What does your role involve?
As a Delivery Lead, my goal is to deliver my clients’ requirements on time and within budget.
The only constant is change! Whether it is doing regular maintenance or a major transformational project, private or public sector, Python or Java-based applications, I support a range of clients across different types of systems - what remains the same though is that they are mission-critical systems to our clients and to New Zealanders.
I work closely with our internal team and clients to keep systems operating at their optimal level, supported and secure. Having this assurance provides our clients with a great base to think about the type of transformational improvements they want to make. I then manage these as projects and work to deliver them on time, within budget and up to the high standards that our clients expect from us. It is a never-ending cycle – we just want to make these systems better and better!
What does your typical day look like?
I am an early bird and I start by doing a mental scan of all my clients and what will be top of mind today.
Mornings are usually filled with stand-ups with the different teams that I work with - so that everyone knows the priorities for the day.
As a Project Manager by trade, my schedules, budgets, risk and action registers are my bread and butter – so it is important that I spend time to keep them current. They are how I track what’s going on, whether things are going according to plan or if there is an indication that a risk is about to be realised.
I hold regular catch-ups with clients throughout the day too so that they know what’s going on, and how we are tracking against our timeline and budget.
Tell us about a recent problem you helped solve?
We all know that sometimes there is just not enough time in the day to do the things we want – the same with our clients as well. I recently helped a client prioritise their workstreams and then streamlined our delivery approach so that we could help them meet their milestones within a very tight timeframe. There was a bit of wrangling at our end to be honest but everyone stepped up – it is just what we do here at Catalyst and we do it well!
What do you enjoy about working at Catalyst?
I am very lucky to work with so many talented people here at Catalyst – Business Analysts, Developers, Testers and System Administrators to name just a few - who are crucial members of Catalyst without whom I wouldn’t be able to do my job.
Catalyst is a very social company as well. I was very excited to experience my first Catathon in late July where everyone got together to learn from each other – I have never experienced such an event in any of my other jobs – how lucky am I!