Haidee Gonsalves

As project director in the London high-tech manufacturing team, I am our commercial lead for our remote team, supporting our quantity surveyors on site for a key data centre client.

I have a undergraduate degree (LLB) in law; a post graduate diploma (PgDip Surv) in surveying and I am a chartered member of the RICS (MRICS).

Q. How has your career at Turner & Townsend developed?

A. My first time with Turner & Townsend, I started as a non-cognate graduate. Those initial years were a massive learning curve, being new to the industry. I was given the opportunity to experience a number of sectors over that period, including three and a half years working as part of the co-located Francis Crick Institute team. After five and a half years, I left the business for a number of years, returning last year to the hi-tech & manufacturing team to lead the commercial remote team for our key data centre client.

Q. How do you contribute to Turner & Townsend making a difference?

A. In addition to adhering to the high professional standards expected of Turner & Townsend in my day to day technical role, I strive to change the perception of the industry in order to encourage more talent to consider it as a career option. I am part of the RICS Women of the Future group as well as being part of the Addressing the Gender Balance team within Turner & Townsend. I also use my experience to date to mentor and support those within the business to realise their full potential.

Q. What is the emerging trend in your industry specialism and how are you responding to this?

A. End to end automated data harvesting, analysis and benchmarking appears to be a trend with our clients, as well as Turner & Townsend. The recent investment in our digital transformation strategy and on-line tendering is reflected in our clients’ strategies and aspirations. We are leveraging our in house knowledge as part of our own transformation journey to better understand how to add value to our offering to clients.