Katherine A.M Wood
Tel: 07718004092
Email: kateamwood@gmail.com
Core Capabilities:
 Leadership: A strong leader; developing high-performing teams; managing on and off-shore multi-disciplinary resources;
setting milestones and translating strategies into workable goals and objectives in order to achieve project outcomes
 Project Management: Delivering the end to end project lifecycle observing time, costs, quality and budget parameters.
Producing relevant governance documentation with experience in several delivery methodologies
 Stakeholder Engagement: Provides high quality service delivery; builds strong relationships with all stakeholders, sets
expectations, collaborates and integrates effort to deliver results
 Business Development: A skilled negotiator, with experience in commercial and contract negotiations with 3rd party
suppliers
 Problem Solving: Methodical and structured, ability to work under pressure and use sound commercial judgment and
creative thinking to resolve problems
 Customer focused: Delivering on time, to high standard and within budget. Ensuring that the customer remains at the heart
of the project and that business outcomes are achieved
 Challenging: Willing to challenge behaviours or practices that are inefficient, ineffective or unsafe with sensitivity
Professional Experience
Senior Project Manager – Group Business Services, Network Rail
Current responsibility for projects totalling ~£4.5m in varying stages the project lifecycle.
ESG2 Migration
May 2015 – November 2015
External Services Gateway (ESG) migration for the rail industry, failure/unplanned outages would lead to disruption to the UK
rail network. This will meet the business outcomes of delivering £3.19m OPEX reduction, providing a dedicated, scalable and
modern infrastructure. On boarded to implement stronger governance and to drive progress with particular focus on the ESG
migration. Responsibilities, achievements and challenges include:
 Quickly identified current project status, reviewed governance for gaps, risks and issues, drove production of an overarching
plan and began to drove delivery of critical path activities
 Overall accountability for preparing/planning ESG migration; owner of all integrated migration project documentation
 Implemented clear reporting structure to ensure transparency and improved escalation
 Excellent 3rd party management skills - drove quality outputs from CSC, implementing rigour and structure
 Led a team of four to deliver consistent, high quality outputs. Escalation point providing resolution to problems /conflicts
 Provided tailored communications to multiple reporting lines to facilitate informed and efficient decision making
Learning Technologies
April 2014 - present
Replacing nineteen systems delivering learning/training/competence assessment with a single technology platform, delivering a
saving of ~£1m per annum and ensuring ORR compliance. Responsibilities, achievements and challenges include:
 Comprehensive management and mitigation of risks, issues and dependencies
 Creation/management of project plan with defined tasks and milestones to ensure timely and comprehensive delivery
 Managing project budget, producing investment papers/business case to request and successfully secure funding
 Led a prolonged and difficult contract negotiation to fruition despite issues including; flux in scope and supplier dispute
 Management of a complex network of stakeholders to gain buy-in to a complex Business Change project
 Led a team of eight, multi skilled professionals to form a cohesive, highly motivated and high performing team
 Confident and skilled navigation through a new delivery life cycle and a new tendering process
 Successfully led commercial to reduce supplier costs by £170k and negotiated a reduced delay payment from £90k to £35k
ERTMS Learning Management System
October 2014 - present
An industry wide learning management system providing training for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). A
key enabler to assist with the realisation of £1.9 billion cost saving. Responsibilities, achievements and challenges include:
 Managing the relationship with industry stakeholders with existing biases, individual motives and strategic aims
 Working to stringent timescales, which if missed, will have a direct and time heavy impact on the rail industry
 Successfully challenged investment process allowing for streamlined funding approval
Transparent Pay
April 2014 – October 2014
To deliver a structured pay system providing transparency of pay, restricting discretionary pay decisions. Responsibilities,
achievements and challenges include:
 High level of sensitivity/visibility and a subsequently high stakeholder group
Address: 158 Timken Way North, Duston, Northampton, NN56WF.
Katherine A.M Wood
Tel: 07718004092
Email: kateamwood@gmail.com
 Delivered within new portfolio structure, building new supplier relationships using a new and untested supplier framework
 High political factors including trade unions negotiations requiring sensitivity and diplomacy
 Supporting customer centric business change activities to support technical solution delivery
 Successfully challenged customer requests for configurations to ensure ongoing viability of the solution
Graduate Project Manager – Group Business Services
November 2012 – April 2014
Sentinel
New Sentinel is a safety critical and industry wide programme that utilises new technologies and introduces a robust governance
structure ensuring trackside staff are fully competent. Responsibilities, achievements and challenges include:
 Managed national rollout of hardware/software/training to 7000; introducing better safety, governance and functionality
 Co-ordinated packaging, testing and release of critical desktop and mobile software
 First point of escalation, lead daily/weekly updates with suppliers, developed new business processes and lead a team of six
 Gained in-depth knowledge of delivering to a safety critical environment. Nominated in the ‘Workforce Safety’ and ‘Mobile
Technology’ categories in the 2014 UK Rail Industry Awards
Business Change
Working with the Business Change team, I had a multifaceted role working to meet the business outcomes to generate
increased internal revenue. My responsibilities included:
 Creating and ensuring adherence to new governance processes such as dashboard reporting
 Leading UAT on the new online learning and training platform ‘NR Learning’
 Working with an agency to create innovative marketing and branding materials to create a consistent brand identity
 Coordinated rollout of Business Change methodology creating deliverables/processes to facilitate companywide training
June 2010 – August 2011 (University Placement Year)
HR IT Support Analyst, Nestle.
Part of a team of four that supported Nestle’s HR SAP systems (including Payroll and Time Management) through the IT Service
Desk. Additional accountabilities included:
 Migrating a new business acquisition to SAP including training delivery and coordinating hardware/software integration
 Delivering a Six Sigma initiative to reduce helpdesk calls. Incidents reduced by 65% as a result of stakeholder profiling, ‘As-is’
analysis and revising processes
Qualifications
 Association of Project Management – Foundation
 Institute of Leadership Management - Level Three
 A levels at grades CBB
 Upper Second Class Honours reading Information Technology
Management for Business at Loughborough University
Other Interests
 Rail and technology industry networking including membership of Young Railway Professional and BCS Women.
 As a STEM Ambassador I am passionate about encouraging the next generation to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math careers. I am focused on encouraging young women to consider IT as a career by demonstrating that it is a fast
paced, exciting and dynamic industry. To date, this has included:
o
Leading the ‘Could IT Be You?’ campaign for two years – a campaign initiated by the CIO with the aim to address the
disproportionate number of women currently working in the IT industry through offering them the chance to win £9000
of tuition fees. In this role I have managed a team of six volunteers, produced marketing/advertising materials,
managed a range of external stakeholders and carried out various administrative tasks such as marking competition
entries. I have also travelled the country presenting to schools as part of our ‘Regional Week’. This has been a huge
success speaking to over 6,573 pupils, 4,224 of which were girls.
o
Volunteering for the ten week Go4Set scheme with Milton Keynes Academy, managing a class of thirty to demonstrate
the importance of technology and innovation in the railway
o
Ambassador for ‘Girls in Engineering’ scheme completing a ten week project with an additional adventure/residential
course in Wales. Being witness to the growth of the girls in this week as they were encouraged out of their comfort
zones was an amazing and valuable experience.
 Hobbies also include snowboarding, Crossfit and solo travelling
Address: 158 Timken Way North, Duston, Northampton, NN56WF.