Meet David Hosking – Director

With over 25 years’ experience as a qualified engineer, David holds the position of Group Director and Office Head of our Leamington Spa office.

Since joining JNP Group as a Principal Engineer in 2007, David has undertaken a number of roles and responsibilities as a Structural Engineer, CDM Principal Designer and Party Wall Surveyor.

David, when did you first become aware of the possibility of a career in engineering?

My dad was an Engineer, so engineering has always been in the family.

It was a careers open day alongside work experience at the company where my dad worked, where I was first introduced to the field of engineering. As I have a passion for problem solving and excelled at maths, I knew this would be a great fit.

Growing up in Cornwall, when I left secondary school, I won a prize for science & design technology. The prize was an opportunity to visit RNAS Culdrose, have a tour of their engineering department and have a go in the Sea King helicopter flight simulator. However, luckily for me, the simulator was cancelled at the last minute. Instead, they gave me the opportunity to fly in the real thing, sitting in the co-pilots seat and being allowed to temporarily take the controls flying over St Ives.

Following this, I had a trip on the HMS Cardiff, experiencing life onboard as the ship travelled back to Portsmouth from Gibraltar. This experience made a significant impact on me, so much so, that I initially set my sights on a career in the Royal Navy.

What inspires you about Engineering?

I’m often presented with the opportunity to be creative and solve problems. Seeing something you have been a part of designing come to fruition is one of the most rewarding parts of being a structural engineer.

Two recent examples of this are the new RGB main board customer information displays that were installed over Christmas break at Waterloo and Victoria train stations in London.

What is the most challenging thing about your job?

Communication is key to everything that we do and is often the reason why things don’t always go to plan.

It may seem obvious that engineers solve problems, but the less obvious and fun challenge of problem-solving is determining the correct problem to solve. What might appear at first to be an easy structural solution may cause an issue elsewhere.

The ability to work collaboratively is also key as you will be expected to balance a whole number of competing priorities, whilst finding the best solution for the project. To achieve success, it requires compromise so you must possess the ability to communicate well, after all the best days are always spent resolving issues.

What advice do you have for someone interested in engineering?

Firstly, I want to dispel some stereotypical myths relating to the image of engineering. From experience it is not often you are the lone engineer running calculations behind a desk so, working collaboratively and being part of a team is essential.

Engineering will consistently challenge, allowing for the opportunity to share your experience and continually learn from others, especially within the consistently evolving modern methods of construction.

It is a highly respected profession with job stability and great earning potential. I am proud of the work I do and of what I have achieved to date and can honestly say I have never regretted my decision.