Karen Smout

I am an enthusiastic and highly effective TAP-qualified Learning and Development professional and Prince2 qualified Project Manager with experience of achieving extraordinary results in many sectors such as technology, social care and automotive. Now seeking to use the many transferable skills gained to build my career further in a learning and development role to bring about value and positive changes in performance to your organisation. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS Winner of UK Public Sector Digital Award in the category of Best Project Delivery Finalists in LPI awards in the category of Best Public Sector Internal Training Team Managed and coached teams through two transformation restructures ensuring they remained motivated and continued to deliver Successfully led the development and implementation of an e-Learning strategy which slashed training costs by 20% in first year Built up The AA’s training function from scratch following the departure of in-house training department cutting costs by £180K per annum Instrumental in using LEAN methodology to implement process changes saving £50,000 p.a. Raised the IT competency of staff by an online IT screening process increasing effectiveness by 12% CORE SKILLS Strategic thinker; developed and implemented learning strategies and change programs Influencer; trusted advisor to senior stakeholders and external providers Commercial Acumen; negotiated many contracts with providers to the benefit of the organisation Experienced people manager; led and coached local, matrixed and remote teams to success Strong analytical skills; identified trends and transformed data into meaningful insights Communication; proven ability to work well across different cultures Project Management; wide experience of implementing and managing learning management systems Budgetary control; managed world-wide budgets of $1,500,000