Having developed confidence, skills, and technical ability at the MoJ, I felt ready to move on to another government department. Some people think that moving around in the civil service is quite an easy thing to do. To a certain extent, it is. You can move around in the civil service without having to go through probation again, but you should never underestimate that every role within every finance department in the civil service is very different. It comes down to the culture of the organisation, what financial system are being used, as well as the professionalism and nature of the business.

I moved to the department for International Development, during the EU exit transition and two months into the role in 2020 we entered the Covid-19 lockdown.

A very exciting opportunity at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) then came up which I applied to and was successful. Increasing pressure and urgency was being placed on creating and producing a vaccine to combat the pandemic and MHRA is responsible for approving their use in the UK. I was appointed to take on, develop and manage the first ever Finance Business Partnering programme for the finance function at MHRA. At the organisation, I was leading a team when we became the first ever Western Regulator to say these vaccines are safe to lead us out of a pandemic. To know that I contributed in a small way to making that happen makes me proud of what I do.

Most recently I have started a role at The HM Land Registry as Head of Financial Strategy. I stayed in one Government department for a long time but once I got the confidence to move around, I found that working for different organisations was both very exciting and a great opportunity to continue my journey of learning. The increased exposure and new opportunities have helped me to move up grades, enabling me to become a more rounded candidate.

I believe that working in the civil service offers a brilliant career option, with a positive work-life balance and excellent opportunities for education and career progression.

In your time at the Ministry of Justice, you served as a Race Ambassador, what did that involve, and what inspired you to take this on?

In 2007, I was appointed as a Race Ambassador at the MoJ, to a first-of-its-kind programme in Whitehall and I continued as part of the programme until 2019.

There were a series of objectives that we took a holistic view on, such as ensuring that all policies had the influence of a voice of a BAME representative, including making unconscious bias training mandatory. One of the biggest achievements of the Race Ambassadors programme was that the MoJ went on to create unconscious bias training that was mandatory and required a refresher course every year. The MoJ as an organisation has taken great strides to drive the case for both diversity and inclusion.

When the David Lammy review came out about discrimination in the criminal justice system, that sparked more conversations that resulted in key actions. We evaluated whether our recruitment processes were inclusive, and if our training programmes were appropriate too. I was particularly involved in evaluating the recruitment process and how that impacted disabled candidates. We needed to make sure that we could make reasonable adjustments to support individuals when disabilities are invisible, or if they choose not to disclose it.

I always asked myself, does the work of the MoJ to support individuals from diverse backgrounds reflect the forward thinking and agile civil service that we are moving into post-pandemic?

When I talk about it personally, race can mean many things to many people. Something that I championed through my time as a Race Ambassador was intersectionality. When you’re a woman, an ethnic minority, and a person of faith you can face triple discrimination. Helping people to recognise intersectionality and the unique challenges that come with that was so important to me. This was a key thing that I learned the value of and continue to build on.

It also provided me with a great opportunity to network, connect with and shape best practice across Whitehall, which included a lot of race-focused networks and groups that we could promote through the Race Ambassador programme. I was always thinking about what could be done to help ethnic minority individuals to move out of middle management roles too. Ultimately it is also important to be representative of the society we serve as civil servants.

How has the finance and accounting industry changed since you first started out? And are these changes for the better?

I don’t think there is any industry that has regressed or not changed for the better. I coach and mentor quite a lot of graduates and they often ask what the difference is between an accountant and a finance professional. This is a good question because there are clear differences in terms of whether career pathways move through strategy or implementation.

The recognition that you can be a finance professional, without being an accountant is perhaps one of the biggest leaps that I have seen. The routes into the profession are broadening, and you don’t have to hold a degree. The professionalisation of the finance function in the civil service has grown remarkably. In government we have the GFF, which is the Government Finance Function, and it allows finance professionals to belong to a community where they have continual professional development and opportunities for mentoring, coaching and a place to share common views.

Ultimately it is also important to be representative of the society we serve as civil servants.

What changes / improvements do you feel finance departments need to implement to drive further change and promote greater inclusivity?  

It would be naïve of me to say that there is no discrimination in government departments because there is, but the civil service has improved over recent decades.

Gender has done significantly better during this period than other protected characteristics, as there are now a lot of top leaders that are women. We do still lack ethnic minority, disabled and LGBT+ leaders though, for example. We need to take a holistic view on this. Are we providing the right, safe environment and opportunities that support people from diverse backgrounds to make it to the top?

I have only worked in the public sector. The MoJ diversity and inclusion agenda is phenomenal – there is a ‘no bystanders’ pledge, creating a culture where discrimination is not tolerated. Alongside this, the MoJ had good career pathway development opportunities created specifically for individuals from a range of backgrounds.

I attended a series of these throughout my career that were created for ethnic minority individuals, at different grades. These programmes support you to learn a range of skills, such as how to undertake stakeholder analysis or write complex business cases. It is often the case that the responsibility is on the individual to want to excel, but institutions also need to have strategies in place, like these, to create inclusive workplaces.

What advice would you give to individuals who are starting out in finance now?

You should work to your strengths. You should also be open to trying new opportunities in finance because it isn’t just about number crunching, there are many different teams in a finance function that you can branch into.

Find yourself a coach or a mentor to help you achieve short-term and long-term goals, build your mental resilience and soft skills too such as clear communication and time management. Your technical excellence should always remain strong as you continue to study and apply those techniques each day, but if you don’t develop your soft skills then you won’t progress as a leader. You may be a finance professional, but to be a finance leader there are clear differences. Which one do you want to be?