Mark Sutton Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

Rickmansworth

Director of company that initiated a project to open the non-selective community secondary Reach Free School in 2013, the first local secondary school for 35 years, having received 2012 Department for Education funding approval. After evidencing that we as a project team would provide better tax-payer value-for-money than any existing DfE contractor, we delivered the school's temporary location. The still-developing 120-pupil intake school moved to its £19m permanent purpose-built location in 2018, has received successive ‘Good’ Ofsted ratings, & has an applicant waiting list. As Community Governor, Chair of the Finance & Resources Committee, & leader of the Internal Audit function, I help to shape the effectiveness of the school's governance framework, & ensure the performance information dashboard reported against school KPIs is fit-for-purpose & highlights issues for attention. I created the school’s strategic risk management governance & risk register to ensure that strategic risk management is integral to Governing Body business.This role resulted from my leadership May 2009 to September 2018 of the local parent WD3 School Action Group seeking resolution to the secondary school place shortfall in South West Hertfordshire. I directed this work as a programme of projects. I closed it in October 2018 after the following successful outcomes:- Challenging & driving change to Local Authorities' education & local development strategies & policies (e.g. Hertfordshire school admissions policy was revised).- Verifying Local Education Authority's promise of extra places at existing South West Hertfordshire schools.- Setting up & opening The Reach Free School.- Pushing for a second new school achieved by St Clement Danes' opening at its temporary Watford location in 2018 whilst building its permanent Croxley Green site.- Engaging with parents, media, local & national politicians & public servants to generate support of our goals.

I develop & deploy tailored programme, project & change management (PPM) industry standards so that they are used proportionately by colleagues without PPM experience to successfully manage & deliver a cross-section of changes (implemented as part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio’s Electoral Integrity Programme) to the no-fail public election service.

London, England, United Kingdom

I am acting as Programme Manager alongside my role as Head of Programme Management Office on the Electoral Integrity Programme, a Government Major Portfolio Programme introducing electoral reforms.

I develop & deploy tailored programme, project & change management (PPM) industry standards so that they are used proportionately by colleagues without PPM experience to successfully manage & deliver a cross-section of changes to the no-fail public election service.

South-West Hertfordshire

International delivery of, & training in change, benefits, project, programme, portfolio, & risk management, & implementation of portfolio, programme & project offices. Associate trainer for CITI, Hemsley Fraser, ILX, P3M-Global, QA, & SPOCE.Example classroom & virtual training clients include assignments for banking, insurance, telecoms, Civil Service (e.g. Ministry of Defence, National Health Service, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, etc.), & others. Accredited trainer of APMG's Change Management & Managing Benefits, AXELOS' MoP (portfolio management), MSP (programme management), PRINCE2 (project management), M_o_R (Management of Risk), P3O (Portfolio, Programme & Project Offices), & APM's project management.Change Management, Managing Benefits, MoP, MSP, PRINCE2, PRINCE2 Agile, AgilePM, P3O Practitioner, & APM PMQ-qualified.AXELOS examination question-writer, case-study provider & blogger.Reviewer of 2017 PRINCE2 manual.Company director.

Watford

Appointed to deliver international change consultancy & training in project, programme, portfolio, risk, & implementation of portfolio, programme & project offices. Example clients: Royal Mail, local government, NHS Trusts, colleges, charities, & financial & insurance institutions. Example change management assignment: Development & delivery of Portfolio Management approach & Project Management Framework for International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva.• Global Management of Risk (M_o_R) representative on APMG Exam Board.• Created new revenue streams of nearly £200k.• 25% improvement in delegates’ PRINCE2 examination pass rate by revising & consolidating company's courseware.• Selected as keynote speaker at APMG-International's 2012 China Showcase (http://www.cpmta.com/APMG2012/) & to launch APMG's M_o_R training into China in September 2012 using course materials I had developed.• Developed Foundation & Practitioner M_o_R qualification, & Foundation & Practitioner P3O (Portfolio, Programme & Project Office) qualification course materials whilst still training daily. These new materials represented wholly new products & new company revenue.• Training materials developed sold to partner training companies worldwide & examining board for use in emerging examination markets due to reputation for distinctive emphasis on practical learning & absence of "death by PowerPoint".• Reviewer of 2009 PRINCE2 manual.• Created company’s business continuity plan complying with UK best practice to recover essential company operations within 24 hours in case of a disaster.• Used as examination reviewer by APMG (examination board) for MoP (portfolio management), MSP (programme management), PRINCE2 (English & French), M_o_R & P3O examinations resulting in challenge to and influence of exam board’s review/improvement of its UK-centric assessment practices & a new company consultancy revenue stream.

