Having been a SMSer for 2 years, Natasha is now a Program Manager for the Department of Defence on their Surveillance Program. This work is a high profile project which will allow the military to use a scientifically sound and independent method of monitoring the health of military personnel who have been deployed overseas in the past 7 years. In her role as Program Manager, Natasha is responsible for the development and refinement of the program’s governance frameworks, the development of standard operating procedures for the program office and program committees and the development of business cases for long-term program funding. After just a week under Natasha's leadership, the program 'stood up' and now, six months later, she's recruiting highly qualified APS staff to resource the program office. Her day-to-day responsibilities include managing the dependencies and interfaces between projects, reporting the progress of the program to the program management board and managing stakeholder communications.
SMS Career Highlights
- Extending herself to excel in the role of Program Manager
- Gaining professional program management qualifications
- Developing a very interesting case study for SMS which promoted the company's professional abilities in the program and portfolio management area
- Developing strategic process and systems level architecture for the deployable Army, Air Force and Navy tactical Electronic Warfare environment
- Aiding in the architecture development for a major Defence request for tender project.
Background
Like most SMS consultants, Natasha is highly qualified. She has a Graduate Diploma in Middle East & Central Asian Studies, a Bachelor of Arts (Majoring in Indonesian, International Relations and Asian Studies), an Advanced Diploma in Telecommunications Intelligence, a Foundation level qualification in Managing Successful Programs and she's a Registered Project Manager with AIPM. Natasha has also achieved practitioner level certification for Managing Successful Programmes.
Of course, education is just the start. She's also very experienced - particularly in Defence. Prior to her Program Manager role, she was involved in architecture development for SMS and before joining SMS, she spent 3 years in Defence Intelligence and the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet and seven years in the Army as a communications specialist.
A Word from Natasha...
"Every new SMS engagement has been a professional challenge in learning about the client’s particular area of expertise and trying to understand and articulate their requirements. When I’m not on the client site, I’m usually enjoying the company of other SMSers, either professionally or socially. They're a great bunch - whether you need help on the job or with a quiet drink!"