Karen Smith76 Gilderdale Close Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 6TH 01925 838276, 07725362235 Karen.lyness@uuplc.co.uk

Profile Highly motivated business professional with a successful track record of over 20 years of working in partnership with key business stakeholders to optimize the use of IT in their sectors. I have a talent for quickly and effectively building relationships and working in a collaborative manner to ensure needs are captured, articulated and transformed into clear requirements. I am an experienced Line Manager of a team of Business Analysts and have been instrumental in pulling together a team ethic along with the promotion of Business Analyst services, re-building failing relationships between the business and IT. In addition to my current role, I am actively involved in an internal team focused on business as usual health and safety activity and I am viewed as a keen advocate for all things health and safety. Consistent feedback is that I am flexible and versatile, able to perform under pressure; unafraid to ask challenging questions and that I put the customer at the centre of everything that I do. I thrive in deadline-driven environments; have excellent stakeholder management skills and work well both as part of and leading teams.

Key Skills Summary Business

Requirement Collation

Workshop Preparation & Facilitation

Strong Presentation Skills

Line Management of People (Permanent and Contractor Resource)

Process improvement

Project Management

Business Case Development

ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis

Lean Trained Planning &

Scheduling

Professional ExperienceCUSTOMER FOCUS HIGHLIGHTS

Currently working as part of the IT Utilities function within Amey, to enable the implementation of Smart Metering systems for our clients, in line with key government initiatives for all homes to have the option of a Smart Meter by 2020.

Worked closely with HR team to enable successful implementation of a company Share Scheme plan. Initially the work had not had BA involvement but when engaged as part of the project team the HR lead quickly acknowledged the value add I had provided, without which, the implementation would not have gone so smoothly.

Worked with colleagues in HR and Spain, to implement a new Talent Management system that would link to the Ferrovial system already in use. I was instrumental in helping to identify and resolve differences within the systems and assisted in reviewing training documentation and testing.

Undertaken work on a new Health and Safety System, coordinating activity and requirements from all of the Amey business sectors

During my time at United Utilities I rebuilt relationships with the Property Services business users in Wigan, turned a failing relationship into a positive customer experience, which was recognized via the award of both the monthly and quarterly ‘Our Champions’

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Karen Smith76 Gilderdale Close Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 6TH 01925 838276, 07725362235 Karen.lyness@uuplc.co.uk

award. Recently received feedback from the Business Continuity manager that he regards me as an ambassador for IT.

At United Utilities I managed the derivation of requirements in a condensed timeline for a Capital Projects Management System project, ensuring that the definition phase was completed in line with the SAP Programme, again turned a relationship where there was negative engagement with IT into a positive business experience.

At United Utilities I was also involved in a project on Operator Self-Monitoring. I worked with the business to understand their requirements, and manage expectations to deliver the right solution. Business user feedback from the Environment Agency subsequently was the solution I was instrumental in deriving is one of the best solutions implemented by a water company.

COMMUNICATION/INFLUENCING Regularly act as the interface between third parties and multiple business areas. I am the

impartial facilitator who helps to ensure that all parties remain focused on the attainment of the core goals.

I am often requested by the business as I am seen as a trusted member of IT. I have worked hard to develop this network through my career development plan and via solid delivery. Contacts I have made on many of my projects still see me as a ‘guide’ into IT as they know they can trust me to own their issues and concerns and see them through to resolution. They know that I will deliver on actions I say I will undertake.

Facilitate sessions with diverse groups of users, including senior stakeholders and external third party companies. I have regularly demonstrated my tenacity to attain the right solution, but via influencing and targeted questions, not at the cost of relationships.

Working with business users as their initial interface into IT, working in a collaborative manner to understand root cause and define solutions to resolve issues and ensure that any IT solutions implemented are aligned to strategy.

ANALYSIS/PROBLEM SOLVING Derivation of business requirements from business users who typically come with point IT

solutions not problems they need resolved. Able to take an holistic view and ask questions to drill down to root cause, ensuring that the solution delivered meets the real need

Application of tools and techniques to derive effective solutions, understanding the value of different methods and their appropriate application. Demonstrated in the differing interactions between large scale project requirements.

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Karen Smith76 Gilderdale Close Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 6TH 01925 838276, 07725362235 Karen.lyness@uuplc.co.ukPEOPLE MANAGEMENT/ENGAGEMENT

Undertaken Line Manager responsibilities for a team of 3 Business Analysts at Amey and 11 Business Analysts at United Utilities

Ensure regular 1-2-1 sessions are undertaken along with monthly team meetings (including meetings with team members based at a different location

Ensuring the allocation of correct resources to projects Point of escalation for project issues in relation to BA activities Promotion of BA services

Volunteer to lead H&S initiatives within IT Maintaining and building relationships with the wider Amey group functions Ensuring that as a function IT focus on ensuring the safety of the individual

At United Utilities I was a UU Ambassador for ‘Out and About’ Representing UU at external community based events Promoting topics such as Water Efficiency with our customers Providing advice and helping our customers with problems they might have,

sometimes taking these back to colleagues in other areas to ensure the queries are resolved in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the customer.

Employment HistoryAMEY PLC2014 – Present Senior Business AnalystProviding analysis across Amey Group functional areas, recently moving to the Utilities functional area, specializing in meteringUNITED UTILITIES PLC2009 – 2014 Business Analyst, Senior Business Analyst, Lead Business AnalystProviding analysis across all UU functional areas2007 – 2009 Business Partner AnalystWorking with business partners supporting Customer Operations and Support Services functions2004 - 2007 Business Analyst – Contract SolutionsWorking on the British Gas Metering Contract providing analysis and implementation of business and industry solutionsLITTLEWOODS RETAIL LTD1988 – 2003 Computer Programmer, Systems Analyst, Principal Systems AnalystNNC LTD1980 – 1988 Computer Operator, Junior Programmer

Education/TrainingHNC COMPUTER STUDIES (1985)ISEB DIPLOMA BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (2008) LEAN TRAINED (2010)

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