Enlisted to bring management of charity’s accounts in-house and lead office staff team.• Transferred 2004 sales orders to in-house SAGE accounts management system.• Investigated and recommended replacement IT network and PC equipment solution, and solution to organisation’s pension obligations.

Recruited to steer Council’s programme team making Council’s services electronically accessible to the public within £0.9m capital budget and statutory guidelines.• Provided customers with automated telephone and intranet payment channels.• Automated Council Tax and Business Rate payment, and benefit claim processing.• Created service information and downloadable application forms for Council website.• Specified, tested and managed soft Autumn 2004 launch of Hertfordshire-wide community portal, and managed creation of Council’s initial portal content.

Chosen to control team developing new internet-based SmartStamp postage channel and integrating its impact on operational processes. Worked with a £3m budget.• Saved £7m by negotiating revenue gain-share contract with partner supplier.• Generated software demonstrator for testing on a market sample which identified a potential national market worth £millions.• Member of project team investigating how to integrate OGC’s MSP programme management approach within Royal Mail’s business structure.

Selected to investigate and conclude transaction-related issues (warranties, vendor payments, etc.) after signature of an acquisition, disposal or joint venture deal.• Improved control in 60% of transactions by identifying company’s obligations, and collaborating with Directors of new subsidiaries regarding statutory duties, obligations, commercial strategy, etc.• Formulated first clear post-transaction timetable for 11 £multi-million deals.

Chosen for increasingly senior direction of teams of up to 65 members delivering £multi-million, capital equipment purchase/deployment, and downsizing and change projects. • Increased team’s profit outturn by 105% in 15 months by conducting crisis training to launch team financial control processes.• Streamlined department by 90 people in 3 weeks by organising quick-response and consistent approach to assessing 190 candidates, and briefing them face-to-face of the outcome.• 12% improvement in Customer Satisfaction by bringing under control team’s manpower used on paid assignments and unpaid, internal improvement actions.• Created a strategic consultancy alliance without dilution of core values of either merging party in 15-month schedule and £280k budget.• Directed and motivated project teams delivering programme and (PRINCE) project management consultancy and training.• Conceived and communicated Project Support Office processes so that feasibility study, business case, budget bid and project plan outputs accepted for Royal Mail Board consideration on their first pass, and finances controlled within budget.• Organised local work plans with 3 postal centres on behalf of national programme such that address reading/sorting machines performing to specification within 26-week ‘planning to go live’ cycle.• Led team-worked creation of process for testing sub-systems supplied by multiple contractors that ensured 200 address reading/sorting machine upgrade units were rolled out nationally and performing to specification over 24-month timetable without commercial incident.• Devised and implemented within 4 weeks of contract date a post-transaction plan of deliverables that limited delays to only a few days over 36-month schedule.• Developed tender and negotiated £7m contract for 280 leading-edge reading systems within ambitious 6-month timetable.• Reduced incorrectly directed mail by 3 to 4% by testing performance of illegible code detection device.

Ma Hons, French And German (Minored In Economics And Biblical Studies)

Activities and Societies: Member of University Orchestra, University Chorale Society, University Christian Union, St. Andrews Chorus.

Education record

Activities and Societies: Christian Union, School Choir, Chamber Choir, and Chorale Society.