As Project Executive for the Next Warning Service at the Environment Agency, I’m responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of a new digital warning system designed to enhance how we inform and protect communities at risk of flooding. My role involves providing strategic leadership, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives, and effectively managing resources to deliver a high-impact service.Key areas of focus:Strategic Leadership: I set the vision and roadmap for the project, leading a multidisciplinary team to implement a service that improves the effectiveness and reach of flood warnings, ensuring alignment with broader digital and organisational goals.Governance and Oversight: I act as the senior accountable individual, overseeing the project's progress, making key decisions, and providing direction to ensure we deliver within scope, budget, and time, while also establishing governance structures to monitor performance and mitigate risks.Stakeholder Engagement: I manage relationships with senior stakeholders to ensure that all parties are informed, engaged, and aligned with the project's objectives.Contract and Supplier Management: I oversee contractual relationships with external suppliers, ensuring they deliver high-quality services and meet performance expectations. This involves negotiating, managing, and reviewing supplier performance to support project delivery.Financial Management: With responsibility for a significant budget, I ensure resources are allocated effectively, and costs are controlled, while handling financial planning, forecasting, and reporting.Operational Excellence: I’m focused on ensuring the service meets the highest standards of quality and reliability. I implement best practices in service delivery and project management.Risk Management: I identify, assess, and mitigate risks that could impact the success of the project. I ensure that the project adheres to all security and data standards.

My role involves accountability for the quality of the digital services and the team (circa. 45 people) that delivers it, managing a portfolio of end-to-end operational services that include multiple products and channels. My portfolio currently includes several services on GOV.UK such as river levels, flood forecasts and warning, and our flood warning services that proactively contact the public at risk of imminent flooding. These services currently serve approximately 8 million unique active users each year and are among the largest and most important services on GOV.UK. To deliver this, I am responsible for:• Leadership and management of 6 Product Managers, 2 Agile Digital delivery teams, and a digital operations team• Responsible for £8million p.a. investment in our digital services• Contract management with multiple external suppliers for delivery, support, and maintenance of some digital services (including reviewing supplier performance and issue resolution)My achievement has been to restructure the teams and build a clear product roadmap and strategy for the flood services on GOV.UK. I have also taken over leadership of one of the largest digital procurements in the Environment Agency, I have turned a programme around and have reinvigorated the team moving towards delivering within budgets and time.

I lead the teams (circa. 25 people) that deliver key cross cutting support the delivery of these two major Defra technology transformation portfolios – Europe and Trade Portfolio and Future Farming and Countryside:1. People and Capability – including civil servants and interims;2. Estates – including remote working during the current COVID19 pandemic;3. Stakeholder Engagement – including briefings, SoS reports, team information as well as engagement with HMT, GDS and Cabinet Office;

Leading and managing the organisational-wide activity of systematic continuous scanning of disruptive information technology trends, opportunities and impacts on Defra group business strategies, policies and operations. Leading and managing the collaborative production of thought-leadership materials on Emerging information technologies. Creating and delivering a Defra DDTS Emerging Technologies Communication Plan to actively engage with senior leaders and their teams and the broader Defra group business and technology communities and drive sponsorship for business-led exploration of information-technology-enabled business innovation opportunities. Evolving and maintaining an emerging digital and information technologies network, drawn from across the DEFRA group and external parties.

Working to develop the Incident Management Digital Strategy for the Environment Agency and the implementation of Office 365 into the organisation. Awards:Environment Agency’s ‘Incident Management Portal’ receives international award - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agencys-incident-management-portal-receives-international-awardhttps://environment-analyst.com/dis/69900/eas-incident-management-portal-receives-international-award https://twitter.com/JamesBevanEA/status/1029743681581010944 Attending: Defra Project Leadership Academy with electives in Effective Senior Responsible Owner/ Sponsor and Change Management.

Senior Advisor for Mutual Aid and Visualisation Systems, a programme of projects for Major Incident Ready.Lead for the Incident Management Portal. A project set up following the winter floods of 2014/15 using ArcGIS Collector, ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Portal and Operations Dashboards to increase situational awareness during incidents and data capture/analysis in recovery.Presentations:Getting Major Incident Ready with the Environment Agency - Esri UK ACFlood data visualisation - Flood and Coast 2017Conferences:Esri UK ACEsri UC (San Diego, USA)Flood and Coast 2017Press Coverage and Engagement:'How Real-Time Data Intelligence Is Transforming UK Flood Response' - http://www.silicon.co.uk/data-storage/bigdata/environment-agency-data-intelligence-216395 ‘One truth’: operational intelligence' - http://www.information-age.com/one-truth-operational-intelligence-123466961/ Blog Posts:'Improving the Environment Agency’s incident response with new technology' - https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2017/07/21/improving-the-environment-agencys-incident-response-with-new-technology/Awards:Recognition award for work on IM Portal & CollectorShortlisted for Esri Customer Success award for work on the use of Collector, ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Portal

Recognition award for work on Piranha, a web-based mapping applicationConferences:European Geo-sciences Union General Assembly, Vienna, 2016Esri Annual UK Conference 2016Courses:Emotional Intelligence Guardian Data Visualisation Workshop

Taught on the following undergraduate and postgraduate courses:BSc (Hons) Geography and Environmental Management• Environmental Challenges (Level 1)• Professional development for geographers and environmental managers (Level 2)• Research Methods (Level 2)In these modules I have assisted in the delivery of GIS practicals, responsible for up to 40 students at any one time, amassing nearly 80 hours to date. I also developed and taught workshops on creating professional looking diagrams for coursework and dissertations.BA (Hons) Geography• Culture, Society and Place (Level 1)I assisted in an afternoon field trip around Bristol visiting culturally significant locations.MSc Applied Geographical Information Systems• Representing the world (Masters)Responsible for designing, teaching and assessing a series of lectures and practicals on using the Python programming language in ArcGIS 10.1.MSc Environmental Consultancy• Advanced Specialist Topics (Masters) I was involved in taking 20 students on a two day field trip to visit BRE Innovation Park and RES renewable energy company in London.

Worked with experienced scientific consultants to deliver components of contracted projects, this included conducting literature review, data analysis, GIS analysis and report writing.

Responsible for map creation using ArcGIS software, administration and distribution of a £400,000 National Grid dry-stone walling fund, project managed the development of two new websites for promoting rural skills courses and outdoor activities, IT support and GIS training to members of staff, GIS data management and acquisition as part of the Cotswolds Ecological Network mapping project and engaging with local farmers through the completion of higher level stewardship applications.