Maja Redlowska, who is a project controller at NRS Dounreay, completed an ECITB qualification in March 2025 at the age of 42.
She is part of the project controls support team for the nuclear decommissioning site in Caithness, north Scotland.
Originally from Poland, Maja studied languages which helped her work in office-based tourism and hospitality roles for nine years, before moving to Scotland.
After re-training with a college accountancy course, she landed an administrative job in the programme office at NRS Dounreay in 2019 supporting its lead estimator and planner.
This gave her insights into project controls careers which led to her securing a trainee project controls position, during which she gained a project control certificate as part of a tutor-led training course.
After being promoted to the role of project controller, Maja was enrolled on the ECITB Level 6 Diploma in Advanced Project Controls Practice and Techniques with 20/20 Project Management in March 2023.
We spoke to Maja about how completing an engineering construction qualification has helped her career and in her day-to-day role, which involves cost, schedule and performance monitoring of projects.
What my ECITB qualification involved
Maja said: “There were four different pathways for the project control qualification and I chose integrated project controls practice.
“I was required to compile a portfolio of work-based evidence based on a series of units. After submitting my work for each unit, I had technical discussions with my assessor to determine my underpinning knowledge and understanding.
“Some of the units were more based on my role than others. For example, unit nine was monitoring and controlling progress and performance, which is basically my day-to-day job and so involved me describing what I do each month and providing relevant evidence.
“Some of the other units were a bit less relevant and so more challenging, such as forecasting to influence future conditions and applying data-centric execution and analytics.
“But these were good because it made me think about what can be improved or changed and how my role can develop in the future.”
Benefits of completing my ECITB qualification
Maja recognises the benefits of completing an ECITB regulated qualification, saying it helped her “gain credibility and validation of her skills” and “become more competitive” when it comes to applying for more advanced or specialist roles.
“I love to study, so I enjoyed doing the qualification a lot,” she added.
“This course was different from others I have done because it was self-paced and so required self-discipline, but I’ve learned a lot about my work and how it can develop in the future.
“The qualification improved my technical and soft skills in project controls and gave me more confidence to be involved in bigger infrastructure projects.
“Carrying out daily tasks is one thing, but actually writing it down and thinking about it gives you more insight about your own work.
“I would definitely recommend this type of qualification to others. With it being portfolio-based, preparing the evidence from my work gave me wider perspective of how what I do benefits the organisation.”
Delivering the skills industry needs
The ECITB Level 6 Diploma in Advanced Project Controls Practice and Techniques completed by Maja supports learners in developing their own professional competence, applying data-centric execution and analytics, and applying change control processes.
Completing this vocational ECITB qualification is an endorsement of the learner’s competence and ability to be effective in or progress into a lead or management role within their chosen project controls-related discipline or pathway.
These roles typically include project controls manager, lead estimator, lead planner and lead cost engineer.
The ECITB’s suite of regulated qualifications enable learners to demonstrate the specific skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to perform a particular role as set out by National Occupational Standards (NOS).
By working with industry, ECITB qualifications are valued by employers because they deliver the skills industry needs and offer development opportunities to staff across a wide range of engineering construction roles.
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