Meet Chloe Brown, Junior Project Manager

Chloe Brown, Junior Project Manager, speaks about her exciting start at Agilisys Guernsey — and the importance of diversified learning and hands-on project management.

Hi Chloe! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Chloe – a recent graduate from the University of Surrey, and the newest member of the Project Management team within Agilisys Guernsey.

I have recently returned to Guernsey after spending four years off-island studying Business Management and Spanish at university. As you might guess by my degree, I love languages – in fact, I’m actually trilingual as I’m also fluent in French. So, my friends tend to view me as a walking Google Translate!

Needless to say, I’m passionate about travel. I was fortunate enough to have an unforgettable placement year abroad in Barcelona – spent learning Spanish, enjoying (or rather, relishing) Spanish food, and trying to perfect my Sangria recipe.

But my year abroad aside, it’s been a strange student experience – not just for me, but for probably just about everyone who has attended school or university over the past 18 months. With lockdowns and social distancing, there are aspects to student life that I’ve missed, and it was very bittersweet leaving campus in July.

But I can’t really complain – I’ve also had the opportunity to spend extra time at home, making the most of our gorgeous island. And now – starting my career in Project Management!

Can you tell us about your role and the Projects team?

I’ve now been with the Projects team for over six weeks. As a Junior Project Manager, I’m responsible for the management and successful delivery of a number of BAU (Business As Usual) projects. 

It’s easy to think that a degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering is necessary to be successful in my role. After all, the role of a Project Manager involves working to deliver end-to-end technology solutions – so I should be a technical person too, right? Not quite – in fact, communication, governance, and customer engagement are critical to the success of the PMO (Project Management Office).

This is because I’m enabled and supported by knowledgeable technical colleagues – people who are always happy to give me one-to-one sessions, and who help me to understand their unique roles and capabilities when it comes to IT delivery. This enables me to focus on engaging with the customer, understanding their requirements – and helping to translate those into outcomes.

The Projects that I manage are hugely varied, and I already love the outcomes that we help to achieve with our customer, and the SMART Guernsey Partnership colleagues that I have met.

Meanwhile, I’m already booked in to undertake new qualifications, starting with ITIL 4 at the end of the month and PRINCE2 soon to follow. So, I’m very excited to have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow!

What interested you in a career in Project Management?

I’m really interested in technology. Before joining Agilisys, I gained some internship experience working in User Experience (UX) design. The internship was a great opportunity that taught me how to listen and deliver based on client needs, and how to work with the customer to explore different solutions. 

But I think what really drew me to Project Management was the variety. I didn’t want to jump straight into something very specialised – so Project Management presented an opportunity to work and learn across a broad spectrum of disciplines within the organisation.

They say no two projects are the same, and I’m absolutely finding this to be the case! When I had my first interview with Sam Brehaut, our Head of Projects, she spoke about how varied the projects were – but I don’t think I fully grasped just how true this would be until I was a few weeks into my role.

In our Partnership with the States, we work across the breadth of the States’ services. This means working closely with the harbour, the airport, the hospital, the police – and just about every other service you can think of. And I love that – I love supporting the people who deliver critical services for our island, and I love tackling a new and exciting challenge every day.

Can you tell us about some of the Projects that you are working on?

I’m really excited to be working on the first phase of a new Learning Hub—helping to create a dedicated space for people to complete their training, equipped with the right infrastructure, devices, and software.

This has involved quite a bit of communication to organise, not only with our customer but also with our local technology partners who are involved in the delivery. But I’ve really liked working on this from beginning to end—aligning with the customer, communicating with teams, managing stakeholders – and delivering something that will make it far easier for people to undertake the essential training that they need.

What do you like to do when you are not working?

Outside of work, I love to play piano and guitar. I’ve performed locally before at the usual gig spots: Les Douvres, Fermain Tavern, the Vault, seafront Sunday… though when it comes to our Agilisys Guernsey entry for Corporate Battle of the Bands later this year, I plan to be in the audience cheering on my colleagues!

Chloe Brown is a member of the Project Management team at Agilisys Guernsey, working to deliver technology solutions that make a difference for civil servants and islanders. Chloe is also a Business Management and Spanish graduate from the University of Surrey, passionate about languages and travel.