皇家华人

What is your role and what does it involve?

At the end of February 2023, I became Product Owner of , our award-winning staff experience app. Have you tried it yet? It鈥檚 excellent. You can book your leave, look at your payslip, check you鈥檙e up to date with your mandatory training, book a desk, and much more. You can use Inside UCL securely from your desk, or sitting on the train on your phone, in just a few intuitive clicks.

We are constantly adding new features. My team works on rapid app development using our Digital Service Enablement tools, which means that we can build pretty much anything听鈥撎齱e can tap into existing systems to add a new front end, or build our own functionality from scratch if needed. We pick up ideas and swiftly turn them into solutions. It鈥檚 not all plain sailing as there are a lot of complexities with a large organisation like UCL, so it is my job to work with everyone across the institution to decide what we should and can do next with Inside UCL, manage the backlog of ideas, and make amazing things happen. If you have an idea that colleagues will love, talk to me.

How long have you been at 皇家华人 and what was your previous role?

I have been at 皇家华人 for 17 years; at OVPA for 14 years,听and at听ISD for three. I moved over from Imperial, where I developed and supported cardiovascular drug trials, as the database manager in what was then the 鈥淒evelopment and Corporate Communications Office鈥�. I worked closely with ISD to build a lot of cool things, including online donations, Direct Debits, and Gift Aid claiming. I led on migrating over to a new CRM system (MySupporters) and ran that for a couple of years, and then moved diagonally into ISD as Service Owner, for 40 services at peak.

My latest move is sideways into a new Product Owner post. I love UCL and the things that we do here.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

Launching MySupporters. That was a massive project, and we didn鈥檛 quite have the resources we needed so I did loads of the design and build work myself听鈥撎齜ut with fabulous support from the then leadership team of OVPA and ISD, my wider team, and the vendors. I learned so much about getting complex pieces of work over the line at 皇家华人, change management, and the criticality of good stakeholder engagement. I am proud it remains a success, and that design decisions that we made are still proving to be solid.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of your to-do list?

I want to improve the experience of our new staff, and am working with colleagues in ISD and further afield to add this workflow into Inside UCL over coming terms. Let鈥檚 give our new starters a better first impression of UCL.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

I prefer gigs听鈥撎鼿alf Moon Run are especially good live. We have a teenage son, so I only really watch Marvel films, or those with The Rock in, and I love Terry Pratchett novels.

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

Have you heard about the magic tractor? It turned into a field.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

My friends. I don鈥檛 fancy dinner with famous people 鈥撎齧ost of the ones I鈥檝e met have been disappointing.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don鈥檛 forget to have fun.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I almost got eaten by some sharks once.

What is your favourite place?

In my garden, with my cat and a mojito.