Don Xiaodong Pan joined WSP in 2005 as the Managing Director for WSP Asia. A qualified engineer and geotechnical specialist, educated in China and the UK, he moved into management and spent the last fifteen years prior to joining WSP with one of our competitors.
His career has taken him from China to London, to Hong Kong and the Asia region, and he is the first to admit that a peripatetic international career is not for everyone. “I have three homes – in London, where my family is based, Hong Kong and Shanghai. It’s been a compromise between my career and family life, but I wanted to capitalise on my technical knowledge and management experience combined with my knowledge of the Chinese culture and language,” he says.
“International work is not easy, but those who are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices can gain huge career benefits. In Shanghai, for example, we have recruited a number of individuals of local origin who gained international education and experience in Canada, Hong Kong and elsewhere in the world. We expect these people will be instrumental in developing our business in the region, thus developing their own careers at the same time.”