Alys Shepherd

A conscientious and professional people manager with extensive experience in coaching, mentoring, training and working with challenging behaviours. Highly driven and motivated which assists my ability to achieve results. Strong ability to empathise with others which makes me very good at delivering person centred training and leadership.

I first moved into the education sector in 2009 when I started at APMG as manager of the operations team. My team were responsible for booking exams, creating and sending out exam packs, marking papers, liaising with training providers and organising ad hoc exam bookings. I also had the additional responsibility of invigilating exams, managing the online booking system and testing the online platforms for new qualifications. Whilst at APMG I became the lead on a project that involved restructuring my team from working as individuals spread across different areas, to a more quality focussed end to end team. My role within this included managing people through changes to their job responsibilities and the location they worked in. Re-training on both an individual and group basis and actively encouraging the team to work as a collaboration whilst maintaining accountability. 

I qualified as a Change Management Practitioner whilst at APMG and am also familiar with PRINCE2 and Lean principles.

I have very strong communication skills and the ability to adapt to different personalities and situations. I am comfortable exchanging information and providing feedback and understand that strong working relationships are key to success. I am very used to communicating with a range of different stakeholders, including apprentices, employers and colleagues of varying levels. I can use a variety of different systems and am very comfortable reporting from a range of electronic media platforms.

I now have over 12 years of experience working within apprenticeships and have extensive knowledge on Government funded training, work-based learning and the requirements of the ESFA contract. I have been through Ofsted inspections on numerous occasions and have played various different roles, from working directly with the inspectors, to being responsible for accumulating required information.

My 10 years at CITB have given me a wealth of apprenticeship related knowledge and my different roles within the organisation have given me exposure to the contract requirements form different sides. I started as a Team Leader, managing 10 individuals across two different teams. The teams I managed were responsible for processing the contractual paperwork for the ESFA funding. Shortly after starting the role, CITB also went through a significant restructure, which involved closing several administrative offices and centralising the work at one location. My previous experience at APMG allowed me to take the lead on this project. I was responsible for recruiting, including short listing and interviewing and then went on to design and deliver the relevant training sessions to both groups and individuals. 

As part of this restructure, we again moved to an end-to-end way of working, giving our employers and apprentices a much better overall experience and ensuring that quality was at the centre. I was again responsible for coaching and mentoring individuals through significant changes to their job roles and the challenges and emotions that come with this. 

I was also responsible for producing weekly and monthly performance reports and have a good understanding of the ESFA error reports, and what issues will affect funding. I am used to working to strict KPI’s and service level agreements and have extensive experience of managing these performance indicators within a team. I believe that I have the ability to motivate and challenge the team that I manage, and this is evident in the success of the two major restructures I have been involved with.

After 6 years in the office, I was ready for a new challenge and moved into the field as an Apprenticeship Officer. I successfully managed a caseload of approximately 100 apprentices. This included carrying out regular reviews, dealing with safeguarding issues, accurately completing funding related paperwork, carrying out learner walks and completing health and safety monitoring of the employers I worked with.

I was very successful at developing and maintaining relationships with the employers and colleges that I worked with, ensuring that my apprentices had the best possible experience. I have participated in a number of apprenticeship careers events and have assisted employers in recruiting and shortlisting apprentices. Although I do not have an assessor qualification, I do have extensive experience working one to on with apprentices to support with portfolio work and functional skills. I am directly responsible for the success of several of my apprentices who were on the verge of giving up prior to my intervention. 

After being made redundant at CITB, I then joined JTL as a Contract Manager. My main responsibility is negotiating and managing the contracts and service level agreements in place for the subcontractors I work with. Performance management is a very large part of my role. Through regular contact and strong working relationships I can direct and support my third-party subcontractors in delivering to the standards set out in the contract. I am comfortable with driving improvements within these organisations and work collaboratively with the Training Officers and Learner Assessment Managers to ensure that feedback is provided timely. I have the ability to react quickly to any issues, guide and support the college staff on delivery, timely completion of units, behavioural issues, and safeguarding. I am also responsible for negotiating annual contract rates, delivery patterns and timetables. 

I have worked closely with underperforming colleges which has resulted in improvements in communication and performance. Where necessary I have used my knowledge of the contract held with our subcontractors, such as the ability to withhold payments, to ensure the effective running of our subcontractors. I also work closely with the Quality Improvement Manager, attending deep dives and quality reviews, and taking part in feedback and best practice sharing sessions. I have a thorough understanding of the colleges I work with and am able to proactively contribute to the risk management meetings we have with the QIM, based on this knowledge.

I have a full, clean driving license, I work hard, enjoy being challenged and I am very used to travelling and working anti-social hours. 

Safeguarding

Keeping Children Safe in Education