Gary Wainwright Email & Phone Number

Project Director - Biosecurity, Borders and Trade Programme at DEFRA

Senior Project Manager delivering a key enabler for the transformation of the DWP’s counter fraud and compliance directorate. Delivering a new digital service to over 5,000 staff, replacing legacy IT systems and transforming business processes. Using agile delivery to ensure new technology meets user needs and moves DWP towards its vision of a digital workplace. Implementing the service across a diverse range of user groups with differing needs, providing improved user journeys. Integrating with other services and data sources to provide process efficiencies, improved compliance and a great user experience.

Senior Programme Manager leading delivery of solutions to enable recovery of DWP, HMRC and local authority debt from Universal Credit payments to enable the on-going recovery of over £9bn of debt.Leading a blended approach of agile and waterfall methods to deliver changes to existing IT systems, new IT solutions and improved business processes within DWP and across other government departments. Developed an approach to integrating agile delivery with waterfall project plans to provide a smoothly co-ordinated implementation.Successfully delivered the programme through building big relationships with senior stakeholders, coaching and mentoring, getting teams to work together and resolving issues collaboratively.

Agile Delivery Manager for the DWP use of RTI digital project, which enabled the prevention and detection of income-related fraud and error. Leading the project to meet a high priority strategic objective for DWP from inception, I successfully managed delivery from inception, through a Discovery phase and to completion of an Alpha phase. Oversight of development of prototypes and a working version of the product, delivered collaboratively by conducting user research and completing development and testing of the prototype with end users at the heart of the design.Worked with HMRC colleagues to ensure the service delivered will take HMRC towards their strategic cross-government data sharing aims.

Project Manager for a Proof of Concept to test the value of earnings data to DWP to improve detection of fraud and error. Utilised skills in planning, risk management, governance and stakeholder management to successfully deliver the project at pace, managing a broad range of stakeholders and suppliers to deliver within challenging timescales.Successfully navigated financial, commercial and ministerial approvals processes, influencing key players in order to deliver quickly and maintain delivery timescales. Delivered over £6m in savings, with total costs under £250k.

Lead responsibility for governance and control of a major DWP programme. Responsibilities included managing programme planning, monitoring and reporting, governance reviews and risk management. Significantly improved reporting by successfully implementing a new planning and monitoring regime to focus on exception reporting. Successfully introduced risk and issue management mechanisms across all projects, developing a strategy to comply with the DWP risk framework.

Managed the implementation of the DWP Central Payment System (CPS) Programme, which was a £250m programme delivering the largest integrated payment and accounting system in the world. I led the work to develop integrated implementation plans, coordinating complex and inter-dependent activities of multiple suppliers, external partners and DWP business areas. Implementation involved over 35 interfaces within DWP and changes to internal and external systems including VocaLink and sponsor banks. Managed the roll out of the system to almost 30,000 users in over 1000 locations, developing training and guidance products and providing on-site support to frontline offices.

Managed the Technical Assurance Strand of the CPS Programme, with responsibility for assuring supplier delivery, including achievement of non-functional requirements, operational assurance testing and implementation of Service Management processes. The delivery included the introduction of two new applications and significant change to existing IT infrastructure.Managed a multi-supplier project to agree and implement the Application Maintenance & Support service, negotiating and agreeing high value contracts. Managed commercial relationships at senior levels, engaging Service Provider leads, DWP Strategic Sourcing and Commercial Directorate to create a senior forum to resolve issues.