Experience

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  Martin Currie

  • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  • Project Office Manager

    • Sep 2014 - Present
    • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    I recently secured the role of Project Office Manager at Martin Currie and following a break in Fethiye I am looking forward to returning to the team and the new challenges and opportunities this role will bring

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  TBC Consultants

  • Programme Office Manager

    • Feb 2002 - Sep 2014

    Following seven years contracting at Scottish Widows, Lloyds Banking Group as Programme Office Manager on a diverse and complex portfolio of change I am currently enjoying a short break. The role at Scottish Widows involved all aspects of project and programme governance, reporting, financial management and supporting the Programme Manager and Head of Programme Delivery. I will be available for work either in the PMO area or perhaps back into Project Management shortly.

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  Scottish Widows

  • United Kingdom
  • Financial Services
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Programme Office Manager

    • Jul 2007 - Aug 2014

    I was PMO Delivery Manager on an extensive portfolio (£25m to £30m) covering a diverse range of projects and programmes. The change activities covered strategic change and regulatory/legislative changes required to ensure compliance with industry regulations and directives. My portfolio included high profile strategic changes around the way in which funds are managed and invested and changes to the asset profile of Scottish Widows. I was responsible for all aspects of governance and reporting on the programme which successfully completed the sale of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership to Aberdeen Asset Management this year.My role covers all aspects of governance and reporting working alongside my Portfolio Director, five Programme Managers and multiple Project Managers. I also provide direct support to the Portfolio Director for many executive level activities and often represent the Portfolio Director in senior management meetings as my experience and skills mean I am recognised as being able to readily step into these areas with the requisite knowledge and confidence.Core duties:-•Upward & outward reporting both within Scottish Widows & across other divisions of LBG as my portfolio includes cross-division change•Review & analysis of Programme Manager & Project Manager project plans, risks, issues & dependencies•Working with Programme Managers & Project Managers to assess progress & identify any hotspots/blockers•Budget control, monitoring & reporting for Scottish Widows and LBG•Representing the programme at portfolio & Group meetings for the purposes of sharing best practices•Act as first point of contact for the portfolio in all aspects of change or additions to our reporting & governance requirements ensuring the Programme Managers & Project Managers have the support & education required to make the transition successfully•Creation of dashboard reports for the portfolio & upward reporting plus business stakeholder engagement & management

  • Project Manager

    • Jun 2008 - Feb 2009

    I have also worked as a Project Manager in my time with Scottish Widows on a Management Information and Interfaces project on the Retirement Account Programme. This role covered:-•Managing a team of analysts, lead developers and developers (Mainframe and Datastage)•Ensuring team can provide evidence to support unit and integration tests completed prior to handover to System Test and then User Acceptance Test•Engagement with third party suppliers regarding new code, changed code or mapping requirements•Ensuring all analysis and development for subsequent phases of the product take previous deliveries into account to minimise effort and remove duplication•Controlling the project budget and resourcing•Maintaining a challenging and changeable delivery plan •Full CARDI log management (Constraints, Assumptions, Risks, Dependencies and Issues•Weekly reporting on progress and budget to support Portfolio reporting•Stakeholder management and communication•Change control assessment and management•Delivery prioritisation •Providing performance assessments for both permanent and contract members of the programme

