Boardroom Apprentice class of 2021

• Sep 2021 - Present

Assistant Principal

• Feb 2021 - Present

I lead a project to develop and implement a data retention policy across the department. I am responsible for its scope, schedule, finance, risk, quality and resources. I lead a project to develop and implement a data retention policy across the department. I am responsible for its scope, schedule, finance, risk, quality and resources.

Directors Support Office Manager

• Mar 2019 - Feb 2021

I enable the success of the leadership team by leading on strategic planning, overseeing cross-functional projects and initiatives, expanding the leadership team’s bandwidth, managing the meeting cadence for the directors, building long term relationships with stakeholders and reviewing internal and external communications.

Decision Making Manager

• May 2017 - Feb 2019

I manage four work streams, comprising fifty two staff, tasked with decision making on Welfare Benefits. I set the direction of the teams work activities so that they contribute to the Civil Service's goals. I continuously seek out ways to improve policy implementation and build a leaner, more flexible and responsive welfare service. I develop evidence based strategies, evaluate options, impacts, risks and solutions to service delivery problems. I inform future plans for transformational change. I create an environment to deliver operational excellence and build a performance culture in order to deliver outcomes.As the chair of a recruitment and selection panel I had the responsibility of ensuring that interviews were carried out objectively, professionally, legally and in-line with the Departments Equalities and Recruitment and Selection Policies. I also had final decision-making authority where the selection panel was divided.

Benefit Processing manager

• Sep 2012 - Apr 2017

Operations manager with responsibility for the day to day delivery of a Social Security benefit. I provide leadership to eighteen administrative staff including allocating labour, designing KPIs, assigning job duties, and developing skills. I introduced and applied value-stream mapping to dive deep into productivity problems and find their root causes. I led a transition in strategy that moved beyond the measurement of work flows solely for establishing staffing compliment and towards improving efficiency. Productivity increased by 30%.

Northern Chapter Chair

• Nov 2018 - Apr 2020

Role includes organising events which keep members abreast of the latest management thought, facilitating business and social networking with fellow MBAs, enhancing the public profile of the MBA brand in which members have invested. Role includes organising events which keep members abreast of the latest management thought, facilitating business and social networking with fellow MBAs, enhancing the public profile of the MBA brand in which members have invested.

Contact Centre team lead

• Mar 2010 - Sep 2012

As a contact centre team lead I had responsibility for ten staff. I ensured call volumes were managed to deliver on agreed SLA's. I used data analyses and liaised with Resource Planning to develop an effective staffing schedule.I created a high performance team by introducing a coaching and feedback culture. I actively coached staff to encourage ownership of their development so as to improve their capability in handling complaints. The number of cases requiring escalation reduced by 81%.

Fresh Claims team lead

• Sep 2007 - Mar 2010

Operations manager with responsibility for six staff piloting the introduction of Employment and Support Allowance in the UK. I developed new processes, created performance measures, and delivered training. Average clearance times reduced by 37% within one year making the centre a leader in UK performance indicators. Selected to move to telephony contact centre to take charge of underperforming team.

Executive Officer - Front line services

• Feb 2006 - Sep 2007

Operations manager with responsibility for four staff tasked with delivering Social Welfare to an deprived and politically troubled district of Belfast.I managed information requests from influential stakeholders that included Members of the NI Legislative Assembly, Citizens Advice, Community Groups, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Executive Officer - Contract management

• Mar 2005 - Feb 2006

Within the portfolio of modernisation projects established in 2005 I had responsibility for the maintenance and payment of IT tendered contracts.Using PRINCE2 methodology I monitored daily incidents against service level agreements, provided input to Gateway reviews, adhered to internal documentation and governance procedures. Promoted into operations management.

Executive Officer - Departmental HR

• Jun 2001 - Mar 2005

Internal communications role carrying out day-to-day content management of the HR Intranet. I created and designed web pages, monitored the coherence of the structure, the ease of navigation, the currency of information held and provided quality control and editing of texts .