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My time as a hybrid BA / PMO / Test Manager in a leading retail organisation
Grayce Analyst, Angharad Crabtree, shares her experience supporting as a BA, PMO Analyst and Test Manager in a leading retail organisation.
An introduction to Angharad and her role
I’m originally from the Lake District, moving to Manchester 3 years ago and have since adopted two kitties. Outside of work I like reading, cooking and baking. At the weekend I enjoy travelling to see friends and family, and going out for dinner and drinks in the variety of places Manchester has to offer! I have been at Grayce for just over 2 years and have spent my whole term at Pets at Home, working primarily on the Success Factors project although over the first Covid lockdown I did pick up another project for a few months. I work primarily as a Business Analyst but started the Success Factors project as a test manager and support with some PMO activities, so have had a broad range of exposure to project roles. As a BA I am responsible for completing process documentation, requirement engineering, gap analysis, business case development and taking steps to ensure business readiness for product launches. In my PMO activities, I provide key decision-making information to our steering group and assisting with change requests and governance. This means I work with a wide range of stakeholders, primarily the HR team but also IT and exec members.
Proudest moments
Pets at Home are very forward-thinking in terms of their approach to adopting new technology solutions. I think that the urgency of COVID demonstrated how quickly Pets were able to implement critical systems such as Click and Collect and Go Instore video chat.
Pets at Home have always depended very heavily on manual processes and paper-based forms and documentation. The HCM platform Success Factors will allow the People Team to have an electronic database for colleague data, online learning, recruitment, time and attendance and a social platform all under one SAP product.
My biggest achievements on this project have been the Successful launch of JAM & My Learning at the end of 2019, the launch of Employee Central and Recruitment at the start of this year, and now the imminent launch of the last module that I will be a part of, Time Off. It has been very fulfilling to see some of the latter modules from the beginning to end of their implementations, as the programme has been ongoing for over 5 years now.
Insight on Grayce
What I like about Grayce is the autonomy we get at the client site yet we know we can be supported if we need it. I also like the ability to shape our own development programmes and tailor it to our interests once we have gained a core understanding of our desired career paths, e.g. project management and business analysis. Pets at Home are big advocates for Grayce as the analysts here have become invaluable members of the team and are recognised for the positive contributions they make to the projects they are involved in. I think Pets at Home also appreciate the broad foundation of business change knowledge that an analyst gains in their first year, as it allows us to understand the other projects roles and how a project team best collaborates.
