Philosophy graduate Julia was working for a car leasing company when she saw an advertisement for job in project management at the Bridge of Weir Leather Company. Even though she had no idea about the leather industry or what to expect, she applied for it and found herself working on site at a ‘rather large, smelly factory’.

As Sales / Account Manager, she is responsible for dealing with sales, accounts and project management for upholstery leather supplied to major car manufacturers, including Aston Martin and Volvo. This includes managing new designs, from concept to finished product, for her customers. This is not an easy task as these projects can take 2 to 3 years of development work and means dealing with the design, engineering and technical aspects of the project as well as the challenges of leather manufacture itself, such as seasonal variation in raw materials. She has to ensure the product meets the customer demands, including some very ‘challenging requests’.

This is an intellectually demanding role and difficult to learn as it constantly changes with the demands of the customer and the need to keep both the customer and supply chain satisfied.  However, Julia says, once mastered, ‘It’s brilliant!’. This role is more challenging with more responsibility, travel and stress than her previous jobs but she loves it and very proud of what she does.

She believes this could be a career for life and her experience could take her to other places in the world. She would recommend the industry to anyone as it is so varied and with so much opportunity, there would definitely be job for everyone.