construction

Brishay is part of Kirby’s Power and Renewables business unit , which includes a team of nearly 150 professionals working across Ireland and the UK. We asked her what advice she would give to others considering a career in the industry: “Don’t be put off by a career in construction or engineering. I have been in the industry for 16 years and it has changed hugely in that time, there are a lot more women in the industry and sector now.

“Almost half of the employees across all disciplines in the Inverurie office are women. The Power and Renewables industry as a whole is passionate about bringing women in and developing them. I would actively encourage women looking to come into the engineering sector to consider roles in this industry. There is a huge sense of purpose, and you know that you are working towards a better planet for our children.”

Kirby Group Engineering

Brishay joined Kirby two years ago. “A number of well-respected former colleagues had made the move to Kirby. For me, it was an exciting opportunity to build something special, grow and develop at a company poised to play a significant role at a pivotal time in the sector. Kirby’s mission was one that I wanted to be part of.”

Collaboration on a global stage

Shortly after joining Kirby, Brishay flew to Ireland for a company-wide project manager conference. “Project Managers from Ireland, UK, and mainland Europe came together to share best practice, experience different parts of the business and hear about the latest innovations from our Building Information Modelling and Digital Infrastructure teams. It was a great opportunity to socialise and learn from each other through the Kirby Way.”

The Kirby Way

The evolution of the Kirby Way ensures consistency, quality, delivery, and aftercare across every Kirby site, with our teams following key processes, procedures, and standards, but as Brishay is keen to emphasise, it is a living, breathing set of principles.

“Kirby is a learning organisation, we are always driving improvements to the way we work, and the Kirby Way is a vehicle for that advancement, ensuring we capture best practice, learn, share and exceed on site.”

Championing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

Outside of work, Brishay is a passionate champion of STEM, starting with her three- and five-year-olds who she’s encouraging to look to the skies. Brishay laughs, “We look at the overhead lines together, and I explain my job and how we work to ensure electricity reaches where it is needed most.

“We are surrounded by technology, and the work we do every day at Kirby is supporting the integration of sustainable energy into our lives, even if you don’t realise it.
“That’s the power of our work – it’s quite literally saving the planet.”