Tell us about your role with Airbus – what does a typical day as a ZEROe Market and Customer Strategist look like?
My role is to build our understanding of the future market and customer base for ZEROe (the Airbus hydrogen aircraft project). I lead the APAC region, so I work with airlines across APAC to help them understand how ZEROe aircraft could help achieve their sustainability and operational goals in the future, including which routes it could fly and how it could fit within their broader fleet strategy. I then take their feedback back into Airbus to help shape our ZEROe strategy. Day-to-day my work is quite varied, I do everything from data analysis and modelling in excel, to presenting to top-level executives and decision-makers within airlines and building our market strategies internally. I also get to travel and visit some of these airlines for my role, which is pretty cool!
Has aviation and sustainability been something you have always been passionate about?
To be honest, no. I'm not your typical plane nerd (I use that term fondly). I fell into the transport industry after being offered an internship in the Future Transport team at Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency while studying. In this role I had a particular focus on autonomous vehicles and really enjoyed working on something that could help people while also being on the leading edge of new technology. I then applied for Air New Zealand's Graduate Engineering Programme (to build my knowledge of transport in another dimension) and through this eventually made my way into their Fleet Strategy team, where I started learning more about and working on hydrogen aircraft strategy. My passion for sustainability grew through these roles and now both helping people and the planet is a central part of my career path.
At the end of 2024 you participated in the 2024 Global Child Forum at the Royal Palace of Stockholm. What were some highlights or key takeaways from this experience?
This was an incredible experience! The main highlight was of course meeting His Majesty the King and Her Highness the Princess of Sweden, but the entire day was inspiring. The conference was all about helping children and young people and ensuring that their needs are met by big organisations globally. I was selected to be a youth representative, and while the focus of the day was a little removed from my day-to-day work, it was a great opportunity to learn more about the "people" aspect of "people and planet". I was honoured to be asked to present in the Supply Chain Action Lab, and represent the world young leader's cohort by sharing my key insights in the Closing Plenary session. The main message I heard throughout the day is that children need to be considered as stakeholders in any decisions that might affect them, in the supply chain this means ensuring child labour is not present, and that parents are paid appropriately and have the flexibility to care for their families as needed.
What have you enjoyed most about moving to Toulouse, France, and then alternatively what have been some of the biggest challenges?
Toulouse has been surprising; I knew very little about the city before coming over and now I love it. We live in the historic centre of the city, and it's a labyrinth of beautiful old brick buildings, filled with gorgeous shops, delicious bakeries, and lines of restaurants on every street. It's also a very diverse city with Airbus Headquarters and several prestigious French Universities attracting a lot of international talent. My favourite part of the city is that there's always something new or interesting going on, last year we had a three day long show with massive robots in the central city, dance classes filling the streets, and a water rugby tournament on the river.
The most challenging part of moving to France has been all the dreaded bureaucracy! Every process is lengthy, requires a lot of paperwork, and means you have to be very organised. I've also found it a little slower and more challenging to learn French than anticipated, so at times communicating with the locals has been a bit tough, but mostly everyone is very kind - and they're especially excited when I say "Je suis Néo Zélandais" (I am a New Zealander).
Any fond memories of your time studying at UC that you’d like to share?
I have a lot of fond memories from UC. In my first two years I stayed in College House where I met some of my long-term friends and had a lot of fun participating in all their various events - the Ball and Feast Dinners to name a couple. Another highlight was my involvement in Women in Engineering in my final year, we ran a new event called the Great Car Challenge which I organised in connection to my work with Waka Kotahi. I loved the diversity of opportunities at UC with all the different student clubs on offer, which created a lot of great activities, but also some really good networks and a lot of leadership opportunities for students.
What advice would you give to a new graduate looking to move and work overseas?
My main piece of advice is to go for it. I feel like the whole world has opened up to me since moving to France, I've gained a much more international perspective and have now started to build a global network in my field. I'm excited for the day when I move back to New Zealand that I'll be able to bring this new knowledge with me.
I would also say to think outside the box on where in the world you could take your next career step, and to be a little bit brave. Having the opportunity to live somewhere where you don't speak the language and in a culture that is quite diverse from your own is always going to be a little uncomfortable but can also be incredibly rewarding.
Check out Amy's LinkedIn profile here to follow along on her journey with Airbus.
