Jeremy K.

From HR in Utilities to Project Management in Financial Services.

My first key move was from the HR department with my previous employer in the Utilities sector to the Programme Management Office in the IT department. This gave me my first foray into the world of projects which I loved due to the diversity of the work on offer. After several years managing a Programme Office I was given the opportunity to lead delivery teams on a billing systems migration. I loved the experience of directly implementing the change rather than monitoring and supporting and began to seek opportunities in Project Management. My final move has brought me to Phoenix where I was keen to experience a different industry after 12 years in the utilities sector. Initially joining as a Programme Support Manager I was soon afforded the opportunity to become a Project Manager and for the past 7 years have delivered a variety of projects across the business including Customer, Actuarial, Open Business and Regulatory Change.

I Project Manage key Actuarial projects delivering change

As a Project Manager in Phoenix I am responsible for delivering change within Phoenix. This involves taking the project from the idea phase and working with key stakeholders to define the outcomes and expected benefits before building a delivery plan including resource to support. This all feeds into the Business Case which I take through internal approval mechanisms to gain the funding and authority to proceed with the project. When the project moves into the delivery phase I bring experts from across the business together who will be assigned specific roles on the project as defined in the plan. I monitor their progress against the plan and ensure that momentum is maintained. A key part of the role is working with the experts ensuring that objectives are clearly defined and good lines of communication are maintained throughout the delivery. This allows barriers to delivery to be flagged, solutions to be developed and decisions to be made on how to remove the barrier. Motivation is a key element of the role as well given the complex nature of the work being delivered the project team have to feel supported and able to be open and honest in all situations. When the delivery nears implementation I ensure that the impacted business areas are ready to accept the change. This is key in a large complex organisation like Phoenix where multiple changes are being delivered in parallel. This often requires liaising with several business areas to ensure they are clear on the change to their roles or processes post implementation. When Business Readiness is confirmed and all the outcomes have been achieved I will close down the project and look for my next exciting change to deliver.

Every project is different and brings something new each time.

What attracted me to projects in the first place is the variety of work on offer and despite the role remaining the same no two years are alike. You can be working on a regulatory change one year and then the next you could be delivering a new product. This allows the opportunity to make new connections across the business and in a company as large as Phoenix visit different locations. The other key motivation for me on projects is the ability to directly make a change to the company. When a project is correctly defined and delivered it will have key business outcomes which at the end of the project you can directly see the benefit or change you have brought to the business.

Keep learning and try new experiences

When I left university I didn't have a career plan like say a Lawyer or a Doctor and if I am being honest was a little unsure of what direction I wanted to take. What did stand me in good stead was not accepting staying in a role if I wasn't feeling fulfilled and taking the opportunities to move when they presented themselves to me. In each role I have had since university I have taken something which I have used in the next role so whilst I may not have followed a traditional graduate career path I can point to transferable skills I have gained in each of my positions including diverse ones such as call centre handler and IT recruitment consultant. A lot of the stakeholder management skills I use today came from those positions. The take away I would give people based on my experience is continue to seek learning opportunities to stretch yourself and be open to change.

Delivered a project that harmonised the calculation of actuarial risks

After the acquisition of Standard Life the Phoenix Group ran a major transformation programme to bring together the Internal Models of Phoenix and Standard Life. An Internal Model is how Life Insurers calculate how much capital to put aside in the event of certain risks happening. These allow Life Insurers to withstand financial shocks whilst knowing how much capital is free for them invest in the business. Working across the Phoenix and Standard Life businesses I built two project teams one to focus on Market and Credit risks and the other to focus on Insurance risks. As well as driving changes to complex technical methodologies I also had to build a one company culture with both project teams made up of a mix of Phoenix and Standard Life members. This was challenging in the early days of the project as there were different historic approaches between the companies but as the project progressed the different approaches were channelled to allow rapid progress on the development of new risk calibrations. An additional benefit was a strengthening of working relationships between the Phoenix and Standard Life actuarial teams who are now part of the same department. The successful delivery of the changes to the risk calibrations fed into the wider Internal Model Harmonisation Programme which realised significant financial benefits for the wider group.