Managing key partnerships to deliver value
Kate Oxley – Head of Group Technology Strategic Procurement
Kate is Head of Strategic Procurement for our Global Technology Team at RPS. She works closely with our Chief Information Officer to ensure that the team deliver their strategic initiatives. RPS has a strong reputation for tech enabled consultancy and the relationships we have with our major tech partners are really important to us. It is her responsibility to build strong relationships with our partners - organisation such as Microsoft, CDW, and Exponential-e – while making sure these key partnerships are well managed, productive and deliver value for money.
QWhat are some of your career highlights or most exciting recent projects?
Being asked to share my career experiences at a conference of over 300 attendees was definitely a highlight. Also, changing career direction at 40! After 13 years of leading finance teams through major change, I decided a move into IT would complement the skills I had gained while allowing me to grow my career further and gain new qualifications.
Quick Q&A
Which woman or women inspire you?
British business executive Karren Brady.
What are you most proud of?
My daughter
What do you do in your spare time?
Running and keeping fit
QFor you personally, what was the best/most useful thing you did to further your career?
Being open and honest by sharing my career aspirations with my Manager(s) has always stood me in good stead. This goes hand in hand with taking every opportunity that was offered to me. Or on the flip slide, recognising there are no clear opportunities and that it’s okay to move on, this is a good thing.
For me its ultimately about not being afraid to push myself out of my comfort zone – feel the fear and do it anyway!
QWhat advice would you give to your younger self?
Always push yourself. If you want to grow, it won’t happen from a place of comfort. It’s a cliché – but don’t be afraid of failure. I would also highly recommend finding a mentor early on in your career, someone who you trust with great leadership qualities.