Project/Programme Management Experience:
Known and respected as a highly organised, astute, professional who strives to “get the job done” without unnecessary delays or loss of focus, my experience in managing diverse, complex and demanding projects successfully is outlined below:
1993: Project Officer for the Leicestershire Police Force Operations Planning Department - Played a major role in the establishment of the ‘East Midlands Air Support Unit’ – a helicopter facility utilised by three forces. This project involved a great deal of innovative thinking in the feasibility and planning stages due to its collaborative nature.
1997: Head of Leicestershire Police Research Unit – Involved in the Corporate/Strategic Planning process for the Force, setting aims and objectives at both corporate and departmental level. Managed projects aimed at improving the quality of service the Force provided to the community of Leicestershire, for example: the introduction of Service Delivery Standards, the centralisation of the Force Crime Bureau and the implementation of new IT systems (e.g. a new Child Abuse Tracking System and a new Property Management System for dealing with evidential and property other than found). Products delivered included new working practices and procedures, new policies and systems and new training methods/packages.
1999: Production of the then Force Project Management Policy (based on the principles of PRINCE2) and establishment of a Project Management Office which involved creating standardised project documentation, providing advice and guidance to staff on the use of Project Management tools/methods and establishing project teams to work on various projects within the existing programmes.
2000 – 2004: Programme Manager for the Force’s Best Value Programme - Under Section 5 of the Local Government Act 1999, as a ‘Best Value Authority’, the Leicestershire Police Authority had a duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvements in the way in which its functions were exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Best Value Reviews were of a complex nature with management being conducted in a structured and co-ordinated manner to ensure opportunities for improving service/delivery were captured, benefits were realised and post implementation evaluation was undertaken. Development of a ‘Best Value Guide for Project Managers and Police Authority Members’ was required. This outlined the Project/Programme Management Framework and was subsequently adopted by the Force/Police Authority.
2004: National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) Custody & Case Preparation Project Manager for Leicestershire Police - The project was run using PRINCE2 methodology, under the umbrella of the National Policing Improvement Agency’s Programme for a joined up Criminal Justice System. Responsibilities were to plan, procure, and implement the chosen Case Preparation and Custody IT solution for the Force, to enhance operational performance and to meet business needs, in accordance with best practice, agreed standards and budgetary constraints. The applications were successfully implemented across the Force and reporting on the Business Benefits realised from the use of the applications and their interfaces with other Criminal Justice Agency IT systems was undertaken.
2007: Tasked by the then Chair of the Leicestershire and Rutland Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB), worked its members at a strategic level to review and make recommendations regarding the approach to be taken to their portfolio of Criminal Justice System projects/initiatives. Development of a Programme/Project Management Guide for the LCJB which introduced: a standardised approach to all projects (utilising the principles of PRNCE2); co-ordination of projects; recognition of inter-dependencies between projects; monitoring of progress (projects and performance); and a reporting structure to the LCJB. Establishment of a regular Project Managers Forum the purpose of which was to discuss project progress for each of the agencies involved, highlight inter-dependencies and review performance measures.
2008: Senior Manager within the Force’s Criminal Justice Department for Case Preparation - Appointed as the Police Lead for many of the projects/initiatives which fell under the LCJB’s portfolio of projects/initiatives. Examples of such projects included: the implementation of Conditional Cautioning, Streamlined Process, Postal Requisitions, EXiss Links, Deter Young Offenders etc., all of which introduced new working practices, policies and procedures.
In relation to the Criminal Justice System (CJS) Efficiency Programme, the aims and objectives of which were to modernise the CJS, close liaison undertaken with lead representatives from the other CJS agencies to introduce digitalisation. Projects/initiatives involved reviewing and streamlining processes utilising research techniques and business process re-engineering and resulted in the introduction of major change i.e. the oversight of the centralisation and merging of units, the introduction of new technology and various changes to policies and procedures (including Equality Impact Assessments). All aspects of Business Change were addressed (e.g. communications, stakeholder engagement, employee involvement, training etc.).
2013: Project Manager for the East Midlands Criminal Justice Service – Headed up a Project Team of criminal justice professionals prepared the Business Case to achieve a single collaborative Criminal Justice Directorate for the East Midlands and to align the business processes of the four forces involved. The Business Case considered and reviewed the various work streams within the Directorate to determine: savings opportunities (cashable and non-cashable); removal or reduction of paperwork; staffing levels; alignment of processes; technical solutions and collaborative working between forces/criminal justice agencies etc. The Business Case was accepted in December 2013.
2015: Head of Prosecutions (South) for the East Midlands Criminal Justice Service - Responsible for overseeing the redesign of processes and procedures for the implementation of the new CJS initiative ‘Transforming Summary Justice’ within Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. This commenced in April 2015.
2015: Self-employed Consultant - Worked for the Charity Catch22 to assist them with the mobilisation and transition of the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner’s innovative Victim First Programme. Terms of reference included to: review the work required identifying priority actions, roles and responsibilities to meet mobilisation critical timescales for the Victim First service; create an Action Plan; inform the allocation of operational work to Catch22 leads with prioritised need and agreed timescales and immediately escalate all identified risks to Catch22 Senior Management. This work was successfully delivered within the timescales and budget agreed.
2016: Associate for RSM Consulting UK - Short term contracts which involved business change & analytics consultancy support in the public sector. This included the review of governance structures, the implementation of new services and value for money audit.
