Thanks for making time for us in your busy schedule, James. Could you tell us a bit more about how you became the Head of IMS at SEA?
I started my career in a Business Management Graduate Training Scheme at an international defence company. After I completed that scheme, I moved into Business Development. After about five and a half years. I joined a small security firm in Kent as their Pre-Contracts Manager.
After a couple of years commuting from Wales to Kent, I decided to look for a role a bit closer to home. I was approached by SEA and joined as a Proposals Manager based at our Beckington site, supporting all SEA business areas, across all areas of the business and working across all three sites.
Although based at Beckington, the nature of my role meant I spent time down in Barnstaple working on a Torpedo Launcher System programme for North America with the Business Development and Ship and Fleet Protection team, but I was also working with the Intelligent Transport Systems Team in Bristol, and in Beckington on bids for what is now the Integrated Maritime Systems business.
After a couple of years, I was promoted to Head of Business Winning. By that point I'd written the Business Winning process for SEA, and we'd had some significant contract wins. The key difference between a Proposals Manager and Head of Business Winning was that it gave me an opportunity to build a team to meet the growing ambitions of the business.
During my time in that role, I was able to recruit people like Tom, who is now our Head of Bids & Proposals, and Rachel, our Bid Coordinator into the team. We started functioning as a department, rather than me going round all the different business areas, which reflected the growth the business has been going through.
After working on bids and proposals for six years, I felt it was a good time for a change, and I wanted to get into operations and delivery. So, I had my ear to the ground for my next opportunity, and when Head of IMS came up, I took the shot, and I’m very thankful the business showed faith in me to offer me the role.
What’s the biggest difference between Head of Business Winning and Head of IMS?
In a Project Delivery role, speaking to the customer on a regular basis is part of the job and so you get to build relationships, not just internally, which I did a lot of, but now I'm building relationships externally with customers from all over the globe.
Another big difference is that projects continue for a lot longer than bids. Bids typically last three months. There are exceptions, but you’re often involved for months, rather than years. With projects, you know what you do will always have a long-term impact because these contracts are going on for years.
I've also got larger team, so I have to delegate more. Luckily, the team I have is brilliant, so I can rely on them to crack on with their roles. I’m also far more involved in the integrated business planning process and I also have a lot more have more input into the company strategy and delivery of that strategy.
Has the company changed a lot in your eight years here?
It really has. When I joined eight years ago, SEA had just acquired J&S, and needed to unify the business through collaboration, process modernisation, and cross functional working. In terms of process, the structure wasn’t quite as mature as it is now. A big part of my role when I first came in, was to modernise the processes we had around business winning and start to and evidence that the process was fit for purpose.
If you look at the company today, we’re growing and have a real growth mindset. The company invested a huge amount in the infrastructure, such as the IT, but also things like the Talent Acquisition Team and the support services that help you to deliver your contracts effectively. Project teams can fully focus on their core activities.
Today, SEA is a mature, high-functioning organisation that is going from strength to strength, with the infrastructure to support our growth trajectory.
There's also a lot of trust in the business for people to make decisions. We’re achieving great results and people are developing more effectively, resulting in more internal promotions.
What does the Integrated Maritime Systems Department do, and how does that fit in with SEA strategy?
Essentially, we deliver communication systems to military vessels and platforms, including Surface Ships and Submarines. We have a team of highly intelligent people who can design, build, integrate and install complex communication systems for our customers. Last year, SEA received a record order intake, and a significant portion of that intake came from the IMS department, so we’ve been working on delivering those projects for the last 18 months.
We’re working with a Prime defence company to deliver communication systems into the UK Ministry of Defence Royal Navy Submarine fleet, which means our systems are on every submarine that’s in service. It’s a big strategic priority for us to be the supplier of choice for UK submarine platforms.
We also work on the ANZAC frigates for the New Zealand Ministry of Defence, which we announced last year, and we’re currently in the build and installation phase for that.
Our plan is to grow the business sustainably and continue being a world leader in maritime communications. To do that, we need to make sure we retain and attract the right talent into the business.
One of the big selling points for our systems is that they’re built on a genuine open architecture, which means they’re equipment agnostic and can be tailored to our customers’ specific needs. For example, we don’t manufacture our own radios, but we can integrate radios from any supplier.
That allows us to meet customer requirements in the most cost-effective way, but it also protects our customers from vendor lock in, and significantly reduces obsolescence risk as they can switch equipment out relatively easily within the system.
What's the biggest challenge your department is facing right now?
At the moment, we're going through a period of growth. To make sure we deliver on our commitments, we've been growing the team significantly.
We have multiple projects that are at various stages of the project lifecycle, some are in the design stage, and some are in integration and build stages. As a result, we need a lot of different skills in the team. From project managers to systems engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers, integration and support engineers and a lot more.
We need to make sure those people all feel supported by the business, and by myself, and that they all have access to the training they need. They've got the experience that they need to deliver the activities they're working on, but we also want to make sure they’re being challenged, so that they can progress their own careers, learn new skills and have opportunities to work on different things that are going to give them that rounded experience.
It's essentially making sure that we have the people in place to deliver the work, and that the people are happy, challenged and fulfilled with the work they're doing. It’s also anticipating when we need to recruit more people, to make sure everyone has a manageable workload, and the quality of SEA deliverables remains high.
One of the ways the business has changed, is that we receive a high level of support from the Talent Acquisition Team, and we have a strong approval process. We advertise our roles effectively, so that when we start looking for people, we have more applicants, and we can choose the right candidate for the role. This means we're bringing in the right people at the right time.
What do you like most about your job?
The people. So many people at SEA are incredibly talented. When I first started here, I told my wife that I felt a bit like Penny from The Big Bang Theory, in comparison!
There’s a really nice mix of people from new starters, to people who have been in the business for decades. We’ve made huge improvements to the on-boarding and induction process to help people settle in quickly.
The policies and the culture within SEA are very people-focused. Rather than having a standard benefits package, the company offers a whole suite of benefits, but it doesn’t stop there. We also get things like an annual One Team Day for all our people, and we have social committees who often organise events for people and their families.
The work that we do is also really interesting. I’ve worked across multiple areas of the business and across the different products that SEA offers. We've got customers all over the world, and they all have unique needs and different requirements. The variety that offers and the opportunities that brings is extraordinary. There aren’t many companies that offer people the opportunity to get such a wide range of experiences.
Do you have any advice for people who want to move into Integrated Maritime Systems or even head up a department?
Well, for heading the IMS department, I’m afraid this seat’s taken! But if anyone wants to join the team, the best thing to do is to pick up the phone and give us a call, or check our website. We're always looking for talented and motivated people to come and join the team. And if we don't have a vacancy now, then we almost certainly will in the near future.
Regarding becoming the head of a department, you have to be flexible and open-minded, but the most important thing is to have strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships. You’re never going to be the best at everything, but if you can build a team that you can trust and feel comfortable delegating to, enabling them to be successful allows you to be successful.
What motivates you to get up in the morning and do your best work?
More often than not, the first thing that happens in the morning is my phone rings! I enjoy the company of the people that I work with, the people in my team, the people in the leadership team or other people across the business. So, I always look forward to working with them.
But there's also always a challenge, every day you can guarantee something will come up that you hadn't planned for, something you’ve got to be able to react to. Whether it's a good thing or something challenging, at the very least, you know it’s going to be interesting. And before you know it, you look at the clock, it’s 5:30 and your stomach is rumbling.
I genuinely enjoy my role, and I’m excited to be working for a growing business.
Click here if you want to learn more about what we do in Integrated Maritime Systems.
