Development Engineer, Ryan Hotchkiss completed a Level 3 qualification before leaving school at 18, and had various jobs prior to joining Highway Care, but hadn’t found an opportunity to embark on a career that he found engaging and rewarding.
When he heard about an opportunity to join Highway Care as an Apprentice CAD Technician, he applied and was successful, which set him on a career path to his current role.
“I had always been interested in design,” Ryan explains, “and I was looking for a role where I could train and see some scope for career development. From my very first week at Highway Care, I felt like the company was investing in my future by helping me understand the business and learn new skills.”
Ryan spent the first five months of his career at Highway Care with our production team in our fabrication workshop at Callow in Hereford to ensure he had a full understanding of our product range, capabilities, and focus on innovation. At the same time, he began his studies in technical support engineering at Hereford and Ludlow College, which saw him working with his Highway Care colleagues four days a week and attending college for a day each week too.
Ryan continues: “Spending the first few months in the workshop meant that I felt familiar not only with our products but with our purpose, and when I then moved into the office, I had a lot of support from colleagues with my day-to-day work, and with keeping up with assignments from college. I really felt that everyone wanted me to succeed, which meant that I was always comfortable to ask questions and turn to colleagues for help.”
Ryan successfully completed his three-year apprenticeship and was keen to move on to do a HNC qualification in mechanical engineering. Our Engineering Manager backed his request, and the company not only promoted Ryan to the role of Junior Development Engineer but also funded his two-year HNC course.
“The HNC was more challenging than my apprenticeship studies,” Ryan continues, “covering broad aspects of engineering. I was still attending college for a day each week but also needed to do an hour or two of college work each evening after work to keep up with my studies.
“Once again though, my colleagues couldn’t have been more helpful, allowing me to complete assignments during work time if I needed to.”
Ryan successfully completed his HNC with distinction in May 2023 and was promoted again to his current role of Development Engineer. His day-to-day work includes both 2D and 3D CAD design. His responsibilities include supporting our Operations team with layouts for barrier installation projects as part of the RAMS for each deployment, as well as 3D design work to enhance current solutions and create new ones across our barrier and mobile traffic product (MTP) ranges.
Alongside work with our current range and installation requirements, Ryan is also leading product development projects, taking an active role in delivering the commitment to innovation that has made Highway Care a leader in road safety for decades.
“I love that my role is so varied,” Ryan continues. “I’ll typically work on six or seven different things in any given week, using all the experience I’ve gained over the past six years, as well as the skills and knowledge I’ve gained at college. I get to work on projects from concept through to completion and I love seeing what I’m involved in come to life.”
Oliver Pulling, Applications and Innovations Manager, has worked with Ryan throughout his career at Highway Care and has seen his journey of growth and development first hand. “Having worked with Ryan for a number of years it is a pleasure to witness his development and confidence grow,” Oliver comments. “His positive mindset and flexibility have enabled him to overcome challenges and progress rapidly within the business,” he adds
Although Ryan has now completed his college training, his career development continues at Highway Care. He has trained in both First Aid and Fire Marshalling as part of his role and has undertaken advanced training for the CAD system he uses daily to ensure he can fully utilise all the features and technical capabilities of the software.
“Highway Care have covered both the cost and time investment for my training,” Ryan adds, “which has enabled me to go from complete beginner to experienced development engineer in just a few years. Meanwhile, I’ve enjoyed having a great place to work where I really feel like a valued part of a team, with future opportunities on the horizon.”
