I’ve spent the last 4 years leading delivery of some of the most significant Government digital transformation programmes, most recently as Delivery Director for Empower the Person at NHS where I led delivery of digital citizen-facing services as part of the digital transformation portfolio. In that role, I had responsibility for operating and improving the NHS website; designing and building the NHS App as the platform for digital transaction services and improved data sharing; delivering NHS Login which is the citizen identity solution for NHS digital services; the apps and wearables programme, WiFi, Personal Health Record and Widening Digital Participation.
I’m immensely proud of what we achieved at NHS and it was a privilege to lead those programmes. I was fortunate to work with some amazing people in the commissioning and delivery teams. We delivered outcomes that help people to better manage their health and healthcare, benefiting healthcare professionals and citizens alike and paving the way for a digital first NHS outlined in the Minister’s Tech Vision and the Long-Term Plan.
Empower the Person was more than a delivery portfolio, I was incredibly invested in what we did under that banner; but after two years I felt ready for a new challenge. I wanted a more strategic role and an opportunity to build something new, so I’m really excited to be here at Methods.
I chose Methods for several reasons. I was fortunate to have a few fantastic opportunities and offers; but Methods had the best mix of ambition, and the timing felt right in terms of what we discussed as opportunities for the business. The Analytics and CoreAzure businesses have excellent capabilities that will give real synergy alongside Development, and we can work together as ‘Group Methods’. People and timing are key in business. I liked the owners and we had some interesting and energetic conversations that led to an offer that I was delighted to accept.
I’m here to build excellent development capabilities and a reputation for quality consulting and engineering in software and cloud. Methods is really good at finding great people to place into specific roles, and also at winning outcomes across government where we are one of the go-to partners for digital and technology transformation. I want to focus on building a community of practice and depth of capability here across tech architecture, development, testing, web-operations, cloud solutions, cyber security and delivery management. We’re already an Advanced Consulting Partner with AWS, and we’ll continue to invest that area building on the strong foundations and impressive capability established by Mohammed Hoque in the AWS Leadership team.
Methods is a great business with a long history of supporting positive change in public sector, it’s been fascinating to get more detail on the company, its’ people and clients. I already knew about the professional services side, digital business, strong analytics business, and CoreAzure businesses; but getting an insight to what services they provide and to whom has been really interesting. They are great capabilities to sit alongside a development function that will create depth of capability and quality in software and cloud engineering.
We’re going to focus on recruitment, professional development and graduate training to build a world class team, working in partnership with our customers to help meet their business and user needs. My immediate priorities are meeting more of the people to further understand the delivery commitments, strategy and business planning for the development unit, and hiring more world class talent to join Mohammed and myself in the Leadership team to establish and grow the business.
Exciting times!
