Unflappable Professionalism
I have worked in the IT sector in one way or another since leaving education.
The Distant Past
I gained an honours Degree in Computer Sciences from what is now Coventry University. This qualification required undertaking 2 periods of industrial placements.
Glaxo (not yet GSK as it is now). A period of 6 months spent at the Greenford site writing software in Cobol, PLAN and Filetab for commercial applications. The major work here was known as G293, written in Cobol delivering information for billing and potential mailshots.
IBM UK Ltd. This assignment lasted 9 months and was based at the IBM Research facility in Peterlee, Co Durham. My role here was deliver a test suite for a prototype Relational Database system known as PRTV. I worked closely with mathematicians and research fellows developing what would become one of the grandparents of modern database systems. PRTV in Wikipedia.
Following the successful acquisition of my degree I then spent a number of years developing in a variety of languages for the likes of GKN, Grattan Warehouses, and Hoogovens (Dutch Steel Company), latterly at assembler/machine code level,
After this I relocated to Johannesburg to write process control software and came to have a basic understanding of many industries including, Nuclear, Pulp-and -Paper, Bulk Chemicals, Sugar, Power Generation amongst others. This experience with Process Manufacturing continued for several years after my return to the UK, this time adding Pharmaceuticals and Petrochemicals to my CV.
Moving to Project and Programme Management
I then turned to Project Management of IT systems in the manufacturing arena leading a team of 15 Project Managers before going freelance in 1998. Since then I have operated in many industry spaces:- Automotive Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical IT Systems, Professional Services, Petrochemicals, Banking, Utilities and Legal. At this time I also became a Microsoft Partner, a status I maintained for 14 years.
Whilst it may be a double edged sword I have often been referred to as ‘a safe pair of hands’, and ‘unflappable’. My communications skills are straight-forward and down to earth with my long technical background allowing me the facility to liaise very effectively between technical and non-technical audiences. ( It is not uncommon for me to be asked to vet/proof-read emails and documents for others; something I am always happy to do.) This has led in turn to supporting/mentoring/developing team members with much success to their own careers.
For the past 3 years I have undertaken a Programme Management role for the NHS, and then for a major Professional Services firm, managing a team of Project Managers delivering internal infrastructure projects, supporting M&A projects and transforming the firm’s banking systems (changes of bank, process and messaging service)