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From chemistry to project leadership at Entrepose Contracting

15/09/2026

Gabriela Victoria Santa Cruz Bustamante holds a PhD in Chemistry and chose engineering over research. Now Project Director for Cartagena GLP at Entrepose Contracting, a subsidiary of VINCI Construction Grands Projets, she leads technically demanding operations. A look at her career path and at the project management practices behind it.

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A career built step by step

After starting out as a process engineer in a design office, Gabriela Victoria Santa Cruz Bustamante joined Entrepose Contracting and moved progressively from process engineering into engineering management, then into project management. Following experience as a Project Engineering Manager and in tender management, she reached a new milestone in January by becoming a Project Manager — the first woman to hold this position within VINCI Construction Grands Projets. She now leads the Cartagena GLP project as Project Director.

Controlling cost, schedule, quality and safety

Project control relies on close monitoring of key indicators: budget in manhours, milestones and physical progress, non-conformities and client feedback, incident records and contractual performance. The levers are clear: robust planning, risk analysis backed by mitigation plans, fast trade-off decisions, systematic quality reviews, contractual control and transparency with stakeholders. HSE requirements are built in from the design phase, shaping both technical choices and execution plans. Interfaces with clients, suppliers and internal teams are coordinated through interface meetings, shared collaborative tools and Obeya-style rituals.

Capturing lessons learned and developing teams


On one complex project, the engineering lessons-learned exercise was repositioned as a strategic asset rather than a documentation burden: the format was redesigned into two versions — a detailed report and a “top 3” summary — and supported by short, structured workshops highlighting each contributor’s input through success stories and lessons learned. The outcome: active team participation and a reference document reusable on subsequent projects.

At Entrepose Contracting, within the VINCI Group, responsibilities can broaden step by step. Gabriela Victoria Santa Cruz Bustamante extends that path through her commitment to gender diversity in engineering, via the Major Projects Women initiative and her role as a VINCI sponsor with Elles Bougent.

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