Day in the Life: Ross Stoneham

Q: HOW DID YOU START YOUR CAREER AT CATERPILLAR?

A: It was after the final deal was closed at my previous company that I began considering a new challenge and that is when I found, by miracle, a job opening at the Wimborne UK Caterpillar Marine facility. Nestled within the Ferndown Industrial Estate (~10 mins from my house) the business and role perfectly aligned with my experience and interests. I reached out to the hiring manager and after 5 separate meetings and interviews I was offered the job!

Q: What is your role now and how long have you been doing it?

A: My role is an engineering manager, which includes responsibility for leading 4 engineering teams across design, test, program engineering and application engineering. We develop all the products for the facility to which we are attached, which currently produces around 1700 engines a year specifically for the marine industry. The role also incorporates responsibility for working with others to determine the next products which should be designed to improve sales and grow the Caterpillar Marine business, which is currently very exciting due to the various technologies being adopted within the marine industry to support operators with the energy transition. I’ve been in role since April 2022 and have been learning and enjoying it every day since.

Q: Do you mostly work alone or with others?

A: As a manager, I’m responsible for developing strategic approaches that guide my team to delivering on their goals. The vast majority of engineering is conducted by others within the department. Therefore most of my time is working with others, reviewing their work, offering some guidance and advice, but otherwise ensuring they have everything they need to have as happy and productive a time at work as possible.

Q: How would you describe the company culture at Caterpillar?

A: What stood out for me upon entering Caterpillar is the overwhelming positivity I received from everyone I met. They were genuinely encouraged by and enthusiastic about the work they were doing and were immensely helpful and welcoming to me during my on-boarding experience.  My team is fantastic and there is a great culture of striving for excellence, having open and honest discussions, giving and receiving proactive and constructive feedback, and we geuninely enjoy the work we do. It appears the same culture exists in the other teams I have been working in partnership with and I can’t wait to experience more as my career progresses within Caterpillar.

Q: How have you developed your skills and grown within your career throughout the years? Are there any resources/programs/training you recommend?

A: Find a mentor or leader in which you can find inspiration and alignment on professional values. Almost like a professional parent, I found they helped me to learn what is right and wrong and work out what to do when I don’t know the way – though, be sure they enable you to self-reflect and think independently - we need diversity of thought in our future leaders!
My role requires a fundamental knowledge of engineering but the vast majority of the skills I employ are with regards to people and the enablement of those people.

There are some fundamentals which have remained constant throughout my career so far, which I have really only been able to reflect on as the years have gone by:

• Similar to the fact that keeping your tools in good condition help you do the work, keeping my mind and body in good condition helps me learn, create, think and communicate better.
• Making mistakes and being open to criticism helps me identify the areas that I need to work on.
• Always reminding myself that my ideas and thoughts may not be the best ones, have helped the best outcomes come forward.
• Prioritizing other people and my relationships with them, has helped me leverage the best of the right people in any situation.

I read a lot and try lots of different sources of skills learning including lectures, books, courses, etc. A couple of books which stood out for me that I enjoyed is the classic “how to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie and “tribal leadership” by Daniel Goleman.

Q: What do you wish you could have known about your job before starting?

A: I don’t think I really reflected enough on the corporate and organizational structure of Caterpillar before I started my role. I worked in automotive previously, which is full of companies of a similar revenue scale but the diversity of product and business units is significantly less than Caterpillar. As an equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar makes a lot of equipment that serves many industries and each of its divisions and sub-divisions have minor organizational idiosyncrasies. These differences are really useful to learn as it helps you navigate the other teams when you need to complete a project or talk with someone who can help you!

Q: WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT WORKING FOR CATERPILLAR?

A: There is so much to enjoy about what I am experiencing now, and lots of it is down to the people I have around me. My leader is empowering, my peers are intellectually stimulating, the team I am responsible for are excellent in all areas.  I  enjoy the people that Caterpillar is made up of. However I would also say that the diversity of opportunity which lays before me is exciting. I have always enjoyed the business of manufacturing and Caterpillar has many (probably hundreds) of individual manufacturing businesses to explore and enjoy as my time with Caterpillar progresses.

Q: WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT WHILE WORKING AT CATERPILLAR?

A: Well, It’s difficult to pinpoint any significant achievement I have made in 10 months that I am proud of, as so much of the work we do as a team comes from others. But, that being said the Caterpillar Marine Power UK Ltd business I work within had a record financial year. As a result of this, the team has received significant recognition from the wider Caterpillar Marine business, which is great and it seems it will bring more opportunity for our team. This has made me immensely proud.

Q: WHAT IS ON YOUR WISH LIST TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR CAREER AT CATERPILLAR IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS?

A: Three years is a long time and a lot can happen. Three years ago my life looked very different and I couldn’t have guessed where I would be today.
That being said, I’d like to be a part of some significant growth of the business I am currently in, to the point where multiple shifts or expansion will take place. The team here deserves a growth in opportunity and I think we are on a good path to achieving that.
I’d additionally like to aid advancement of some key talents I work with, as there is a lot of great potential which needs investment.
It would also be good to have some experience outside of product development at some point so I can broaden my skillset. Perhaps some time in operations or, dare I say it, sales.