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What is your role and what are your responsibilities?
I am Senior Enterprise Risk Specialist in the Group Risk Team at Network Rail. I provide specialist enterprise risk management knowledge and expertise to the organisation. This includes providing guidance on our risk framework, ensuring it is up-to-date with best practice and writing risk reports for our Board and Executive Leadership Team. I also manage a team of three Enterprise Risk Account Managers and Chair the Milton Keynes Heads of Risk Forum.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
No two days are the same. Working in the Group Risk Team I get to work with all areas of our business. One day I might be leading a risk workshop on an opportunity to enhance the service we provide to our passengers and the next I could be working on a piece of risk quantification regarding the effects of coastal erosion on our railway assets. We also have a fantastic risk professional’s network at Network Rail where we get together regularly to share best practice and offer solutions to common problems.
What have been your biggest successes and achievements in your organisation?
Innovation is a key part of our work in the Group Risk Team. In 2019 we won the ALARM Best use of Technology in Risk Management Award for our ground-breaking risk visualisation work. From a personal perspective, I’ve delivered a number of projects to improve our framework including opportunity management, risk trajectories and a horizon scanning methodology.
What is the one piece of advice you would offer someone entering your profession?
Be brave and stick to your beliefs. Part of our job is telling people news they don’t always want to hear but it’s important these conversations are had even though it might not make us popular.
What topics and trends are emerging?
The way we work and commute has changed so for a passenger and freight focused organisation understanding the threats and opportunities presented by these changing patterns is vital. Also, energy usage and transition to greener forms of energy is a big topic for us at Network Rail and finally, how we make use of big data to make the railway safer and enhance the services we provide.
How does ALARM benefit you and/or your organisation?
Having access to the regional seminars and online forums is useful for keeping up-to-date with industry developments. It’s also a great opportunity to network with fellow risk practitioners and hear about how they’re implementing risk frameworks in their organisations.
