Kate Alexander
More About Me
COMPANY: British Airways Plc
JOB TITLE: Business Design Lead
Business Design Lead – this involves working with BA internal customers across the airline and helping them change and improve the business for the benefit of BA. This can include supporting them in defining new ways of working and usually providing IT solutions to enable change and advancement.
There is analysis and logic, plus problem solving & creativity!
PATH TAKEN:
I did an Archaeology degree at Newcastle upon Tyne University, then after a couple of years did a conversion Masters Degree in IT (MSc Information System) at Brighton University.
This is a highly acclaimed course, allowing graduates of non–IT degrees to go into IT careers. It also had the added advantage of offering a scholarship designed to attract more females into IT.
In between the two degrees, I lived in Paris and did various office temping jobs, which proved just as useful as the degrees since I gained both life and office experience.
I joined BA as a graduate developer, but I am much more of a ‘peopley, creative and problem solving’ type and not a very good coder at all! Therefore, I tried to work more on the elements I was good at, and then I pushed myself really hard when I got an Analysis and Design role to prove myself.
Although I did not need an IT degree to get into BA – it has definitely been an advantage and helped me progress quicker.
SKILLS REQUIRED:
- Logical, can analyse and present and chop down lots of complex information.
- Research skills.
- Creativity to arrive at IT design.
- Good with both ‘The Business’ – non-technical users and Technical audiences, Project Managers – you need to have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Shaping and giving projects direction – especially at the start.
- Tact and diplomacy – some change can be quite sensitive and unwelcome.
- Need to be determined & focused to do well!
BENEFITS OF THE JOB:
- Working for an airline – interesting field and travel perks.
- If you design for quite an Operational area you really see things working.
- If you prove yourself and do well it is quite autonomous with scope for how you approach your work yourself – allows you to define things.
CAREER GOALS:
Keep following IT and Business Change Design route to support BA in becoming more competitive.
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