What's your best piece of careers advice?

Aleida has worked at BP for 26 years, joining after four summers as an intern with the business while in college.

With a degree in chemical engineering, she started out in the oil fields of West Texas. Today, she is responsible for operations on BP’s four offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

A mother of three teenagers and advocate for diversity in the workplace, Aleida was named one of Fortune magazine’s 50 most powerful Latinas in 2017.

Rahima's career at BP began six years ago, after studying petroleum and natural gas engineering at Oman’s Sultan Qaboos University. She was the first female Challenger (BP’s high-potential graduate programme) to join the wells completion team in Oman and spent her first year in the North American Gas business. “I feel privileged to have had these experiences that I’m able to share with upcoming engineers,” she says.

In her role, Yosi manages a team of nine. She says: “When I started out as a junior in the BP Merak laboratory, I never imagined I’d one day be the supervisor in an all-male environment and leading those more senior colleagues.

"I’ve worked closely with the team to foster trust and respect, adapted to my new working environment and, together, we’ve won awards both internal and external.”

Chan is a chemical and process engineer from Trinidad and Tobago and has worked for BP for 13 years. She has spent most of her career in the Global Operations Organization and took on her current role a year ago. 

She says: “My job is awesome – it is high pace and I am learning so much about our business strategy.

"Adding that business knowledge to my technical skills has opened my eyes to new ways of working and varied things to consider when making decisions. Bernard [Looney] spends a lot of time mentoring and coaching me, which I appreciate.”

After spending two-and-a-half years working in Australia at Kwinana refinery and completing BP’s Future Leader Programme in 2017, Cynthia now leads a team of 16 inspectors and engineers at the Cherry Point refinery in Washington.

A mechanical engineer by degree, Leigh-Ann joined BP in 2005 after working for other companies in the industry. Today she leads the central technical and business function for BP’s wells organization. She says: “I love how my very diverse, global team comes together to help BP drill some of the world’s most challenging wells, safely and successfully.”

A chemical engineer by background, May joined BP Zhuhai in 2001 and pursued a mixture of learning and technical roles, before transferring to the UK as a senior business auditor. Back in China, she is now the head of the shareholder office for Asia’s acetyls and aromatics business. A single mother with a grown-up daughter, she learns boxing in her spare time. She says: “In China, we have a saying that translates as ‘women can hold half of the sky’ – it’s a great way to think about equality.

Özlem has a master's in chemistry and a minor degree in metallurgical engineering and material science. A graduate from BP’s Emerging Leader programme as well, she has more than 17 years’ experience in downstream businesses. 

Now, she is head of the global fuels technology analytical laboratory in Bochum. Of her job, the mum-of-two and green belt in judo says: “One of the things I enjoy most is helping my team to improve, and also understand how they fit into the bigger BP picture and how what they do is really meaningful.”

Tania is responsible for stakeholder management on behalf of BP in Angola’s Block 31 joint venture – an offshore area that includes the four-field Plutão, Saturno, Vénus and Marte (PSVM) development. 

A graduate in commerce and business management, with more than 14 years’ experience in BP, she now works with three other partners with an interest in the block. She says: “The best thing about my role is the overall visibility I have across the entire offshore asset, while the challenge and reward is building and maintaining great relationships.”