Back yourself when opportunity knocks
Natalie Ambroso (far left) with members of the Victorian Leadership Team at a GHD social event in Melbourne.
At a glance
In 2016, when Natalie Ambroso was ready to return to work after parental leave, it was important to her to find a role close to where she and her family lived in Toowoomba. At the time, GHD, which has a strong regional presence across Australia, was looking for a team leader for the local structural engineering team. With nine years of structural engineering experience up her sleeve, Natalie applied and got the role.
"It felt like a big stretch at the time because up until that point I had only worked as a design engineer. I hadn’t really entered the space where I was going to be responsible for people or business development or winning work. But as with any new role, my philosophy is to simply put your best foot forward and just go for it. Clearly GHD could see I had the ability and were prepared to back me, and that turned out to be the case."
Natalie subsequently led the local structural engineering team as well as the civil and project management teams for five years before looking for her next career challenge.
In 2021, she relocated to Victoria to take on a new role as Business Group Leader for the region’s Building Engineering team. Then in late 2022, she took her next career step, becoming the Defence Leader for Victoria and Tasmania.
"While it felt like the right time for me to relocate from Toowoomba to Victoria, I was more hesitant about the jump from Business Group Leader to the Defence Leader role as it was quite soon. But through conversations with various GHD leaders and managers, I learned that there’s no perfect timing, and that gave me confidence that I could take it on."
"The lesson is you can wait months or years in some cases to really feel ready for your next career step, but there may not be a good opportunity at that particular moment, so again, sometimes you just have to go for it."
Natalie’s focus on building her professional brand and network has also contributed to securing her current role.
Through my contributions in the team and business group leader roles, I had built up solid relationships, networks and experience which earned me respect from GHD’s national Defence team and positioned me well for the Defence Leader role."
For those looking to progress their career, Natalie says an easy first step is to understand what keeps your manager up at night.
"If you can get to the heart of your manager’s challenges and priorities, and then help to alleviate those pain points, not only do you build up your own skills, but you also help fill a gap, which will always be valued and appreciated."
"Additionally, I’ve found that it’s good to have an independent mentor to bounce things off and get a different perspective. I think those two things working together can be highly effective in helping progress your career."
Natalie also recommends breaking longer-term goals down to identify the smaller first step that can be taken right away.
"When we think about our next career move, sometimes it can be tempting to only focus on the end goal. But quite often, it’s the smaller, in-between steps that set us up for the bigger opportunity down the track and we can get going on those immediately."
Reflecting on her time at GHD, Natalie is grateful for all the opportunities that she’s been able to access, from anywhere.
"One of the great things about GHD is that no matter where you live, whether it’s regional or close to the big cities, you can work on big opportunities at a national or global level. The ability to move locations and navigate your career within the same company is a huge benefit we enjoy."
About Natalie
Natalie is currently working as a design manager on a number of interesting Defence projects in Victoria and Canberra, as well as driving GHD’s Defence Step Up in her role as Defence Leader as part of the Victorian Leadership Team.