Defence programmes operate across highly regulated and safety-critical environments, where technical decisions have to work across regulatory requirements, operational demands and significant consequences. Those conditions can influence how a specialist approaches a problem, makes a decision or exercises their professional judgement. Knowing the technical challenge is one thing. Understanding the environment in which that expertise will be applied is another.
Defence and aerospace programmes rely on thousands of decisions across engineering, assurance, safety During more than 20 years working in defence, Paul Mayo came to understand what that meant in practice. As an RAF engineer, he had been the person relying on specialist engineering, safety and technical decisions in his own work. Later, he became the person providing that expertise. Having occupied both sides of that relationship, he saw that technical competence alone wasn’t enough.
Paul Mayo, Founder and Managing Director at SQEP Ltd, explains:
“When I founded SQEP, I wanted to build the kind of consultancy I would have trusted during my own career in defence. That meant being very deliberate about the people we brought into the business.
“We looked for people with the technical expertise for the role, but also the experience of working in demanding environments where standards, accountability and the consequences of decisions were understood first-hand.
“But being a veteran was never the point on its own. We looked for people with the right mindset, judgement and professional standards. People who understood the environment they were entering, could speak honestly, challenge when necessary and take responsibility for the work they were doing.
“That is what SQEP was created around. The person supporting a programme has to be capable of doing the technical work, but also understand the context in which it will be applied and bring the experience and insight to advise effectively.”
Today, that experience informs how SQEP’s specialists support programmes, bringing technical expertise alongside an understanding of the operational pressures, regulatory requirements and risks that sit behind the decisions being made.
Technical competence tells you what someone can do. Professional judgement determines how that expertise is applied when the consequences matter
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