Anca Foia
Anca Foia is a seasoned Project Planning Manager at Alstom, bringing over 11 years of experience in the railway industry and a strong background in project management, governance, and performance optimization. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Anca is currently overseeing a railway project in Florida, where she coordinates schedules, manages stakeholder communication, and ensures projects are delivered on time and to the highest quality standards. Her international experience, having worked across Spain, Sweden, and the United States, has honed her cross-cultural communication skills and her ability to adapt quickly to new environments.
Anca began her career in Stockholm, Sweden with Bombardier before transitioning to Alstom following the company acquisition. Over the years, she has progressed from PMO-focused roles into project planning, developing expertise in schedule optimization, KPI tracking, and reporting tools such as Primavera P6, Ody.C, and QlikSense. She is passionate about continuous learning, problem-solving, and leveraging technology to improve project outcomes, believing that initiative and proactive communication are key to success in complex, global projects.
Beyond her technical responsibilities, Anca is deeply committed to fostering leadership and professional development. She serves as Co-Chair for Alstom Women of Excellence (AWE), supporting initiatives that promote growth and opportunity for employees across the company. Balancing a demanding career with personal responsibilities, including raising triplet daughters, she demonstrates remarkable organization, focus, and dedication. Anca’s professional philosophy centers on honesty, punctuality, and collaboration, making her both a trusted team member and an inspiring leader in the railway and project management fields.
• Ethics & Compliance
• Introduction to Agile
• On-Time-Delivery 2021
• AIR Values e-learning
• Ethics & Compliance: Working With External Third Parties
• Communicating to Drive People to Take Action
• Facilitation Skills for Managers and Leaders
• Creating a Culture of Collaboration
• Agile Foundations
• Working on a Cross-Functional Team
• Project Management Foundations: Quality
• Project Management Foundations: Risk
• Project Management Simplified
• Building Trust
• Community College of Allegheny County- A.D.
• Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași- Bachelor's
• Alstom Women of Excellence - Agile Category
• Asociația Studenților Francofoni din Iași
• AsdMark
• Alianta Nationala a Organizatiilor Studentesti din Romania
• Professional Women Network Stockholm
• WORLD VISION ROMÂNIA
• Alstom Woman of Excellence
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being highly functional with lots of energy, having bravery to take on new challenges, and a little bit of craziness. Success comes from initiative, not just one - it comes from clear communication, continuous learning, and making yourself visible without waiting for permission. I've been brave enough to start from ground zero three times, moving across continents from Spain to Sweden to the US, and each time I've taken on new roles and challenges. I was willing to try something new in planning even when I thought it wasn't for me, and that openness to change has been key to my growth.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is don't be afraid of taking your next step, because women in general are afraid and are overthinking - maybe I'm not good enough, maybe I'm not prepared enough for this. I realized that women in general start to overthink, while a man would just jump through and say let's just do it. So don't overthink and be confident enough to take the next step. This advice really resonated with me, especially when my mentor kept insisting I try planning even though I was sure it wasn't for me. Because he was so insistent, I actually took it into consideration, and now I'm enjoying it. Before that, the same opportunity had come to me a couple of times and I ignored it completely.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering the field is to make sure they get enough practice, because the degree that they have is not something that will define them. If they find their path later, that can also be something they can do without a degree for. Here's my example - I have a degree in communication, but now I'm in the technical field. I was brave enough to try something that caught my attention, I managed to get enough practice in, I got noticed, and now I'm doing something else than my degree. In my field, I've actually seen someone that has a degree in arts who was head of procurement. So the degree is not defining. Success comes from initiative, not just one - clear communication, continuous learning, and making yourself visible without waiting for permission.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field right now are working in a male-dominated field and having a good work-family balance. Between small kids and the complex project I work on - which is a project with ACD, 5 legs, so it's very complex - there's stress that comes with the work and stress of life, and it's hard to juggle between them. Balancing the demands of a technically complex railway project with raising triplet girls while maintaining my professional responsibilities and volunteer leadership role requires constant effort.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in both my work and personal life are honesty and punctuality.