Did you enjoy school?
I enjoyed some parts of school. My A Level subject choices taught me the importance of choosing something you enjoy (there was one A Level subject that I really didn’t enjoy!) I’m lucky that some of my very best friends are from my school days.
What qualifications do you have?
I’m finishing an executive coaching qualification. It’s challenging me to think differently and to be out of my usual “work mode”. I also have a Master’s in Epidemiology and Public Health and a BSc in Geography.
Has your career path been a smooth transition, a rocky road or a combination of both?
Definitely both – I’d say a journey of discovery and learning. I’ve had jobs I’ve loved at the time, some where I’ve been in awe of what we achieved as a team after the fact (sometimes long after). Some have taught me lots about delivery and great leadership and a few experiences have shown me what I don’t want to do. I think it’s easy to look at someone else’s career path and think it was a perfectly planned career – but the reality is much more complicated.
What is the best career advice you can give to others?
Such a hard question – it depends so much on you. Base your career choices on what’s important to you, and what you enjoy and value which you also learn along the way.
If you had to pick one mentor who had the biggest influence on you, who would it be?
My director of public health and her leadership team were brilliant to work with. The lessons I learnt from that job, over 20 years ago, still influence my approach to work today. We worked in an old mental health hospital in the heart of the town. She trusted us to do great work and encouraged collaboration. I worked with my colleagues in the council, voluntary sector and beyond more than our NHS colleagues because that was the best way to support communities. I’ve been lucky to have had lots of brilliant bosses and colleagues who’ve I’ve learnt so much from.
From where do you draw inspiration?
I am passionate about delivering great services that are designed for those who most need them. Then everyone will be able to access them. That requires all of us to think differently and work differently – I’ve seen this most often in public sector teams working locally. When I’ve had a national role, I’ve had confidence in local teams and their expertise, and wanted to make their jobs easier.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced to date?
At Department of Communities and Local Government working with local authorities as they supported local communities during the biggest peaks of the Covid-19 pandemic. This included test and trace, vaccines and other programmes. It was a great privilege to see everyone in the public sector – locally and nationally – working together to support communities across the country, as best they could. I was in a new jobshare with Laura. We had a brilliant team, worked with brilliant people and could see a tangible difference in the work we did during that time. It was a moment of bringing together my experience of working locally in a public health team with all my roles in national government, alongside a brilliant boss who supported us.
What qualities do you feel makes a good leader?
Integrity, curiosity and wanting to learn what works to support teams and deliver work.
From a work viewpoint what has the last 12 months been like?
It’s been all new – Laura and I joined the National Audit Office a year ago, so we’ve been learning lots about financial and value for money audits. I’m proud of the work our teams have done on so many areas, from delivering around 100 audits of accounts to publishing reports on subjects as wide ranging as the F35 programme to environmental regulation. I’m always really interested in learning about innovation, sharing lessons about public services and how to deliver better major projects. There’s a huge opportunity for the National Audit Office to help the wider public sector learn from each other.
What would you say are the biggest tech-based challenges we face today?
Accessibility to services requiring digital access continues to be a challenge. Ensuring that everyone can access a service that requires digital access and trust in digital solutions is something we need to design into public sector services, whether that be thinking about if the people you are serving can get online, trusts in tech, or considering language and other ways to access. It’s important that we consider the whole range of needs to ensure equity of access, which includes AI and other technologies.
What can be done to encourage more women into the industry?
Making sure there is support, training and mentoring so it’s not a mysterious career path will help women and everyone else access to tech roles. Multidisciplinary teams working to solve a problem with the citizen, customer or community feeding into the solution means we deliver more effective services. Personally, my experience of using digital solutions and tools as part of policy and the delivery of public services has made me better at my job.
Give us a fact about you that most other people wouldn’t know.
I make silver and gold jewellery in my spare time. I was heavily influenced by my grandma, and we would frequently rummage through her jewellery box of sparkly things together. I think she’d be proud I can flush set a diamond!
