Meet Samantha Brehaut – Agilisys Guernsey’s Head of Projects
What is your role within Agilisys Guernsey?
I joined Agilisys Guernsey as Head of Projects on the 21st September – so it’s safe to say that it’s early days!!
I’m accountable for overseeing the successful delivery of IT projects for the States of Guernsey, enabling our team to deliver end-to-end technology solutions, in support of the States’ vision for public services.
As you might imagine, skills such as leadership, communication, and great people management are critical for my role. Although I’ve not come from a traditionally ‘technical’ background, I’ve had amazing opportunities to gain these skills while working within management functions both locally and globally.
Can you tell me about yourself?
I’ve lived in Guernsey for most of my life, attending school in St Andrew before starting my career as a HR Administrator. After five years of working within HR and L&D, I attended Bournemouth University to attain an MA in Management with Human Resources, graduating in 2012 and shortly thereafter beginning an 8-year career with Specsavers.
I’ve been very lucky to combine a love of travelling with a rewarding career that’s taken me across the world – a particular highlight being the six months I spent in Hong Kong managing a major change project and developing the company culture. This gave me real clarity on what I wanted to do and where my strengths lie.
Being unable to travel abroad over these last few months has been a slight change of pace for me. But I am having a whole new kind of adventure now, as my 10-month-old daughter Leah arrived on Christmas Eve last year. While our normal holiday plans may have been put on hold for the time being, we’ve been very lucky to enjoy a beautiful summer in Guernsey, with the odd trip over to Herm!
What are you most passionate about in your career?
So much – but if I had to pick three things, I’d say: variety, making a difference, and equality.
As a people person, I love working closely with people to drive real positive change. Given my background in people-related roles, it makes sense that I’m fulfilled by driving change through people – cultivating the right cultures and mindsets.
This is a huge part of my role as Head of Projects, and one that I’m really looking forward to as well as developing my own skills and those of my team to ensure we act as one to deliver the outcomes everyone wants to achieve.
The potential to make a difference is probably what drew me to this role the most. There’s a great team in place with good processes and governance – but there is always an opportunity to review the way that things are done, to make what’s good great and to enable high-performing teams to do even better.
Why did you choose to work with Agilisys Guernsey?
I think it always comes down to the people – and this was no exception!
Reading the job description I could see the role played to my strengths and experiences. I also had the chance to meet fantastic team members throughout the whole recruitment process.
In my conversations with other members of the leadership team, it was clear that there is a strong culture of learning and development within the business. I wanted to work in a supportive environment where I could not only grow and build new skills, but where I would also have the opportunity to support everyone in my team to develop.
Finding a company that has the right vision and the right culture is always challenging, but Agilisys just ticked those boxes for me. So, here I am – and looking forward to making a positive difference to not just my team, but to our SMART Guernsey partnership as a whole.
Before joining Agilisys as Head of Projects, Samantha Brehaut lead global IT organisational change at Specsavers and drove the company’s D&I agenda. Passionate about making a difference through her work, Sam has combined her love of travelling with career opportunities taking her to China, Australia and Singapore.