As part of my university degree, I undertook a year-long placement at Surrey County Council. Working within the Early Help & Family Services Directorate as a member of the Commissioning & Prevention team, I worked directly under the Practice & Change Strategic lead. This afforded me the chance to work across the directorate and develop my skills in a number of areas:Communication (Written) – I took on editorial responsibilities for the services staff bulletin, produced several reports and wrote an online e-learning for staff, constructing a professional script in collaboration with members of Surrey’s GRT community. Communication (Verbal) – Represented the Early Help & Family Service Directorate to Surrey councilors, practitioners and members of the public at a number of high profile events.Project Management Support– I provided support and coordination on a multi-actor initiative to enhance early years provision across Surrey, engaging with private, public and other third-party actors. This required me to manage both relationships and expectations between the relevant parties and the projects overall aims. Social Research – Oversaw, carried out and supported research using both primary and secondary sources employing sophisticated qualitative analysis methods where necessary. The wide-ranging research included measuring the efficacy of certain types of health provision to understanding the childcare needs of parents in Surrey. Business Analysis – As part of a service-wide transformation programme I carried out practical research into the effectiveness of Surrey County Councils duty management systems and feedback processes. Whilst also undertaking reviews into Surrey’s resource allocation systems and asset management strategy. These tasks demonstrate my ability to work with a mass of diverse data, both qualitative and quantitative, with my research providing high-level intelligence for Surrey’s senior leadership team.