Nomansland, England, United Kingdom
PROFILE An APMP, Prince 2, Management of Risk (MoR) and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Practitioner qualified Programme Manager with 18 years’ experience (public & private sectors) of managing £25m+ programmes with projects delivering to 5+ countries simultaneously. A proven track record of delivering Centre Migrations, technical IT systems (including infrastructure), large scale transformational and business process change and full lifecycle software development projects to time, quality and budget. A member of the Institute of Asset Management (MIAM) and the Association for Project Management (MAPM) MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Delivered the Olympic Air Security Control Facility within budget and nearly 3 months early, providing a world class platform which enhanced NATS reputation. Successfully developed and deployed the first 100 web based client/server systems (including infrastructure) to MoD stations across 5 countries within 7 months of start up on a time critical project. Delivered the London Air Traffic Control Centre Migration / Decommissioning Programme 5 months ahead of schedule, £4M under budget and accrued additional benefits worth over £2M. Reduced Ofqual's turn around time for Recognitions from 35 days to 17 days. TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT SKILLS Initiating new Programmes, developing their strategic direction & objectives in line with Business Needs through applying the four strand structure for Transformational Business Change, to introduce new Target Operating Models. • Governance and management • Strategy and benefits • People, process and technology change • Stakeholder engagement and communication Implementing Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) Roadmaps and a comprehensive Communications Programmes to fully embed the changes.
Since 2007, have operated as a freelance contractor, completing assignments in both the public and private sector for top blue chip companies like NATS and for government organisations like The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and the Highways Agency. I've also completed assignments for organisations which sit between the private sector and public sector, such as Highways England who are a government owned company.
AQUILA ATMS was established to deliver Marshall, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) programme to transform terminal air traffic management at military airfields. This includes designing, implementing and maintaining the MoD radar system. A number of windfarm developments in the UK have had planning consent refused due to the impact of the windfarm on the MoD radar system. To enable MoD to lift their objection, the windfarm developers need to propose a windfarm mitigation scheme to reduce the clutter from the windfarm. The developers contract with Aquila to design an acceptable radar mitigation scheme that will integrate into Marshall This is a challenging programme as my (windfarm developer) customers strive to minimise the cost of mitigation, whereas the MoD seek assurances that radar clutter is reduced as much as possible. Working with the Marshall Design Authority, I seek to satisfy both these needs by proposing innovative mitigation schemes, harnessing the latest technology to deliver excellent clutter reduction at an affordable price. As technology in the area of radar mitigation is constantly developing, an extensive Market Survey of solution providers was undertaken to identify potential new technology mitigation solutions. Each project follows 3 distinct phases Phase 1 – An initial capability gap assessment, to understand the problem, followed by a study and report proposing the best mitigation solution for the particular windfarm with its specific issues. Phase 2 – A proving trial to demonstrate to MoD that the proposed solution would be operationally acceptable. Phase 3 – Implementation of the proposed solution into the Marshall radar future radar system, with a full asset management package to ensure the mitigation is maintained for typically 25 years. This multi-million pound programme is currently working with 4 large offshore developers, 3 large onshore developers and 6 smaller onshore developers.
Initially established a programme governance environment, (including a Programme Management Office for which I designed all the governance plans, RAID Logs and an online Project reporting system) and now managing a large Transformational Change Programme for Highways England to implement and embed best practice Asset Management throughout the organisation. This programme involves satisfying the requirements of ISO 55000 by utilising the correct work flows and processes, as well as embedding a culture change, employing transformational change best practice to ensure roles and responsibilities are well defined, competency requirements understood, training provided and the benefits to both the staff and the business are well communicated to gain buy in from staff, managers and the unions. Highways England's assets encompass 21,900 miles of road surface, 18,500 bridges & built structures and 150,000 technology assets & signs. “I believe a strong asset management capability is fundamental to our business. It will help us to deliver our commitments and improve our safety, efficiency, and reputation. We need to go beyond just satisfying our licence requirements. Proactive and high capability asset management will help save lives, save money and bring a better understanding of our assets to our staff.” - Jim O’Sullivan CEO Highways England.
