After 16 Years, Steve Traded Coveralls for a Different Kind of Suit

Steve never imagined sitting in an office. His story is about what happens when someone gives you a chance you didn't ask for, and you grow into it

Steve initially joined SLB OneSubsea as a Workshop Fitter in Aberdeen, UK, back in 2011. After exploring a career outside SLB for a year, he returned as a Senior Fitter for SLB's Cameron valves business in 2015, with the same feeling of belonging in the workshop: hands-on, operational, and grounded in work he could see and touch — exactly what he was after.

His coveralls felt like a true uniform, an identity he wore with pride for 16 years, across different roles, from Quality Control Inspector to Workshop Supervisor.

Today, Steve is SLB's European Technology Lifecycle Management (TLM) Manager, overseeing operational bases in Aberdeen and Celle, Germany. In this role, Steve supports customer operations across both sites, leading his teams to drive operational performance and deliver safe, efficient, high-quality work.

A completely different career from where he started 16 years ago. A big shift he hadn't been chasing. If anything, he had doubts.

“I can't really take any credit for the motivation to move into the TLM Manager role — if anything, I had a bit of self-doubt at the time.”

The turning point came in late 2021, when his predecessor in the role saw a potential in Steve that he hadn't yet seen in himself.

What Steve brought to the role, it turned out, was exactly what it needed: an eye for continuous improvement. Years in the workshop, living this experience first-hand, meant he understood how maintenance and repairs operated from the inside out. He knew where the gaps were because he'd been on the receiving end of those fixes.

The transition from the workshop floor to management was truly a shift in how he thought about the impact he was making.

And that's where the best part of the job lies for him: seeing someone else grow into the next step of their career, and feeling the pride that comes with it.

Having lived that experience himself, he understands better than most what it means. As a father of three, he'll tell you that leading a team and raising a family come from exactly the same place: believing in people before they believe in themselves, and helping them become the best version of themselves.

Today, after 16 years, he's certain this is where he's meant to be. Doubts still creep in from time to time, but they help him continuously grow and, most importantly, remind him to have faith in himself.