Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Responsible for programme management of large scale business change and transformation programmes within Anglian Water predominantly on the operational side of the business. This involves producing business cases to acquire funding, managing a team of people to design and deliver the changes, managing a multi-million pound budget, managing stakeholders, managing change, ensuring the change gives value for money by delivering the expected benefits, following prorgamme management methodology and working across multiple teams within the business including IT, Finance, Operations and Asset Management.

A typical day varies hugely depending on the stage of the programme.
An example of a day is as follows:
- Meeting with senior leaders or business directors to ensure they are engaged and supportive of the changes.
- Facilitating discussions between business experts and contractors to ensure any IT changes are designed fit for purpose
- Presenting to governance groups to seek funding
- Troubleshooting issues to smooth over any areas of conflict between different stakeholders

Planning communications for new IT Software with Communications Manager to ensure message is communicated effectively to the wider business and users.
Meeting with Training Manager to ensure training material for new software is being developed to timescales and that material is fit for purpose.

Working with a wide range of people within Anglian Water as well as our external partners and contractors helps me to grow a large network of contacts. I enjoy the pressure that comes with programme management working to a deadline and budget. I enjoy managing a team of people and being part of that team responsible for delivering often high profile changes within the organisation.
Being in the water industry I still have a link to environmental work so I do feel like my geography degree was of some relevance.

The pressure around timescales and budgets can be challenging as what the business wants and when they want it is not always achievable in the timescales they allow.
Working with contractors can bring challenges too due to the conflicting priorities.
Politics and personalities take some getting used to so knowing your stakeholders and how to manage them is crucial.

It's exciting to be at the leading edge in an organisation always looking for the next opportunity to change and transform the business due to external influences or internally driven opportunities to do things better. It's rewarding to make a difference and see the positive impact of my work.

Organisation skills are key, management and leadership skills are also important to lead a team and to manage relationships with stakeholders, suppliers and contractors.
I have a Professional Certificate in Management with the Open University which has helped along with previous experience as a line manager.
I am Prince2 qualified in Project Management, a qualified practitioner of Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), and hold a certificate in Change Management all of which help with the role of Programme Manager.

I am currently studying for my Prince2 project management accreditation.

Waitressing and travelling in New Zealand for a gap year 2004-2005
Graduate Management training scheme at Anglian Water 2005-2008
Professional Certificate in Management with the Open University 2007
Service Monitoring Team Leader at Anglian Water 2008-2010
Project Manager at Anglian Water 2010-2012
PRINCE2 practitioner 2011
Process Improvement Analyst at Yorkshire Water 2012-2013
Change Manager/Project Manager at Anglian Water 2013-2016
Programme Manager at Anglian Water 2016-now
MSP practitioner 2016
Change Management certificate 2016

I want to continue to develop my skills and experience in programme management as I see this as very transferable, should I wish to move to another industry in future.

I joined a graduate training scheme because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do so went for something with structured training.
This gave me a wide experience across the business and options for different directions to take my career in so I would recommend a graduate scheme like this to anyone if they are unsure of exactly what they want to do.
The world is changing at an ever more rapid rate so to have a career in managing and delivering change, I believe my skills will always be in demand, both within specific industries but also on a contract basis, so there are opportunities to travel and experience a huge variety of work if I wanted to. I'd recommend doing the professional qualifications in this area but also trying to get experience on a vast array of change projects because each one is different.