Alan started his career in civil engineering consultancy, designing and assessing surface and subsurface infrastructure. He then carried out PhD research on settlement damage to buildings. In 2000 he joined the University of Southampton as a lecturer, teaching and carrying out research in tunnelling and structural engineering. From 2016-21, he was Course Director for the MSc Tunnelling and Underground Space at Warwick. In 2021 he joined a new higher education institution TEDI-London, which seeks in its Global Design Engineering programme to take a holistic view of engineering with emphasis on design, making and data analysis. Alan's role was as Civil Engineering Lead and co-ordinator of the smart cities theme. In August 2024, Alan returned to his 'roots' in consultancy by joining Jacobs Engineering Inc as a Technical Director in their Energy, Security and Technology division, working on design and assessment of clean energy infrastructure. In September 2024, Alan's division of Jacobs was spun off and merged with Amentum, a global company engaged in engineering, project management and critical mission solutions.