When a great product is delivered, it’s easy to forget that there were many teams of specialists working together behind the scenes to bring it all together; Kay is one of those people. Kay has hit the ground running and is working tirelessly to deliver the products we’re so proud of to our clients. We asked Kay some questions to find out more about her experience, what a normal day as Head of Delivery looks like and what she hopes to achieve in her new role.

Tell us a bit about you and your journey up to this point
I’ve had a really varied career so far but the majority of it has been in IT within Investment Banks and Financial Institutions. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked in companies of all different sizes so I’m familiar with the pros and cons of both! I’ve also run my own business, which, to be completely honest, was not something I enjoyed, so I decided to go back to working for established companies where I could be part of a productive and entrepreneurial group of like-minded people. 

Before starting at Den, I had actually worked alongside Elixirr (Den’s mother company) for almost three years. My experience with Elixirr made me feel Den would be somewhere I could be valued and make an important contribution so I’m really pleased to have joined and look forward to joining Den on their journey.

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Den?
My role is Head of Delivery; it is a broad role that looks at the processes and procedures that we use to deliver products and services to our clients. My role involves a lot of problem-solving and issue resolution so I spend a lot of time looking at what we do well, what can be improved and how. I’m a big advocate of collaborative working, which Den champions too, so I’m excited to continue encouraging collaboration wherever possible (it’s always possible!). I’m also a mental wellness and diversity champion and keen to get to work with the internal teams that are doing great things in this space.

What does a typical day look like for you?
At the moment my calendar looks like a sea of meetings! Every day is busy – but ‘good busy’! My days start at 6am when my dogs get up; I have 4 and so they need some TLC in the morning, or they will happily start a collective howl and wake the neighbours, ‘singing the songs of their people’! Once my chores are done I grab a milky coffee and some breakfast at 8am (ish) and I head straight into meetings. My meetings are varied; some are project-specific, others are with my team, making sure they’re all okay and answering any questions they have. I try to book an hour for lunch, but it rarely happens! It generally ends up as my emergency contingency time. But, I do try to take some time to grab a bit of food – I am lucky that my husband is at home too and is an amazing cook, so I am his chief taster! 

The end of the day varies, sometimes my work day drifts into the evening, but I try to make sure that I have some ‘head space’ time, to commune with my husband and dogs and go to my happy place and sew. I developed a passion for sewing during lockdown and I am now an avid fan, so don’t call me when the Great British Sewing Bee is on as I will not answer the phone!

What are you most passionate about in technical delivery?
I’m passionate about being premier class in everything we do; I want every product we deliver to be nothing but the best. Technical delivery requires huge collaboration from a wide number of different teams and I love ensuring that the necessary collaboration happens. I think my greatest skill is bringing people together, problem-solving, keeping calm and always trying to have a fair and balanced view of issues and people, and a position in technical delivery requires all these traits.  

What do you hope to achieve in your role here?
I hope to give recognition for excellent work, for collaborative and entrepreneurial spirit and also to ensure that we always have a heart-centred approach to business and that we always behave in a ‘human being first’ way. I would also like to mentor the more junior members of the team and help them build on their skills. I think the most important thing I think I could achieve from my role is to look back and see the progression from where we are now to where we will have got to and know that I have helped and been a part of that growth.  

Oh, and next week World Peace and Hunger…

If you’d like to find out more about our capabilities and what we can do for you, or you’d like to join our team, get in touch!