The RAF required a new Disaster Recovery Facility and Business Continuity Plans. Feasibility & Options: Conducted Business Impact Analysis (with Threat Analysis), presented recommended proposals with accurate cost estimates and developed the agreed proposals into a formal commercial bid. Cost Optimisation: Negotiated Shared Services with NATS existing civil contingency facilities for communications and radar services and utilised extant technology to reduce the overall lifecycle costs associated with provision of the facility, maintenance and training of both the users and support staff. Strategic Benefits Delivery: Ensured that the delivered facilities, procedures and plans aligned with RAF’s required outcomes to fully satisfy the MoD Business Continuity Regulations. I fully developed and defined this programme, its schedule and all of its work packages and it was on schedule for a successful December 2014 delivery when my contract expired.
IT Systems Creation, Services Migration and Site Decommissioning (15 months) The RAF needed to consolidate its Northern Centre (RAF Prestwick) and Southern Centre (RAF LATCC (MIL)) onto one site, at Swanwick, to maximise efficiencies and save costs. Stakeholder Management: Liaised closely with senior RAF officers on this politically sensitive programme to determine the scope and requirements for the new Air Traffic Operations Facility to be created at Swanwick. Services Migration: Ensured that all required communications, both voice and data services were available from the new site (temporarily routed back to the original site) to allow a seamless migration of service with no break to the users. 3rd party Supplier Management: Managed the suppliers ATLAS Consortium, Defence Telecommunications Fixed Service (DFTS) and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) to ensure that the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) NODE and DII (F) and DII(S) services were removed to schedule and conformed to correct security protocol to allow the unit to close without security concerns. Dependency Management: Relocating the Prestwick Centre operations over 400 miles south and combining the two air traffic control facilities into one new unit required very precise planning of a large number of dependent services to ensure no break in service to any air traffic users. Document Management: Produced all project documents (PID, Plans, schedules, strategies, Risk & Issues registers as well as ensured the correct technical documentation was delivered to allow this new safety critical facility to be approved for use by the Military Aviation Authority. I delivered this highly complex politically sensitive IT Systems/Services programme under budget and on schedule with no break in service to the end user.
Olympic Air Security Facility Objective 1: To deliver within a period of 15 months from initial concept to Operational Handover a fully functioning & supported “Air Traffic Control Facility” for the MoD to use to monitor and police the Olympic Airspace over London and the South East. Objective 2: To demonstrate NATS capability as an efficient, effective and professional organisation with a “Can Do” attitude, on the world stage. As Project Manager of this extremely high profile multi-million pound project I was tasked with developing a bid that was acceptable to both the Department for Transport (customer) and the MoD (user) that could be achieved within the available timescales. The key to the success of this project was close co-ordination between my project (technical) team and the MoD operating authority from the early planning stages right through installation, verification & validation and operational delivery. I provided inspirational leadership and high level buy-in to enable my team, backed with a strong governance structure to keep the team focused and on target. I strategically guided the project towards innovation rather than invention, seeking to maximise the use of existing assets or known technology as much as possible. Outcome: I delivered this project within budget and nearly 3 months early. The platform I provided was world class and the MoD Operating Authority where extremely pleased with the end result. NATS reputation has indeed been boosted by this project, with many UK & international VIP’s visiting the Olympic Air Security Control Facility, and with NATS receiving very favourable reports in the media for its Olympic undertakings. NATS CEO Richard Deakin (in a NATS News release) stated “NATS facilitated the biggest airborne security operation since World War II.”
Transformational Business Change Taskforce Objective: To address the urgent demand for recognitions of Awarding Organisations into the Qualifications & Credit Framework (QCF) and to promote Ofqual as an efficient, effective and professional organisation, providing a high level of service to its customers. This Transformational Change programme followed the standard four strand structure. • Governance and management • Strategy and benefits • People, process and technology change • Stakeholder engagement and communication Through the introduction of controlled service entry points, process re-engineering, implementing a tracking system and a full stakeholder engagement programme (including internal & external stakeholders I reduced the time taken by Ofqual to approve recognition submissions from 35 days to 17 days. The tracking system also provided data which allowed Ofqual to demonstrate its efficiency and professionalism to all its key stakeholders, including UK Government. I proactively managed Ofquals' customers through a series of recognition workshops which improved the quality of applications to double that of those customers who did not attend a workshop. Outcome: I reduced the time taken by Ofqual to approve recognition submissions from 35 days to 17 days. The tracking system also provided data which allowed Ofqual to demonstrate its efficiency and professionalism to all its key stakeholders, including UK Government.