Nicky Howarth

"I think my Campaigner and Innovator personality type fits with the work I do as it helps me to understand what people want and how they can fix their problems. One of the key items in my Innovator personality type is that I work well with other people. I can use lots of different ways to help people make things better. I help to translate complicated information in a way that people can easily understand which helped by my Investigator personality type."

"My job’s focus is continuous improvement, which I do by coaching and problem solving. I use tools and techniques to enable people to fix problems and help people to change the way they do things. I love working with groups and getting to the real cause of problems and helping them discover new ways of making their days better. There are opportunities for progression as continuous improvement can be applied to all industries and businesses. There are limited opportunities to travel within a manufacturing operations role, but there are lots of opportunities to move within the business."

"In school I had an amazing chemistry teacher who started my interest in science. I left school at 16 and had two children as a single parent by the age of 18. I completed my A levels in night school and then went on to do my degree in Genetics. It was important to me that I succeeded in my education and employment goals to be a role model to my children. I have always been ambitious and I did not want my circumstances to prevent this. I have worked in many roles including working for a DNA testing company and running a Quality Control department. My current role allows me to use all of my previous experience working across the whole site with lots of different departments from Manufacturing to Engineering and Quality."

"In my spare time I enjoy going to the gym to lift weights, reading books on psychology and spending time with my four boys. I am also learning to ride a motorbike."

"Every day is different for me, which is what I enjoy most. Typically the day starts with a team meeting where we discuss the previous day’s performance and any issues. I could have meetings with various teams to help figure out why a process is not working. Most of my day today is working with people, in groups and individually. Each problem and challenge is different and requires problem solving and adaptability to figure out the best way to help people."

"Secondary education (GCSE/O-Levels)Post secondary education (College, A-levels, NVQ3 or equivalent)Undergraduate degree – BSc in Genetics"