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Tracey Phillipson

Current role at UCL: Student Projects and Development Coordinator - I am currently working to develop and enhance student projects at the School of Management.

My focus is on creating partnerships and scoping data-centric projects for our MSc Business Analytics students.  With a background in tech for good, I am particularly interested in expanding our partnerships in these areas and supporting projects which will impact the Sustainable Development Goals. Having joined the team in August 2021, I have seen our cohort double in numbers and have developed some great partnerships with a range of external organisations and colleagues across UCL.

Please could you describe your career journey

My career journey has been varied! But a career that has developing relationships and working in partnership at its core. I started in an account executive role for an SME, selling financial analysis to banks and brokers in London and Europe.  This was followed by a short stint at the London Stock Exchange, before joining a start-up in a similar market.

From there came a big pivot to working locally in the public sector with a role as Partnerships Manager of a state secondary school.  It was a hugely rewarding time, sourcing and coordinating some great projects with theatres, galleries and museums. My next roles saw me organising a launch event at the House of Lords for a mentoring programme led by the Energy Institute and setting up widening participation initiatives in the arts at London Higher.  

These were followed by a move into Tech for Good, managing a volunteering initiative for the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, before working with one of their members on a new app and platform to link underrepresented young people with work experience opportunities.  From here it was back to the volunteer sector, but building on my new platform development knowledge as a Strategic Engagement Manager, helping our clients get the best from the platform, and our developers to make useful improvements.

And now I’m at UCL bringing a lot of this experience together in a varied and impactful role.

As you moved through your career journey, please describe your experience(s) in how you progressed to your current role? 

Along with many female colleagues, the first big change came after my daughter was born.  With no family nearby or flexibility available, twelve-hour days in the office and evening calls to New York no longer seemed possible.  I also wanted to do something more meaningful.

Amazingly, the local secondary school had just been awarded Performing Arts status, along with a budget to develop opportunities for the students.  I managed to persuade the headteacher that my sales background, although not in any way linked to education, meant I had transferable skills that could bring in partners and funding.  I had fantastic support from heads of department as I brought in opportunities for both students and staff to work on projects with leading London based cultural venues and companies.

After a few very rewarding years, budget cuts meant the school could no longer support these activities and I needed to change direction.  The next few years saw me taking on fixed-term roles as I worked towards finding another great fit.  Although this was a period of sideways moves, I developed skills in new areas, including programme management, strategic planning and product development.

At this point I had an excellent meeting with a recruiter who talked through my career to date and drew out partnership working and relationship management as what lay at the heart of both my career to date and what motivated me.  I better understood myself and where I wanted to be.

What lessons have you learnt on your career journey? 

The most useful lesson I have learned is to talk with people.  Whether that’s colleagues, internal and external partners or fellow attendees at events.  Ask questions about what they do and their motivations.  And keep in touch.

It’s amazing how connected everything is, even in a varied career.  In my current role I am working with a former colleague from one of my first jobs who now runs his own company and hosts our students on projects.  I’ve also linked up with a number of former colleagues and project partners who are also now at UCL, it seems our very different career paths have led us all here!

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of? 

Outside of UCL, my proudest achievement was developing really impactful relationships with some fantastic cultural partners when working at a secondary school. In particular, I was pleased to broker and deliver a wide range of free opportunities for our students around the performing arts.  

Each year, 280 students headed to the Shakespeare’s Globe to see what for many, was their first performance.  Working with the Donmar, students were supported by young directors as they created their own response to plays and then performed on stage at this wonderful venue.  Projects with the Royal Ballet and Opera saw some students develop their skills through dance workshops while others had the opportunity to work with the fundraising team and learn about business focussed careers in the arts.

It’s been exciting to hear from our former students now working in the creative sector and to be invited to see some perform on stage at the venues where they were once in the audience.

What advice would you offer to others? 

Think about what you enjoy most about your work (for me it’s partnerships) and try to develop that where you are, or make sure that other opportunities you are considering have that element at the heart of either the role or the organisation.


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