Lynn Lovell – PMO Manager and Practice Lead, Bravura
Almost a decade ago, I joined Bravura as a Project Manager transitioning over the years to a position of Project Management Office (PMO) Manager and Practice Lead.
My background was predominantly in consultancy, both as a developer and as an analyst. This saw me work at various organisations in a technical capacity, including five years at Logica, two years at Capgemini and more than 15 years at global asset company GAM as a senior project manager. Funnily enough, I managed the relationship with Bravura at GAM, and it gave me my first taste of the culture and passion within the company.
At GAM, I built up a strong working relationship with the team at Bravura, and when I had the opportunity to join the company, I jumped at the chance as it always felt like a really dynamic and vibrant team. How right I was!
My role now spans right across the business, and there’s never a dull day. As PMO Manager, I am responsible for a team of 10 people, helping out across a range of functions for our project managers at Bravura. This can include helping from invoicing to finance, to Governance and Project Support.
As a person who is passionate about getting more young talent into the industry, I’m incredibly proud of the team we’ve built up. Various members of my team joined the business straight from school as apprentices and Bravura is supporting them on their way to get degrees in a range of disciplines – including Computer Science and Business Management.
We’re a young team, full of energy, passion and dynamism – and ultimately some with aspirations to move into project management one day soon, so it’s brilliant to see them develop and progress while working together.
Creating greater social mobility at Bravura
I’m privileged to spearhead Bravura’s Diversity & Inclusiveness Country Lead & Social Mobility Global Lead in the UK with my colleague Carolyn Erasmus (Country Manager for South Africa), following its launch in 2020.
Our key aim in the Social Mobility pillar is to actively support social cohesion within Bravura and give more young people from diverse – and sometimes disadvantaged – backgrounds the chance to fulfil their ambition and ability.
I’m of the firm belief that an individual should not be held back because of their social, educational, or economic background. I believe an individual’s talent, drive and determination should feed their career opportunities and progression, and so this is a hugely important initiative and one I’m proud to co-lead at Bravura.
We’ve made huge strides, and we’ve taken on a growing number of apprentices apprentices – of various levels – in departments across the UK business since 2018.
Last year, we also formalised a partnership with Leadership Through Sport & Business (LTSB), a social mobility charity that prepares and supports bright young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into meaningful roles with major companies. The partnership has already paid dividends and we’ve taken on 3 young people from the charity, who have gone on to secure apprenticeship roles in the business, with a healthy pipeline of talent to come in the future.
On 21 November 2022 we’re hosting a corporate experience day, organised in conjunction with LTSB.
The initiative will see us welcome 18 bright young adults to our London offices, helping them increase their business skills and acumen through a range of sessions and workshops – including CV writing, business writing and team building skills. Basically, everything I wished someone would have told me before I started work!
The ultimate aim is to help these young adults become more confident and comfortable in the corporate world (which can be a daunting for anyone starting fresh from school or university) and encourage them to think big.
Looking ahead, we have some exciting plans in the pipeline. We have launched a global internal staff survey to help better understand the Bravura Diversity & Incisiveness profile enabling us to tailor our support and programmes to help encourage more action across the company.
We’re also continuing our commitment to staff, providing two days paid leave per year to support charitable causes close to their hearts. Recently I used one of my days to help A-level students during results day (more information on this initiative can be found here) – celebrating and commiserating and give them guidance through the mad rush of university clearing. Whilst it is not a prerequisite for staff to take this time, I found it an incredibly valuable and rewarding experience and I encourage all our staff to use this time.
So, to close, my message to all my colleagues at Bravura is this – it’s all of our responsibilities to help those less fortunate by highlighting the range of opportunities there are for people of all walks of life at Bravura.