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  Aviva plc

  • Project Manager

    • Aug 2002 - Jul 2007

    1) Project Mgr responsible for the creation of a full suite of MI and operational management reporting necessary to support the Part VII Scheme transfer of with profit business. This covered:-•Running a team of analysts and developers•Ensuring all necessary analysis was undertaken to identify all touch points for MI•Creation of reports to enable evidence to be presented to the High Court to demonstrate that all applicable customers had received the correct communication regarding the transfer•Liaison with external legal advisors•Liaison with external translation services•Interaction with Norwich Union’s offshore partner, Tata Consultancy Services both in the UK and India•Engagement with the office of the appointed Policyholder Advocate to support any requirements she may have2) Project Manager responsible for the successful delivery of programme critical legal and regulatory products leading to FSA approval of proposed with profit business transfers and presentation to Court in the UK and Channel Islands. This covered:-•Legal due diligence•Property transfers•Customer communications•3rd party contracts review and amendment•Engagement with senior legal and actuarial colleagues•Engagement with key external parties – legal and finance experts3) Project Manager responsible for the successful delivery of programme critical legal and regulatory products leading to securing FSA approval of proposed non-profit business transfers and completed High Court Hearings in the UK and Channel Islands. The overall Programme completed on 31.12.04 and my particular project was critical to the successful FSMA Part VII Scheme Transfer. This role initially involved managing a project to collate all product literature into one central repository supported by Access Database, electronic files compatible with word interrogation and backed up by a full suite of paper records. I also supported the procurement and deployment of Documentum as a document management system.

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  Royal Bank of Scotland

  • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  • Programme Office Manager

    • Feb 2002 - Jul 2002
    • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Having decided to move into contract positions in the project management /planning area, I accepted a contract with RBS where the key skills and responsibilities required were:-•Excellent project planning/management skills to assist on a large multi-workstream projectResponsible for •building project plans•mapping and scoping out projects•maintaining project goals and timescalesWhen my contract was taken over by Norwich Union I was asked to manage the data migration and conversion project within the overall programme having successfully demonstrated my project management skill whilst supporting the Programme Manager. Under my guidance the data migration and conversion was completed successfully to time, quality and budget. My experience in these contract positions has enabled me to develop and enhance my project management skills, people management skills and excellent communication skills, especially in relation to:-•meeting and workshop facilitation•management and control of budgets and resource•use of MS Project•stakeholder management•strong liaison skills – ability to work across the business environment and technical experts

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  Intelligent Finance/HBoS

  • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

  • Project Manager

    • Mar 2000 - Jan 2002
    • Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Areas of ResponsibilityIntelligent Finance was the new venture of Halifax and I was very fortunate to join the business pre-launch and work in an entirely project driven environment, it is thanks to this experience that I knew my optimum working environment is project orientated. I was involved in many specialised pre-launch projects including:- Recruitment Training Creation of systems, procedures and recording methods for all aspects of the Bank. Around three months post-launch I undertook a full review of our Credit Control and Fraud Department to assess the set-up, procedures and staffing levels in this critical area of the business. As a result of my review and recommendations a number of procedures were changed and the management and staffing levels adjusted to ensure we were adequately covered with skilled staff to reduce our exposure to loss as a result of fraud and bad debt. Some of the other projects I was involved in post-launch were:-Launch the private bank, St James' Place Ensure compliance with the Financial Service and Markets Act new regime Introduce bank-wide minimum standards in project and change management Delivery of an automated collections solution

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  Bank of Scotland Group

  • Team Manager/ Banking Manager

    • May 1995 - Mar 2000

    Areas of ResponsibilityHead of a Team of staff handling all aspects of customer complaints and referrals for 5 Call Centres. Direct mailing campaigns for high net worth business and personal customers Complaint analysis and reporting Time and Attendance Management Training and staff appraisal New product and service projects from inception to launch

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  Scottish Equitable Life Assurance Company, Edinburgh

  • Pensions Consultant/Analyst

    • Jun 1990 - Apr 1995

    Areas of ResponsibilityProject to develop means of co-ordinating the reporting of contributory pension schemes to the Occupational Pensions Board (OPB). The OPB was the Government body then responsible for ensuring employers credit employee contributions to the pension fund within agreed timescales. Project to reduce a two year backlog in the section handling DSS reporting. The aim of the project was to understand the DSS requirements, create a definitive system to deliver these requirements and also develop a means of reducing the backlog by a given percentage each reporting period.

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  Bank of Scotland Group, Edinburgh

  • Customer Service Officer

    • Jul 1985 - May 1990

    Areas of Responsibility All aspects of branch cash handling, ordering and balancing Customer service from account opening and enhanced relationships to closure International Division - oversee large value sterling overseas lending for major construction and shipbuilding