My alarm goes off… at 6.45 during the week to give time to drag my children out of bed and then head to whichever campus I am going to work from that day.
My typical day… The routine parts of my day are that there will be a lot of meetings, and I aim to have contact with most of my team each day via messenger just to stay in touch and understand what is going on. Part of the reason I like my job is the variety and unexpected events that pop up, this won’t happen every day but does happen most weeks (and very often on a Friday!)
My career path… After a wide variety of part time jobs, my first career role was as a graduate trainee at BP. I worked there for 10 years in the supply and trading business, initially as an analyst, and then for several years as a trader. I specialised in derivatives trading and this led me to a move to Bank of America to undertake the same sort of role in their investment banking arm. I spent 3 years at BoA before leaving and deciding on a career change. I then spent a brief stint at Royal Mail working in operational leadership, before joining the University of Greenwich as the Faculty Operating Officer in the Business School. After 3 years the COO opportunity came up and I was successful in making that move, first on an interim basis and then as a permanent position. I’ve now spent almost 11 years in higher education and have found it the most rewarding period of my career.
My most memorable moment at Greenwich… There have been a few! Becoming LASE is hard to overlook and is super exciting for the future. Greenwich being awarded TEF Gold was memorable because there was such a shared sense of pride across the institution. And moving out of the Mansion Campus in Avery Hill in the middle of Covid was memorable because it was an adventure every day as we worked our way through that!!
The best and worst part of my job… The best part of my job is working with such a large number of fantastic colleagues. Universities are people based organisations and I get to regularly see the commitment and determination colleagues show to support students and other members of the team. The worst part of the job is resolving situations where we as an organisation have come up short of what we committed to do. This isn’t a regular occurrence but has a real impact on what partners think of us and therefore our reputation.
My favourite spot on campus… I don’t have one spot above all others. As I make my way around the campuses (now including having visited Canterbury quite a few times) I’m always delighted to see the busy locations we have created for social and study space. The buzz and positivity from seeing these spaces well used is my favourite thing.
After work… I’m a big fan of football and cricket. I take part less than I used to but instead support my kids activities. I also enjoy an evening on the sofa watching some sort of TV drama!
My plan B… I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about a plan B, I just keep thinking how to adapt and hone plan A!
