Julie never set out to be a project manager. In fact, she describes herself as having fallen into it during her time at Cambridgeshire County Council back in 2000. Working in the Special Educational Needs department, she was asked to oversee the introduction of a new module: her very first project. By her own admission, she had no formal project management skills, and the project took longer than planned. But it sparked something: she enjoyed the challenge of bringing people, processes, and systems together.
That discovery set her on a new career path that has now spanned nearly two decades. After several years working within local authorities, Julie made the leap into contracting in 2008. Leaving behind the security of a permanent job was a big decision at the time, but contracting offered the flexibility and autonomy she’d been craving, and she’s never looked back.
Since then, Julie has delivered close to 30 implementations of Liquidlogic systems across children’s, adults’, and education services. She’s worked at almost every level, from training and testing through to full programme management, and has built a reputation for delivering projects on time and on budget. Her guiding principle is simple: take the pain out of delivery. By breaking complex change into manageable steps, she helps local authority teams feel confident and supported, rather than overwhelmed.
For Julie, though, it’s never just about deadlines. Every project is unique, even when working within the same system. Each local authority has its own pressures, priorities, and ways of working. Being able to shape each programme so it fits the organisation, while keeping delivery realistic and achievable, is what makes the role rewarding.
For years, Julie thrived on being independent, choosing her own projects, shaping her own way of working, and enjoying the flexibility that contracting allowed. Then in 2016, she crossed paths with Jon Goldie in Rotherham, joining as Assistant Programme Director alongside his role as Programme Director. It was a challenging project, but together they steered it to success, delivering on time and within budget.
That partnership led her to ICT Revolutions, where she is now an integral part of the virtual team. While she still values her independence, she’s found real benefits in being part of a group of experienced professionals who share the same ethos. “I’ve always valued my independence, but with ICT Revolutions, I get the best of both worlds. I can manage the expectations of the project while drawing on a team of experienced experts who know how to get the work done. That makes a huge difference, not just for me, but for the teams on the ground who feel fully supported.”
Behind all the technical systems work lies the real “why”: protecting children and vulnerable adults. As Julie puts it:
“Better systems mean better data. And better data means social workers have the right information at the right time. That can only help keep people safer.”
The work has only grown more complex over the years. Where once a project might have meant implementing a single module, today’s programmes can involve multiple modules running in parallel. In North Lincolnshire, for example, Julie recently oversaw three products for children’s services, one for adults, two finance modules, and around ten linked portals — a vast programme by any measure. For many local authorities, attempting to manage that scale of change in-house can be overwhelming. Often, they begin with the intention of delivering themselves, but after months of struggling without the right expertise, they reach the point where specialist support from an implementation partner like ICT Revolutions becomes essential.
That balance, independence with collaboration, is what makes Julie’s role so rewarding. She still enjoys the freedom of contracting, but she also benefits from the support and camaraderie of colleagues she trusts. It means she can keep doing what she does best: delivering complex projects that make a real difference in children’s services, adult social care, and education.