Pros
The team sits in a central group function reporting and leads the largest and most complex change initiatives in the business; I have been with the team for over three years now and during that time I’ve had the opportunity to work on some truly transformation projects that will make a real difference. The team has very strong sponsorship from senior management meaning that we are able to drive change in a business that can otherwise be quite ponderous. There are a lot of very talented and committed people in the team, making it an vibrant and dynamic place to work. It is generally a young crowd so it is quite sociable, with various after work activities. A lot of people have been able to progress quickly – success is rewarded and people are stretched to take on new bigger roles. Expectations are high and if you are good, you will be pushed forward in your career. Management want their teams to succeed and will commit time to coach and develop, but you do need to be proactive and manage upwards. The team has managed to get a lot of people who have been promoted into senior positions in the business after a couple of years (a mix of different roles, including finance, operations, transformation, etc.), including a number who have moved into exec roles. In recent times, the team has broadened its focus as is now driving revenue growth opportunities as well as cost savings. The EE integration and a recent reorganisation of the UK non-residential business were run by the team and it is likely that there will continue to be more ‘big ticket’ programmes like this to come.
Cons
The pace is demanding, so be prepared to work hard. It is not a 9-5 job, but equally there is not a culture of working long hours for the sake of it. The focus is on getting the job done, although that can mean the odd late night preparing for a big meeting. The nature of what the team is trying to achieve (we are currently delivering >£1bn of cost savings each year) means that sometimes you are put in a challenging position with the business. Resilience is required to take on stakeholders and to withstand push back.