Meet the team ... David Knappett

What's your background? 

I started my career in Accenture and stayed there for 11 years, after which the clash with family life saw me jumping ship to the client side, working with Marks and Spencer and then Barclays. I have spent most of my 20 year career involved in or leading major change programmes.

What attracted you to Project One?

I wanted to return to the consulting world, but on my terms. I saw Project One as an employer who would allow me to continue to build my programme management skills whilst allowing me to have a family and home life.

How have you found life in Project One?

I have definitely made the right move and am now in my fourth year with Project One. All the balances are right – challenging work, which I am able to drive, often with a Project One team, and with support available if I ask for it; in the main, local work and sociable hours, getting home most nights; and a great team spirit in a company that is definitely going places! The variety of work is also a bonus – I was previously more or less pigeon-holed into the Financial Services industry, but with Project One have now worked across various sectors.

 

My most memorable assignment so far

 

Mobilising an IT/Process Programme

The one occasion in four years where the location was not ideal, but what an experience! The submarine manufacturing company had not designed a new model for many years. My role was to shape, define and mobilise the process and IT programme required to bring the design capability up to scratch.

 

What did your client value?

 

  • The ability to define and execute a clear path through a complex, multi-partner environment, for example to request and gain approval for MoD funding
  • My experience of understanding how a major change programme should be set-up, what roles are required and how it should function
  • Our ‘get in there with sleeves rolled up’ attitude

 

What did the assignment mean to you?

 

  • A fantastic insight into the world of government funded procurement
  • The satisfaction of using my programme management skills to really make a difference in an area that needed help
  • The pleasure of seeing the joy on my two sons’ faces when they realised they could say their Dad was building a submarine!

 

 

And what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I train for and take part in triathlon events, which often sees me out in the Pennines on a weekend with a group of cyclists, or in the warmer months swimming in the local lake! I also help out in my sons’ local football club.