Cassandra Stevenson

What is your role at Ricardo?
I work in Ricardo's water practice in Australia working with clients such as NEOM and the Australian Water Partnership. Most of my projects are in the policy and governance space with the occasional evaluation project thrown in the mix.

What does your average day at Ricardo look like? 
I do research and analysis for my projects, draft reports, prepare presentations for clients and occasionally contribute to bids. In the project management space, I typically do project coordination tasks such as budget tracking, sub-consultant management and invoicing management.

What do you look forward to at work? 
Working with people who are great and cool to work with.  

What do you find most rewarding at work? / Are you proud to work at Ricardo?
Getting to work on projects that actually make a difference. A lot of the work I do helps government design and implement effective policies and good governance which in turn helps make regions / countries better.

What was your team’s latest achievement and how was it celebrated?
We just completed some particularly complex projects for NEOM and AWP. We had a reflection / shout out session to celebrate our achievements and give recognition to everyone’s hard work.

What do you most enjoy about working with your team?
Everyone is caring and always respectful and a joy to work with. If there is a difficult project or I’m bombarded with project work, they are always happy to jump in and help ease the load which makes work enjoyable and not a burden.

What opportunities do you have at Ricardo to share your knowledge or expertise?
Ricardo has Communities of Practice meetings once a month which lets all consultants learn from each other in technical areas such as strategy and performance and policy and governance. There are also opportunities during project work to share knowledge and expertise including presentations and questions with clients.

What advice would you give to anyone considering a career as a consultant?
Consulting is fast-paced and can be hectic. It’s important to always reach out when you feel overwhelmed. As a consultant you also get opportunities to work on quite unique and cool projects. Always speak up when you want to be on a certain project’s team as this is the best way to contribute to your professional development while working in areas you’re interested in.