Thomas Pooley Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

• Leading the Corporate PMO function with oversight of 40+ projects and programmes across a range of services.• Acting as the council’s Executive Leadership Team’s (ELT’s) ‘eyes and ears’ regarding delivery progress across priority programmes – flagging significant risks, identifying opportunities, and providing steer & advice regarding critical decisions.• Regularly meeting with Strategic Directors on a 1:1 basis to discuss and resolve challenges and support the delivery of significant programmes within their remit.• Translating the organisation’s strategic priorities into a delivery portfolio, and assigning resource as appropriate.• Acting as a conduit between the council’s senior leadership and services to provide steer, challenge and support to major programmes of work.• Providing guidance and advice to programme managers regarding the use of appropriate frameworks, tools, processes and approaches.• Reporting, analysing and tracking key programme activities across the organisation.• Managing, co-ordinating and producing strategic programme reporting for the council’s Change Board, the key governance mechanism providing ELT with visibility of programme progress and issues. • Upskilling project managers through the provision of formal and informal training.• Managing a team of PMO support staff, including programme managers, subject matter experts, and project coordinators.

Reigate, England, United Kingdom

• Managing a large PMO with oversight of multiple portfolios and programmes with a combined budget of tens of millions of pounds. • Benefits management, tracking and articulation across multiple portfolios and programmes, ensuring that initiatives deliver a return on investment.• Strategic programme reporting across multiple portfolios and programmes, escalating key issues and achievements as required to senior stakeholders.• Advising colleagues and stakeholders regarding best practice approaches to programme and project management.• Designing and scoping programme management training.• Assessing and reviewing business case documents and advising senior governance boards in relation to critical funding decisions.• Setting the structures, standards and processes for the successful running of all programmes within the PMO.• Strategic risk management of major risks and issues across multiple portfolios.

Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom

• Project and programme management across a number of different fields, including highways, finance, adult social care and many others.• Co-ordinating organisation-wide transformation initiatives to restructure services and deliver millions of pounds worth of savings.• Providing expertise and “critical friend” input to project plans and business cases. • Supporting the development and training of project managers.• Taking a lead role in the creation and running of a centralised Project Management Office.• Data analysis and research including benchmarking, financial reporting and demand management.

Guildford, United Kingdom

• Responsible for the development and implementation of the Flood Risk Management Strategy for Surrey.• Managing and directing the work of a team of support staff. • Presenting major project and flood scheme updates to project Boards and Council Committees.• Providing expert advice to other teams and organisations regarding flooding and drainage issues, in particular in relation to the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) and the Land Drainage Act (1991).• Liaising with senior politicians including elected Members and MPs concerning high-profile local flooding issues.• Leading on the community engagement element of flood risk management – setting up flood fora, developing community action plans and responding to public flooding enquiries.• Writing funding bids for flood alleviation schemes to Central Government, Local Enterprise Partnerships and other bodies.

Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom

• Project managed specific workstreams in the Council's Programme Management function, including flood resilience, infrastructure delivery and highways for the future.• Developed project plans, briefs and timelines for work packages within a particular brief.• Liaised with internal and external stakeholders to bring various workstreams into a cohesive programme, through public and private meetings and workshops.• Provided expertise to partners on specific issues for inclusion in public documents, committee reports and correspondence to Councillors, senior MPs and Government ministers.• Co-ordinated and provided support to project boards, including preparing project documentation, agendas and project updates.• Collated, analysed and reported project data including funding, deadlines and milestones for stakeholders.

Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom

• Led, managed and co-ordinated the business of the Council's committees.• Project managed and planned scrutiny/policy reviews and task groups, carried out research and collected evidence for committees, wrote briefing papers and drafted reports on the results of investigations for consideration by committees and Cabinet.• Worked with Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen in formulating committee forward work programmes.• Provided procedural and constitutional advice and expertise to Members and Officers of the Council.• Advised Members of national and local developments in relation to the terms of reference of committees.• Measured the effectiveness of committees, and developed new initiatives and processes to strengthen the decision-making and scrutiny function.• Managed and co-ordinated the work of a small team of committee support staff.

Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom

• Managed the work of committees, including monitoring public meetings, conducting research, drafting policy briefings, writing minutes and supporting the work of task groups.• Provided constitutional and procedural advice to elected Members.• Produced and published meeting agendas in accordance with strict legal guidelines.• Liaised with key stakeholders and senior officers to ensure that committee reports were submitted on time in accordance to deadlines.

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Middle East Politics

Bachelor’S Degree, Politics

A-Levels, English Literature, History, Politics