David McIlroy
Head of Change, Salford City Council

David McIlroy is the Head of Change at Salford City Council, a role which incorporates programme and project management, organizational development, training delivery, business process re-engineering, change consultancy and the corporate change office, along with a number of other responsibilities and duties.

With a background in internal audit, IT and programme and project management in the UK and overseas, David has been at Salford for 8 years holding a number of senior posts, including Assistant Director and Head of Programme and Project Management, brought together as a single change resource with other practitioners as part of an internal efficiency and change programme in 2009. The last 2 years have brought about significant change at Salford, with a major shift in commitment to improving standards and performance that recognises programme and project management as a key enabler to the successful delivery of change. Though not an easy path, the improvements are clear to see and the change team, including programme and project management, underpin all of the strategic priorities of the council now, providing a framework and approach that is seen as synonymous with success.

Most recently the introduction of a Gateway process and Portfolio Management Board have been important parts of the approach to managing change and risk, which aims to ensure that when a decision is made to initiate a piece of work the necessary assurance is in place – in terms of strategic fit, clear financials and benefits uptake strategy, risk/opportunity management, dependency mapping and stakeholder assessment.

Challenges for 2010 include navigating through the implications of spending cuts, increased demand for collaboration and joint working, further devolution to neighbourhoods and communities, greater accountability and scrutiny to citizens and stakeholders, and the ongoing demand to deliver high quality and affordable services.

David probably has the longest commute of any member of staff at Salford, as he still lives in Scotland and commutes down on a weekly basis, staying in digs during the week and returning home tired, but satisfied with a good week’s work on a Friday.