Al Read Email & Phone Number

Lewes, Gb

Lewes, Gb

Greater London, England, United Kingdom

The Speakers Trust works with over 600 state secondary schools in England to develop the public speaking skills of young people who are often underestimated, helping them build confidence to advocate for themselves and share their stories.I have joined the Board of Trustees as their Digital lead, helping the Speakers Trust to harness technology in order to improve the delivery of their programmes and expand their reach, so that more schools and young people are able to benefit from the fantastic work that they do.

Slough, England, United Kingdom

Executive leadership role focussed on developing and driving the delivery of digital transformation programmes at NFER, a not-for-profit foundation established for over 75 years to carry out research to inform policy and best practice in education:- Worked in partnership with Senior Leadership team to define technology strategy aligned with NFER’s strategic priorities and goals- including enterprise architecture blueprint, analysis of Total Cost of Ownership and roadmap for all of NFER’s IT systems- Supported international business development, for example providing consultancy for Kenya’s National Exams Council’s eAssessment programme, and successful bids in UK assessment market- Transformed NFER’s stakeholder engagement capability- including redevelopment of NFER’s website and delivery of eCommerce and CRM systems- Senior Responsible Officer for NFER’s eAssessment programme, delivering capabilities required by NFER’s strategic plan, and product strategy- Implemented new Portfolio and Project Management (PPM) solution integrated with NFER’s ERP- Increased employee engagement, productivity and collaboration in a hybrid working environment through migration to Microsoft 365 and redevelopment of NFER’s intranet.- Introduced Robotic Process Automation to improve efficiency and quality- Restructured NFER Technology team, introducing hybrid resourcing model with third party supplier - Professionalised IT Service management through introduction of ITIL based processes- Reduced on-premise data centre footprint by >50%, and introduced ETL solutions and Master Data Management to improve data quality and facilitate systems integration between IT systems utilised within NFER.

Lewes, England, United Kingdom

Voluntary role as a school governor at Wallands Community Primary School in Lewes.- Supported the school from "Requires Improvement" to "Good" Ofsted rating- Crisis management: Covid pandemic- Head teacher performance reviews- Scrutiny of school performance through Data sub-committee- Strategic planning- developed 5 year plan based on Wallands' Mission, Vision and Values- Community liaison through controversial review of potential academisation

London, United Kingdom

Promoted to Vice President role, accountable for technology delivery and digital transformation of Pearson's publishing and assessment businesses across UK, Europe and Africa. Representing global technology across seven Senior Leadership teams:- working with Global Portfolio Management team to produce and secure approval of plans to invest in technology for Pearson's EMEA businesses- 2020: Led delivery of “UK Learns”- a site providing >£5m of free and discounted online learning opportunities for furloughed employees during the Covid pandemic- which went from conception to market in 6 weeks, exceeding adoption targets- 2019: Successfully led recovery of failing programme to roll out Pearson’s integrated CRM/ERP platform across Pearson's UK business, launching on time and exceeding adoption targets- 2018: Delivered digital publishing transformation initiatives in South Africa, Italy, Nordic and DACH regions

London, Uk

Promoted to the role of UK Technology Director accountable for delivery of Technology services to support all of Pearson’s UK business units- covering a range of verticals in early years, primary, secondary, further education, higher education and work based learning:- Educational Publishing (B2B and B2C)- EdTech: Digital teaching, learning, formative assessment and diagnostic reporting solutions- Assessment: Including high stakes qualifications (GCSE, A Level, BTEC etc) and clinical assessments (eg cognitive and psychometric testing)- Online Programme Management: developing, marketing and delivering online programmes of study in partnership with Higher Education institutions- Direct Delivery: Supporting Pearson-owned learning providers- including Pearson College London (Business School and Escape Virtual Effects Studio), online schools (eg Harrow Online) and tutoring programmes.

London/Oxford, Uk

Leading the UK Schools product engineering team- including user experience designers, technical product owners, software developers, testers and devops resources- working alongside Pearson’s educational publishing teams to evolve Pearson’s digital offering to UK Schools.- Active Learn: Consolidated 14 monolithic product platforms to a single, market leading, integrated digital teaching and learning service for Primary and Secondary schools- including the award winning "Bug Club" primary literacy programme- Design and development of digital services supporting Edexcel/BTEC qualifications- including Results Plus Direct (exam results analysis service for students) and MyBTEC (digital tools for help institutions design, validate, deliver, assess and award BTEC courses)- Responsible for evolving web marketing, eCommerce and customer support capabilities for Pearson's UK Schools business

London Area, United Kingdom

Digital programme management focused on delivery of Edexcel's Exams Analysis Service: - The shift to onscreen marking of examination papers generated granular data about exam performance at question and trait level- significantly beyond the data collected through paper based marking. - The “Results Plus” service sought to leverage this data to provide detailed insight into individual pupil, class and school/college performance in their qualifications- both in terms of overall achievement, and by curriculum area- a powerful tool to assist schools and colleges in understanding strengths and weaknesses in their course delivery.

London Area, United Kingdom

Moved to "hands on" role in digital programme management, planning and driving delivery of Edexcel's Onscreen Testing programme: - Migrating the delivery of Edexcel’s on demand onscreen tests for Basic and Key Skills from a third party provider to Pearson VUE, and launching the first pilot onscreen tests for GCSEs in Modern Foreign Languages and Construction and the Built Environment.

London Area, United Kingdom

Continued internal consultancy role, focused on opportunities arising from the acquisition of Edexcel by Pearson:- back office systems integration and migration- onscreen testing capabilities- learning platforms and educational publishing

London Area, United Kingdom

Enterprise Architecture role, assisting business leaders in identifying and planning delivery of priorities to improve Edexcel's market offering following its acquisition by Pearson:- evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of Edexcel's IT systems- developing architectural "blue prints" to underpin Edexcel's strategic goals- defining investment plans to enable delivery of prioritised goals

London Area, United Kingdom

Retrained as BCS certified Business Analyst in order to assist in driving improvements to Pearson Edexcel's IT systems:- Requirements analysis for implementation of Oracle ERP- Design, development and testing of "Edexcel Online" middleware solution, successfully integrating BTEC and ULEAC production systems to enable customer self-service for the administration for all Pearson Edexcel qualifications

Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Managing administration of Edexcel's General and Vocational Qualifications, including:- General (first line) and specialist (second/third line) customer services- Candidate examination entries and results distribution- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) integration between Edexcel and Schools MIS systems- Identifying opportunities to streamline and improve operational processes

Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Managing candidate entries and results distribution for General Qualifications for the University of London Exams and Assessment Council

Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Providing 1st and 2nd line support for colleges in the North of England delivering delivering BTEC qualifications

Ma, English

Ba, English

A/S Level, German Language And Literature, A

A Level, Pure Mathematics, C

A Level, English, A

A Level, Economics, B