Q&A: Talking with Jacobs Senior Project Manager, Sangeeta Gupta

The world needs innovators and problem solvers who turn challenges into greater opportunities and Senior Project Manager Sangeeta Gupta is one of ours, whose work help tackle India’s complex challenges in water and smart cities.

In this feature, we caught up with Sangeeta to talk about her first project at Jacobs, her passion to help transform cities and communities through sustainable development, effective urban strategies and digital innovation and why she loves #OurJacobs culture.

To start with, tell us about your background and role at Jacobs.

I am a Senior Project Manager based in Gurugram, India with over 17 years of experience in multidisciplinary infrastructure developments across Asia. I hold a postgraduate Degree in Environmental Science & Engineering. In my role, I enjoy the challenge to help transform cities and communities through sustainable development, effective urban strategies and digital innovation.

What sparked your interest in the field you’re pursuing?

Back then, I was one of the few students who studied environmental engineering in my college. Since it was a new engineering discipline established in India at time, I was skeptical of the opportunities ahead but came to learn how fundamental its role is in protecting nature’s ecosystem and quality of human life. Fast-forward to the beginning of my career, I was provided the opportunity to work on an incredible project – the planning and development of a 4,000-Megawatt Ultra-Mega Power Plant for the government of Mundra, Gujarat. Since then, I haven’t looked back since! My role today offers the perfect platform for me to leverage, apply and build on the insight and experience I have gained from my past projects.

 What are you most passionate about and what’s the favorite part of your role?

Building and cultivating strong and lasting client relationships, as well as leading multidisciplinary teams to achieve successful integrated outcomes.

Tell us about your first project at Jacobs.

My first project at Jacobs involved a series of workshops and advisory sessions with teams in Mumbai and Singapore and over 100 government officials from the State of Maharashtra, India. It was a capacity-building program for sustainable water recycling and integrated water management funded by Singapore Corporation Enterprise and Temasek Foundation International. Later, the success of this program saw our team lead a large water resiliency program to help tackle water scarcity in India. This ongoing work has been running for the past four years and we’re now underway to upgrade several industrial wastewater treatment plants to help diversify the state’s water portfolio and bring resiliency to the system through non-potable water for industrial reuse.