Defence is traditionally a male-dominated industry but at Landmarc we are making in-roads on building an inclusive workplace that enables women to thrive, with over a quarter of all new recruits now being female – a significant improvement on previous years. We firmly believe in equality and the diverse roles that women hold across our business are testament to that, with women featuring across all levels from director to manager to supervisor to operative and a range of specialist roles in between.
Samm Murray was recently appointed as our first female National Training Area Manager (NTAM) and is no stranger to ‘firsts’ after previously becoming our first female Training Area and Facilities Manager when she achieved top marks in the Training Area Manager course. To mark International Women’s Day, we’ve caught up with Samm to find out more about her career at Landmarc and her thoughts on being a woman in defence.
“I joined Landmarc in September 2004, working part time on a job share with a colleague in the Training Control Office at Otterburn. In a restructure the opportunity became available for me to go full time and then when the Training Area and Facilities Supervisor went on maternity leave in 2017, I applied to second into her role.
“Shortly after, the new Landmarc Training Area Manager course came on line which I was asked to attend. I thoroughly enjoyed the course so was eager to learn and my hard work was rewarded when I came top of my class in the exams, an achievement that I am still really proud of. It was only five months later when the Training Area and Facilities Manager decided to leave the company, so I successfully applied for the position and had been carrying out the role since October 2017 until my recent promotion to National Training Area Manager, specialising in Air Weapons Ranges.
Enabling our Armed Forces to live, work and train
“Throughout my whole career at Landmarc, I have been at the frontline of military training on what is a very large and complex training area. A role in the TAROM team is extremely varied covering a wide range of tasks both inside and outside the wire and even after all these years I am constantly learning new things. As Training Area and Facilities Manager, I was involved with everything from booking accommodation and facilities for troops, carrying out range inspections, scheduling work, delivering Rural Estate Tasks (RETS), Petrol, Oil and Lubricants (POL) management, keeping assignment instructions up to date, dealing with targetry requests, waste management, supporting Units and liaising with the customer on a daily basis to ensure our ranges and training areas continue to be a safe place to train for our Armed Forces. I am definitely not afraid to immerse myself in the job and have often shadowed our teams on the ground to get a deeper understanding of the individual tasks so that I know what we do and what can be achieved.
Taking on a new challenge
“I’m really excited about taking on the NTAM role, which will enable me to develop my skills and nurture a real specialism in the management and support of the TAROM aspects of Air Weapons Ranges. As an outdoor person, another perk of my job has been calling the vast training area at Otterburn my office, so I’m also looking forward to embracing the opportunity to visit other locations across the Training Estate as soon as it is safe to travel.
Working at Landmarc
“I really enjoy working at Landmarc. It is fun, friendly, diverse and challenging. You can guarantee that there is never a dull moment. We all know that the training areas and indeed, the defence sector itself, are heavily male dominated, but I can sincerely say that the team at Landmarc has been nothing but supportive to ensure my progression, which is evident in the journey I have taken since joining the business in 2004.
“The message I would send to all my female colleagues is that there are opportunities to develop your career at Landmarc if you want it – and that is true whether you are male or female. I have, and continue to receive, support and training and work with a great team of people. I’m looking forward to the direction the next step in my career will take me and am extremely proud to work for Landmarc and to be a woman in defence.”