Katie Lawson, PMO Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance

Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance has welcomed new team members from across the NHS and beyond.

Katie Lawson joined the Cancer Alliance from a specialist NHS trust and quickly found that the organisation was a place where she could develop fresh skills and take on new responsibilities.

Katie joined the Cancer Alliance in November 2020, originally on secondment as PMO and Information Officer, helping to establish formal processes for the management of projects across all its teams.

With the increasing number of complex projects and programmes aiming to improve cancer treatment and care right across Cheshire and Merseyside, Katie’s role was to help embed new ways of working to support everyone in the Cancer Alliance.

Project management was an area that Katie had not worked in before but quickly found her feet with support from her new colleagues – and within a few years rose to become PMO Lead, driving the implementation of important ways to ensure consistency, efficiency and governance in all Cancer Alliance projects.

Katie said: “Although I had plenty of planning and organisational skills, I had never worked in project management before and was very nervous about taking on this new role, which at the time I felt I had little knowledge of.

“However, the support from the team was incredible and I very quickly felt part of a team and was inspired daily by my colleagues, who are so passionate about their individual projects and the difference they make to cancer services in Cheshire and Merseyside.

“Since then, I have been lucky to have so many different opportunities at the Cancer Alliance, including learning a new project management system and working with the team to train people up to use it.

“I’ve also become a line manager, developed new processes, worked on events, been heavily involved in recruitment and inductions of new staff and organised and led training sessions.

“All these opportunities have given me the experience and confidence to be able to progress in my career and I am now the PMO Lead at CMCA and also manage the admin team.”

Although the Cancer Alliance has grown (and will grow further) over the recent years, Katie is still able to form close working relationships with colleagues across the different teams.

She said: “The best thing about working at CMCA is the people. Being in the PMO team means that I get to work with almost every single member of the Cancer Alliance, and everyone is always willing to go above and beyond to support each other and share ideas.”

Hybrid working is the norm at the Cancer Alliance, with many people working at home most of the time – and there is a great deal of flexibility built in to where and when people log on. But Katie says that remote working does not mean she feels out on a limb, without support when she needs it – or a reduction in teamwork.

She said: “Even though, we mostly work from home, remote working has not hindered the rapport across the team and I feel privileged to know and work with such passionate people.”