Gammon Construction is involved in many large infrastructure projects in Hong Kong. Its drive to make these projects meet the highest levels of safety and sustainability means that, alongside a general demand for engineers, there is also a need to recruit for a range of interesting roles.

Edmond Lai, director of human resources, says the company is looking for environmental engineers, whose roles have broadened in recent years.

"In the old days, it was mainly about compliance, but builders and consultants are increasingly focused on environmental sustainability," he says.

Environmental engineers now monitor and assist in implementing green features. For this role, the company looks for candidates who have an academic background in environmental engineering and ideally some relevant experience in construction.

Lai says the company also needs safety managers and advisers. These might be already-registered safety officers or new graduates who the company trains for the position. Employees in these safety roles both monitor site activity and offer input during the pre-construction and design phases.

"They look at the major risks relating to the operation of the site and then work on a daily basis to remove these," Lai says.

"They will have a workplace assessment process and a briefing to make sure workers understand the risks."

For both environmental engineers and safety positions, Lai says it is vital that employees have a collaborative attitude. "They will need to work with the site people very closely," he says. "So, if they don't have the attitude to collaborate, then they won't be able to succeed."

He says that the roles are attractive because they cover areas to which the company attaches great importance.

Safety is one of Gammon's core values and it hopes to achieve a zero-harm record on its projects by 2012, while the company is also investing in green construction as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability.