Located alongside the I-95 in Savannah, Georgia, our North American Headquarters is in the perfect location to supply our customer base. This 500,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility was built in 2000 and manufactures Tracked and Wheeled Excavators, Skid and Teleskid as well as military products.
It’s an exciting time to join JCB North America – the last three years has seen it triple in size in terms of market share, machine sales and headcount. The site is a 30-minute drive from the beach and Savannah itself has so much to offer, including a thriving, historic downtown district. It’s a diverse location with a huge array of students attracted to the area by the Savannah College of Art and Design. Between the I-95 and local airport, the location makes a great base from which to get out and explore North America.
I started my career with JCB in 2006 as a Design Engineer with JCB Government & Defense (G&D), initially working on the High Mobility Rough Terrain Forklift programme for the UAE, and then with several military branches around the world.
In 2013 I moved to Savannah, Georgia in the USA to work with the Commercial Engineering team as a Senior Design Engineer. I later transferred to the G&D team as a Principal Design Engineer and since 2021 I’ve been Engineering Manager for JCB G&D, supporting the US Army.
I moved to Savannah on my own, but the decision to branch out and gain international experience with JCB was an easy one. I had several ‘informal’ calls with the hiring manager in Savannah at the time to discuss the position, and life in general in the US and my manager gave me his support 100%.
I was invited out to Savannah to meet the team and explore the city and, once my US work Visa was approved, I moved to begin my stateside adventure. The whole process from seeing the job vacancy, to living in downtown Savannah, took just over six weeks.
Savannah is a vibrant and welcoming city. I’ve joined several sports clubs which have led to lifelong friendships and have met some truly remarkable people from all walks of life. It’s a creative and social town with many fantastic food and music events and I live just 30 minutes from the beach. I often go boating on the river — life is fun here.
My advice to anyone looking to take on an international opportunity with JCB would be to embrace the local culture and say “Yes” to every opportunity at work. You never know who you might meet, or what doors will open for you! Venturing outside my comfort zone has made me more adaptable and I’m glad I made the effort to build a strong network at JCB — it has been invaluable in helping me settle here.