Meet manager of project controls Juan Carlos Caldentey, a member of our Latin Employee Resource Group (ERG), which is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with several events for employees.
The Venezuelan native says the ERG allows employees from many diverse backgrounds to celebrate Latin culture and support their communities.
“The Latin ERG is a great platform to get to know colleagues I don’t interact with on a daily basis,” he said. “We work to unite and energize the Latin community with education and understanding, while supporting our communities through action.”
Employee events during the month include presentations about Hispanic contributions to the economy by the President and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and to environmental sustainability by the director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University.
Caldentey also is involved with the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering, and just completed a term as a director of the board for the Houston Latin Philharmonic.
Why did you choose a career in the energy industry?
My parents worked as engineers in the energy industry. It’s a global business that matters to every person around the world, and it’s always changing in terms of technology. It’s amazing to see how much this industry has evolved in the last 100 years, becoming more efficient and reducing the impact on people and the environment.
What is your educational background?
I earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1997 from Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas, Venezuela, and completed two additional degrees in the United States, a Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa in 2000 and a Master of Business Administration from Rice University in Houston in 2011. I also had an internship in PDVSA Intevep, which is a research and development center in Venezuela.
After I graduated from TU, I was hired by Williams and trained as a plant engineer learning about the operation and maintenance of our gas processing facilities. I also worked in Venezuela for seven years in different roles such as leader of technical services, operation supervisor and plant superintendent.
What drew you to Williams as an employer?
I knew Williams because of its big presence in Tulsa when I was a student there from 1998 to 2000. I had a few friends who worked at Williams but more importantly, I knew that they were doing some business in my home country of Venezuela.
Tell me about your current role at Williams?
I am the manager of project controls for the Transmission & Gulf of Mexico Operating Area. There are about 40 employees in my group with two supervisors. We support the execution of capital growth and maintenance projects, and we provide detailed analyses including cost and schedules to the project managers and the rest of the team to execute projects safely, on time and on budget.
How did you develop into a management role?
I started as an individual contributor working in different roles supporting operations and maintenance, then was promoted to a manager in operations. After that, I moved back to an individual role as an engineer supporting projects and then got another promotion as manager of front-end engineering and design. And now I am manager of project controls. In my experience moving lateral and up and down from manager to individual contributor roles is critical to broadening your knowledge and expanding your opportunities.
Learn more about careers at Williams and our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion on Williams’ website.