CV
Personal Statement
Design professional with 15+ years of experience, specialising in user-centred design and strategic leadership for organisations such as the Home Office, Capita, and Sheffield City Council. Passionate about fostering design communities, establishing standards and best practices, and advocating for user-centred design at scale. Approachable, collaborative, and an effective communicator with diverse audiences, whether digital professionals or senior stakeholders.
Work History
Home Office, Sheffield (May 2016 - Present)
UK Government department leading on crime, security, and immigration.
User-Centred Design Principal, Digital Data & Technology (May 2024 - Present)
- Transitioned into a new practitioning and leadership role to enhance customer contact experience.
- Lead the design of two new public facing forms within tight timescales to support the roll out of eVisas
- Led and facilitated a strategic cross-functional working group to embed UCD earlier in decision-making, resulting in three new projects working in this way, with more to come.
Head of User-Centred Design (UCD), Digital Data & Technology (Feb 2022 - May 2024)
- Established standards, assured quality, and provided support for 280+ user-centred design practitioners across 80+ digital projects.
- Managed an industry-leading UCD Operations Team of 8, offering tooling, standards, training, and community events.
- Led a workstream in organisation-wide digital transformation, advocating for service design-led approaches.
- Managed £5m+ supplier contracts and currently leading the setup of a new £12m contract.
- Extensive experience in staff and performance management, coaching techniques, setting goals, and dealing with performance issues.
Head of Interaction Design, Digital Data & Technology (May 2019 - Feb 2022)
- Developed and co-authored the first design strategy, resulting in the expansion of the leadership team by three roles.
- Successfully made the case for a new policy-design team in the Migration and Borders space, which was the first expansion of our Policy Design Lab.
- Created a comprehensive career framework for skills and career progression.
- Established a cross-government caseworking design community, setting standards and sharing best practices with events attended by 100+ people in person.
- A trained service assessor, sitting on five panels for mock and internal service assessments.
Interaction Design Lead, Police Digital Service (Mar 2018 – May 2019)
- Established an interaction design function for a new policing digital initiative, increasing permanent design roles from zero to four.
- Led design efforts on various projects, including Law Enforcement Data Service, Penalty Notices, and Person Recognition.
- Contributed to the development of the cross-government design system contribution model.
Interaction Design Lead, Centre of Excellence (Aug 2016 – Mar 2018)
- Expanded the Interaction Design team to over 18 people across three locations.
- Directed the development of the first Home Office design system.
- Managed staffing allocations, recruitment, and represented the Home Office at Heads of Design meetings.
Senior Interaction Designer (May 2016 – Aug 2016)
- Designed and provided senior support for the Sponsoring People program and Proving Things to Government project.
- Mentored junior designers in using the GOV.UK prototype kit and conducted training sessions.
Capita (under Technophobia, later G2G3 Digital), Sheffield (May 2014 - May 2016)
Capita-owned digital agency working in the public sector, telecoms, and finance.
Interaction Design Team Lead (Apr 2015 – May 2016)
- Managed a team of five Interaction Designers and contractors, working on projects for Capita, O2, Metro Bank, The Pensions Regulator, and Sheffield City Council.
- Implemented processes for constructive design critiques, such as weekly ‘Braintrust’ sessions.
Senior Interaction Designer (May 2014 – Apr 2015)
- Advocated for modern design processes and best practices within the company.
- Implemented a lean, iterative design process and standard, responsive front-end toolkit.
Slimming World, Alfreton (Jul 2011 – May 2014)
UK-based weight loss membership organisation.
Front-end Developer/Designer
- Led the design and development of Slimming World’s first mobile site, which quickly grew to be used by over half of their members.
- Developed a responsive, mobile-first workflow as the standard for all web builds.
- Named Employee of the Year.
Other Experience
- Soula Digital, Nottingham (Sep 2009 – Jul 2011) - Web Designer
- The Bolsover School, Bolsover (Feb 2008 – Sep 2009) - Publications & Data Officer
- Rethink, Sutton-in-Ashfield (Apr 2003 – Feb 2008) - Administrator
- Bunches Florapost (Agency), Hucknall (Mar 2003 – Apr 2003) - Call Centre Operator
- ‘Hide & Seek’ Short Film, London (Jan 2003 – Feb 2003) - Production Runner
- Key Personnel, Mansfield (Sep 2002 – Nov 2002) - Recruitment Consultant
- Natwest Bank, Nottingham (Nov 2000 – Sep 2002) - Call Centre Operator
Qualifications
- Two A-Levels in English Literature and Art.
- Nine GCSEs grade A* to C (including English, Maths, Science, Art & Graphics).
References
Available on request.