My purpose is to help each civil servant to access the rich learning and expertise of their 400,000 colleagues easily and routinely

The challenge: to help every government department and agency learn from its own successes and failures - and from each other's.

Driving a programme of change to embed a sharing culture and help a front line Whitehall department become a learning organisation.

Introduced information and knowledge management systems, processes and behaviours to help secure business continuity for an organisation facing huge staff turnover as it relocated from London to Manchester, while using the change process to establish firm foundations for a knowledge-sharing culture going forward.

1. Maximising organisational performance through business planning and implementing improved business processes. Role includes working with TDA board and government sponsor (Department for Children, Schools and Families – ‘DCSF’) to define corporate goals and specific objectives for an £800m business, and ensuring effective performance monitoring and reporting systems in place.2. Embedding organisation-wide programme and project management approaches, to ensure all activities kept on track and aligned with ultimate goals.3. Building TDA’s relationships with key regulatory authorities and stakeholders, including managing an external stakeholder committee whose purpose is to ensure TDA’s activities impose minimal ‘red tape’ on stakeholders (primarily universities, local authorities and schools).

Responsible for marketing human resource information services across Europe for a high-value business unit. Set up first pan-European client and prospect system, segmented according to known (or anticipated) needs and interests; worked with consultants in 22 countries to develop realistic business plans and segment-specific marketing plans; managed production of related collateral, direct marketing and awareness campaigns, events (including regional and interest-specific client conferences), web and e-business activity, press/PR and customer feedback programmes. Achievements include:1. Launched new pay and benefits data service across Europe; commercially successful in 14 countries in first year, later extended to 31 countries across the region.2. Led business planning workshops across Europe, helping local managers to construct meaningful business and marketing plans which integrated local and sector-specific opportunities with Mercer’s wider regional and global strategic goals. The outcomes were increased buy-in to global strategic goals among local managers, improved correlation between local plans and actual results, and better-informed investment decisions.3. Introduced integrated marketing strategies for several ‘products’ for the first time, using co-ordinated mailings, local client seminars and press coverage to maximise impact. Outcomes were increased sales (by over 100 per cent in some cases) and major growth in web traffic.4. Acting in a global capacity, oversaw re-branding of all marketing collateral and introduction of a consistent visual image world-wide. This improved perception amongst international HR directors and CEOs of Mercer as a firm able to deliver global, not just local, solutions.

Managed marketing and business development projects within professional service firm, reporting directly to CEO and/or board members. Essential skills included project management, leadership, research, analysis and communication - written and oral - demonstrated in the following assignments:1. Reorganised activities of central market research team. Introduced processes for developing, testing and launching proactive, targeted services built around internal customers’ needs, while reducing costs by 25%.2. Researched major clients’ competitive environments to identify current and future needs. Initiated research into sister companies’ relationships with customers world-wide. Used analyses to help senior business developers target their efforts more effectively and to support specific bid meetings and presentations.3. Identified potential business opportunities across parent company group; included developing an inter-company database.4. Created a dedicated ‘competitor intelligence’ function for the UK.

Responsible for marketing and strategic planning for an actuarial consulting firm:1. Oversaw development of UK strategic plan and individual practice business plans.2. Introduced overall customer perception programme for corporate clients, and service-specific feedback programmes; supplemented with participation in syndicated studies.3. Based on client feedback, post-tender feedback and client retention/profitability analysis, ran UK-wide programme of improvement workshops for business development consultants.4. Created the firm’s first client intelligence system and competitor tracking programme.

Developed and launched a range of new services in field of tax mitigation and estate planning

Provided technical advice on tax, trusts and estate planning to a team of professional consultants and directly to high net worth individuals, their solicitors and accountants.

Examined complex Inheritance Tax Cases and negotiated liabilities with legal representatives. Dealt with specialist situations such as commorientes (multiple simultaneous deaths) and complex trust arrangements.