Charlotte Willis

"Governance is a mix of 'Performance' (How well is something doing?), and 'Conformance' (Is that something being done within the rules?). I am responsible for ensuring that our Technology Department is delivering the right thing, in the right way, to the right level of quality, and also that we're meeting our compliance and business requirements. I work in Financial Services so there are a lot of legal Regulations we have to comply with as well as our own company standards. Most importantly I make sure that we can see that we're delivering the technology the company needs to deliver its overall strategy so we all know we're going in the same direction! There's a lot of reporting, metrics, and dashboards, but there's also a lot of partnerships and stakeholders and working with everyone around me to make sure we're telling the right story. Senior Technology leaders need to be reassured that the department is being run effectively. I have to liaise with multiple other technical and non-technical teams and have to form good working relationships with all of them, including influencing them. I also have to provide a service to the teams I work with but sometimes that also involves saying no to them! The mix of Coordinator, Influencer and Manager is suitable because they focus on details, plans, and communication, which is basically my job. "

"I am responsible for overseeing the business side of the technology department. I source and gather information on our technologies and our services, translate it into business information and work with other teams to ensure we have the right governance mechanisms in place. My favourite part of my job is the people, the management and attention to detail. I get to straddle both the business side and the technical side and I love that I get to talk both languages! I also like to be relied on, feel important and provide a good service to my colleagues and to the business. I plan to stay in a technology environment (as that's my passion) and continue learning about how the business runs and operates. I would like to be a Chief of Staff or Chief Operating Officer in the future."

"I actually got an E in my A Level Maths (I went through a phase where I just switched off from learning and unfortunately that coincided with my A-Levels!). At the time, I was told I'd never progress in a technology subject, but that didn't stop me from getting my university place (early influencing skills at play!) and I went on to do Business and IT degree and proved them wrong! It just goes to show that your exam results aren't always an accurate reflection of your ability - my never-ending passion for technology inspired me but I just wasn't interested in exams at the time. I now really enjoy and am good at the maths side of my job (which is big!) and my passion for learning kicked right back in again when in a technology environment I so enjoyed.I knew at university that I didn't want to work on the inside of a computer (software developer) so I opted for the business side of tech instead and it's served me well every since. There weren't many known female tech role models when I was growing up so I just followed my heart and the opportunities that presented themselves as well as learning from people that inspired me. Because of the fact that I straddle both technology and business, I'd like to be a Chief Operating Officer or Chief of Staff in the future."

"I work in the City of London for a Financial Services organisation so there's quite a lot of pressure and some long hours sometimes. But I work with a great team, and I get a huge amount of satisfaction from working hard and performing well. Plus, I get rewarded for it in my salary and benefits.Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family and being active too. I do exercise classes during the week and then I ski and sail on my holidays. I also volunteer with STEM organisations in my spare time, and won a TechWomen100 award at the end of 2018 for being one of the top 100 women in tech in the UK - a very proud moment! I really enjoy networking (a lot of people are scared by that word but it's actually just chatting to people - some who go on to become friends and some who end up with a new job opportunity!) so I attend lots of Women in IT events where I can too."

"It's a desk based job in an office but because I rely on a lot of people for information, it's also all about relationships, so I'm often running about talking to people and following up on things. I am super organised and I have to juggle lots of things at once. I work with spreadsheets and numbers a lot but ultimately a lot of my job is about problem solving, story-telling (reporting) and working out how we get things done efficiently, then enabling and facilitating the technical teams to make it happen."

"Secondary education: 10 GCSEs (including being the first in my school to study IT at GCSE in 1994!) 3 A-Levels (including an E in A Level Maths!)Undergraduate degree: BSc (Hons) Business Systems and Information Technology degree (2:1) Professional Qualifications: Prince2, Lean, Six Sigma, SAFe Agile, CGEITAwards: TechWomen100 Award, 2018One of the most important decisions I made was when I went to university. I started studying a Computer Science degree and completed the first year but hated it (which took some time getting used to as I'd wanted to do nothing else for some time). I was determined to get a degree though and wanted to study something that was still Technology-related but that I was still genuinely interested in, so I switched courses to a Business and IT degree instead. It eas the best move I have ever made - it was really hard starting again at the time but I enjoyed the degree so much more than I'd enjoyed Computer Science which also meant I didn't find the work too difficult! If you're ever faced with a dilemma where you're not enjoying something you're doing, consider a slightly different version of what you're doing first and do some real soul-searching about what it is you do enjoy - following your passions and making sensible decisions about those passions for your future will always stand you in good stead."