In June 2023, Arum was promoted to Country Director, a role perfectly suited for someone with her experience and passion for sustainable development.
When Arum Satya Sari returned to the office from the Eid holiday, she was met with some unexpected news. After more than three years as NIRAS Indonesia’s Senior Technical Manager, Arum was asked to take on a new role as Country Office Director.
“The change has been under discussion for quite some time. I was not expecting it would happen this soon, but David (Shirley) announced it was my turn to take the helm,” Arum says. “It was a challenging time – we had so many visitors and big bids to submit – but the overwhelm I initially felt turned into a realisation that everything would be all right. The team has been so helpful and supportive.”
A lifelong commitment to climate and energy causes
Before her nomination to Country Director, Arum had been working in the climate and energy space, helping to implement projects for clients like the Asian Development Bank, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the United Nations Office for Project Services.
From a young age, Arum has been civic-minded, trying to make a difference in her community. As a student, she founded a still-running initiative with her friends called 1001buku, an organisation whose mission is to collect and distribute books to libraries all over Indonesia. She liked doing volunteer work and having a positive impact, values which led her to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where she took a position as a young engineer. “During my stay at WWF, I worked on a campaign introducing the issue of climate change and energy to the public, advocating against the use of fossil fuels and promoting the switch to renewable and clean energy. This was at a time when climate and energy issues were not at the forefront of public discussions. Many were involved in environment and conservation projects, even forestry. But climate and energy? Only a few of us were there,” she says.
Having an Indonesian lead this kind of company is good especially for government-assisted projects – perhaps because we know the language, the culture and what the people in Indonesia need.
Arum Satya Sari
Eventually, Arum’s involvement in environmental causes led her to support the Indonesian delegation during the 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali. “I provided technical support to the Indonesian delegation and developed a training module for the negotiators with a team,” Arum says. “The whole experience was huge for me.”
In the following years, her primary focus would centre around harnessing the power of green energy and combating climate change, a passion she brought with her when she started working at NIRAS in 2020. “I’ve done different kinds of projects involving policy and advocacy, monitoring and evaluation and scoping studies. But all of them, I believe, have been related to the climate and energy sector, which really has been my expertise in the last 20 years or so,” she says.
A natural leader, wherever she goes
To become the director of any office, a person must exhibit strong leadership skills. And in the case of NIRAS Indonesia, Arum was perfect for the role.
To her, leading by example does not begin and end in the workplace. When she is home, she engages with her two children, showing care and interest in the goings-on of their lives and fostering a sense of openness. “It’s a challenge all working moms face,” she says, pertaining to her round-the-clock streak of leadership. Having grown up in a similar household, she could as easily be referring to the experience of her own mother, a mechanical engineer and former lecturer at a university.
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“My mom’s the one who told me to always be independent because I’ll never know what will happen to my future spouse,” she says. She explains that generally in Asia, where traditional values are still predominantly upheld, being a woman can sometimes mean the odds are stacked against you, which necessitates developing a strong and proactive will to take the lead on different matters. “But growing up and seeing my mom, I knew early on it’s possible to be a good mom while being a career-oriented leader,” she says. “I wanted to be like her.”
Guided by this mindset, Arum has developed a strong foundation in engineering, which she attributes in part to her success in the company. “My technical knowledge and aptitude for engaging with others are what got me here. You’d need a balance of technical expertise and people management skills to thrive in the development sector,” she shares.
A ‘rewarding’ place of work
Because of her capabilities, Arum is more than competent at leading a whole office. But expertly juggling responsibilities can be hectic, a challenge she finds manageable with her supportive work environment. In addition to the great team around her, the culture of NIRAS Indonesia is one where recognition and rest, regardless of position and seniority, are highly encouraged and one of the reasons why she finds working here rewarding.
“I have to admit, it’s not easy to balance work and family life,” Arum says. “But what makes it possible to juggle the two is how flexible NIRAS is. Not many companies have that.” Besides flexibility, working at NIRAS also affords its people the opportunity to work on fulfilling projects that contribute to the sustainable development goals. And beyond that, everyone also gets to develop themselves professionally and personally, all while being acknowledged and working together as a unit, Arum says.
“At the Indonesia office, we do what we have to do to get things done, that’s the spirit we have here,” she adds. “We work and move as a team.” According to Arum, this spirit of teamwork had been nurtured under the lead of David her predecessor, an attitude which has helped put NIRAS Indonesia on the map. “Now, we are getting contracts with the EU and other major groups. I’d like to continue what he has achieved.”
As the new lead, Arum sees herself taking on the role of “good implementer”, someone who keeps projects at the centre. “I want the team to deliver the best quality of project implementation.” During her term, she says, she aims to make NIRAS one of the top consulting firms in Indonesia and is confident that the team is going in the right direction, as she has been hearing good feedback from both donors and the Government.
“Having an Indonesian lead this kind of company is good especially for government-assisted projects – perhaps because we know the language, the culture and what the people in Indonesia need,” she explains. “I remember one of the directors at the Ministry of Energy once told me, ‘I always see you in different projects with different donors, but what I appreciate is you always put Indonesians’ interest above everything.’”
In this line of work, where the real beneficiaries are the people, it is hardly surprising that being attuned to a nation’s needs is what will drive true change. And to Arum, she wants to harness her understanding of Indonesia’s goals to help meet the goals of donors, something she looks forward to doing as the sitting Country Director.
At the end of the day, she says, while her work is in pursuit of sustainable development and a fairer world, it serves her country and her people first.
