Tammy Holmes

Im an enthusiastic driven person who loves to live life to the fullest in all aspects of my life. 

I have experience in developing people to make the most of their potential and also make links between communities. I thrive working in a complex environment and enjoy motivating individuals across sectors to think outside the box and develop new collaborative ways of working.

I have been able to be part of and see so many fantastic changes and remain proactive and creative in my approach. With a significant network of organisations and people across all sectors, I enjoy helping people get together to make exciting things happen. 

While my general skills around budgets, IT and presentations are all of a high standard what i really get satisfaction from is being around exciting and innovative people and helping them get to where they need to be. Whether that be by developing, knowledge, skills or networks there is no better place to be than seeing amazing people do amazing things!

I am currently looking for a new role or opportunities within the innovation, transformation and change arena and welcome any conversations that could lead to new opportunities or experiences. 

As a seasoned NHS professional with over 20 years of experience, I have a proven track record of developing and implementing successful processes and strategies and project to generate revenue, improve services and meet business objectives.  I have in-depth knowledge of health and social care systems, commercial strategies and practical experience of putting these into operation across the Research and Innovation portfolio spanning MedTECH and HealthTECH.  I have experience of managing a variety of projects and programmes and have had the pleasure of being involved in a variety of successful projects.  This includes the development and delivery of 2 innovation teams, a successful innovator support servics and the implementation and adoption of solutions within the system such as Heartflow which subsequently became a national programme. 

I spent 3 years in a management role in R&D teams and in my 9 years at the WMAHSN (now HIWM) I have been able to grow and develop my professional knowledge and leadership experience around commercial management and economic growth, often working with a degree of uncertainty and autonomy which requires continual adjustment and risk mitigation.  This has been further supported by my academic pursuits and voluntary Director roles for organisations which aim to drive research and innovation leadership. 

I have undertaken a number of roles that have crossed stakeholders boundaries including industry, digital, health, social care and academia and been required to identify need and demand to enable market opportunities to be communicated. This has provided me with the opportunity to work at across all stages of the innovation pipeline including supporting the implementation innovations across the life science sector.  An example of this was my involvement in leading the WMAHSN approach to the Innovation Technology Tariff (ITT) which required working closely with the innovators and adopters to implement solutions approved for the ITT. I therefore, have a strong and practical understanding of the innovation pipeline and have also developed and lead on the implementation of this in a variety of organisations.  In particular my role as CLAHRC (Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research & Care) Co-Ordinator required me to develop a theoretical knowledge of knowledge translation including the knowledge to action cycle to support and promote service change/redesign and implement evidence into practice and how to monitor performance and effectiveness. I continue to be actively involved as a leader of our commercial activity to support early and late stage innovators. 

I am a strong advocate of partnership and collaboration and I am always keen to share and develop ideas and processes often resulting in requests to present within several national arenas including the Westminster Business Forum, NHS Confed and chairing international forums. I have experience of being actively involved in identifying and negotiating partnership and stakeholder agreements which include identification as a key partner with Sonofi for commercial research opportunities, developing shared approaches to supporting industry requests with the Clinical Research Network and exploring joint Intellectual Property policies with academic institutions.  

In addition, I have provided training, education, coaching and mentoring to future leaders looking to aspire into similar positions.  Similarly I am always keen to learn and work on my  strengths and limitations by actively seeking out my own mentors and learning opportunities to support my  professional development. 

Over the last 5 years I have provided leadership for the HIWM national commercial activities and from March 2024 undertook an interim role as Commercial Director and continue to be involved in the Health Innovation Network Commercial Director forum and International innovator support working group.  I have actively contributed to national and regional networks to drive collaboration and innovation and continue to remain aware of the current pollical and cultural developments through attendance at regional and national groups.  This together with over 4 years’ experience with IdeasUK and the Medical Device Alliance I have provided executive level strategic management and leadership to support the organisations to work at the leading edge of commercial and innovation activities. 

During my time at the HIWM I have developed and grown activities which have enabled me to establish a multidisciplinary high functioning team that remains productive and complimentary to my leadership approach. This have enabled me to fulfil a dual role and delegate appropriately and confidently where required. 

I have continually acted as a strategic link across a number of departments, teams and organisations reporting progress by analysing and reporting data in a format which is consistent with the needs of the audience.

As an active member of the IdeasUK executive and board I supported the business planning and commercial strategy development of this dynamic organisation to review and approve its ongoing business model.  Together with my current role at HIWM I have contributed and developed a number of networks to support innovation not only within health and care but also across the private sector and internationally and I continue to support the operational planning, development and assurance of the OLS commission. 

I have over 10 years’ experience within the NHS developing and establishing affective governance practices and processes for both commercial and innovation activity. During my time within commercial research at UHNM and UHCW I was able to increase commercial income by undertaking a full review of practices and subsequently awarded NHS Research Site of the year at the Pharma Times Awards for both organisations. To enable others to benefit from my experience I have also provided training and workshops for organisations across sectors around developing an affective feasibility process to drive commercial income and creating an innovation culture in the organisation. 

Most recently I have also begun to undertake private work, working with Ideas Shadow Coaching.  Working alongside individuals from banking and the Ministry of Defence to provide leadership, coaching and practical support to further develop innovation programmes and activities for small, medium and large organisations.

My enthusiasm and commitment to the health and care system has continued to drive my decision to continue a career within the Innovation Environment.  I thrive working in a complex environment and enjoy motivating individuals across sectors to think outside the box and develop new collaborative ways of working.  My interpersonal skills are first class and I am comfortable working with a range of subject areas and audiences with  the ability to influence across professional groups and sectors, often bringing key opinion leaders on side to work towards a mutual goal. The HIWM has been my place of employment for over 8 years and during that time I have been able to be part of and see so many fantastic changes and remain proactive and creative in my approach. I am keen to develop and share my experience, enthusiasm and perseverance within the role. 

I am educated to masters level with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and an MRes in applied Health Research.  During my career I have been passionate about developing my knowledge and expertise and have undertaken qualifications in PRINCE2, coaching and mentoring and attended a wide variety of masterclasses and workshops to ensure i am up to date with the latest developments in health care innovation. 

In addition, my passion for health and fitness has led me to develop my personal knowledge around nutrition, functional fitness training and I am currently studying towards my Level 2 fitness instructor and Level 3 personal trainer.