Ben, Private Housing Caseworker

Length at current job: 7 years.

Tell us a little about your position and what you do on a day-to-day basis. Who are your customers and your co-workers? Do you work in a team environment or independently?

I am an IT project manager in the Business Innovation unit. My role is split between managing IT projects and delivering changes that benefit Housing & Landlord Services and supporting operational teams with various IT requests. I have recently been asked to join the Moving Forward Together IT Programme to lead on the digital services and data project.

Whilst my immediate 'customers' are colleagues in the Housing and Landlord Service, tenants are never far behind. My view is that by helping colleagues to access the tools that they need, they are able to do their job more effectively and this has to benefit residents.

I have recently been allocated to the Moving Forward Together Programme team, which is a team made of four other project manager, five business analysts and a programme manager. Like many other teams, we work remotely.

What keeps you motivated to go to work each day? What is your proudest accomplishment?

The assurance that what I do makes a difference. "If we are to better the future, we must disturb the present" (Catherine Booth). Realising our vision takes each one of us playing our part, that includes me.

I also like the variety of my job. No one project is the same. Each one is an opportunity to get to meet and work with new people and for me to learn something new.

My proudest accomplishment is being part of the long-awaited deployment of 4G devices to colleagues. It only took four years of persistence to get to this point, but I will really be happy when IT has deployed all of the devices ordered!

Are there any challenges in your job? If so, how do you handle them?

Project management is a bit like a hurdle race. If you don't like problem solving, then you may want to reconsider your options. I like to discuss challenges with colleagues, the diversity of point of views and experiences helps me consider different options.

How have your past experiences prepared you for this job? How have you evolved in your current role and where do you hope to go next? 

My education had nothing to do with project management - I studied French. However, I took the opportunity to do a part-time HNC in Housing and have more recently been on the Stepping Up programme. If anything, the various frontline jobs I did before helped me see that my heart was in business improvement and change.

Most of my career has been in here: admin support with pest control, rent collector, voids officer and policy and projects officer.

I would say that I have grown into a project manager. Since I initially took on this role as a secondment opportunity, I have gained a considerable amount of knowledge and practice in 'formal' project management, but also extended my network within the organisation.

I would like to continue to improve on my project management skills but also would like to venture into business strategy.

What advice would you give someone who is seeking the same line of work?

I would encourage them to volunteer when their manager is asking to help with some project work (IT or not). It is always a really good way to start. Secondment opportunities are a really good way to put a foot in the door and see if it is for you.