I was instrumental in setting up the Ministerial Correspondence Unit at DFID. My main responsibilities lie in managing the overall correspondence performance across all of the Departments Principals, directly managing an two members of staff and having objectives responsibility for four other EO Correspondence Managers across the Private office group. I was responsible for owning and enforcing processes and producing and interpreting management information to monitor timelines and quality trends across the unit and reporting these to senior leaders across the Private Office group. I had a strong record of delivering over 90% of MP and Peer cases responded to within our 15 working day Parliamentary target during my tenure.As part of managing the unit, I also worked closely with our Parliamentary and Public Enquiry teams to ensure the messaging and quality of our output are aligned, leading challenging conversations with Deputy Directors as necessary to raise concerns and drive change if required. I am also part of a number of cross-Whitehall networks, sharing best practice and reacting to bigger picture situations collaboratively as they arise. During my tenure my team underwent a great number of changes, both in terms of staff and the additional challenges raised by working with GEO, FCO and Defra colleagues with shared Ministerial portfolios. I have a strong aptitude for exploiting new technology and using it for best effect to collaborate and improve performance across teams, and have confidently led software and hardware change processes. Latterly, I was the lead Ministerial Correspondence contact in conversations with the Foreign and Commonwealth office ahead of the merger into the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.Alongside this, I also took charge of the Ministerial Offices Financial Management, managing an overall budget of £4million. I also used this knowledge to support the departments workforce planning and Human Resources operations.

I was solely responsible for managing all correspondence and invitations for the Minister, consulting with and commissioning replies from officials across the department, ensuring draft replies were prepared to the highest standards, liaising with Special Advisers and other senior managers on complex cases and ensuring strict deadlines were maintained. For the wider Private Offices group I took responsibility for training and mentoring new members of staff, providing on-going coaching support in using our correspondence management system. More widely, I complied and disseminated regular statistics to promote improved performance across the department and led on cross Whitehall correspondence transfers.The Corporate Management side of this role saw me lead on Information Management for the office. Ensuring that core documents were retained and maintained on the EDRM and assuring senior management of our ability to comply with FOI and transparency responsibilities. I acted as HR Business contact, liaising with a central team to provide guidance to colleagues, and assisting with the overall management of the Private Office group workforce planning. I also managed the office staff and travel budget (approximately £500,000), producing monthly forecasts and analysis to assure senior management and embedding value for money principles in the team. I was also responsible for helping new budget managers develop their skills and improve overall forecast accuracy.I also provided regular support and cover for APS, Travel and Diary managers as required, with line management responsibility for the EO APS and Travel manager.

In this role I was responsible for the smooth and efficient running of all aspects of the Ministers Private Office. Acting as the primary contact on all enquiries to the team, I managed the Ministers emails, ensured all paperwork was received, formatted and distributed to the relevant Private Secretary for processing, compiling the Minister’s next day papers, submissions and other briefing into the daily Ministerial box.Alongside this I was also responsible for making all Ministerial travel and logistical arrangements. Securing the best possible options, in terms of maximising time on the ground and value for money, for all flights and accommodation for the Minister and Private Secretaries to support their work overseas. Liaising with the office budget manager to ensure we remained within budget, Booking and managing our relationship with the Ministerial Car service, and ensuring the Minister was kept up to date with all logistical details as required.I was also provided primary cover for Diary and Correspondence Managers across the department during leave and busy periods. In my corporate role for the department I supported the internal communications needs for whole Private Offices group. This involved preparing, editing and publishing articles for the DFID intranet, as well as building and managing the group SharePoint TeamSite.