Colleague Spotlight: Meet Simon McGowan, Senior Business Analyst

This month, our Colleague Spotlight is on Senior Business Analyst, Simon McGowan, who joined the business earlier this year. Here he explains more about his role and how he’s finding it so far.

Tell us more about your background and why you joined AdviserPlus?

I was working in Nottingham for a pensions company on a contract till the end of 2019, and then unfortunately due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. I was out of work for a few months before coming across the Senior Business Analyst vacancy at AdviserPlus. There has always been an element of business analysis or project management in my previous roles, so it seemed like a great opportunity to explore. The fact that AdviserPlus were using Agile methodology, a way to manage a project by delivering in small phases, and collaborating with stakeholders constantly to make continuous improvements, was the main attraction. Plus, as I have worked mainly in the Life and Pensions industry, specifically Public Sector pensions for the last 10years, I saw this as a chance to move into something slightly different and expand my portfolio.

So, what have you been working on since you joined AdviserPlus in February?

So far, I’ve been fully immersed in the empower® implementation project for one of the UK’s largest employers. My role has involved liaising with the client, and internal stakeholders, scoping out the employee relations processes, such as sickness and attendance review. I act as a go-between with our developers, feeding the requirements and changes from the client and our internal advisers, back to the development team to work on. Day-to-day, I’ll work on any new processes and ensure we have the requirements agreed for these, and I’ll also liaise with the development team to answer any questions they have.

I’ve worked on case management systems before in previous roles and I have to say that empower® technology is very impressive. The pipeline of clients waiting to go live with the solution proves that there is a gap in the market and a real appetite for it.

What are you enjoying most about your job so far?

I like to be kept busy, and with this role I am very busy! I like the variety of work, there’s always plenty going on to get my teeth into. I’m slowly learning more and more about HR processes – I’m an expert in the attendance review process now! I also enjoy meeting new people, especially across the business, albeit via video call so far due to remote working. There’s a real can-do attitude among colleagues at AdviserPlus, and I love that.

If you weren’t working at AdviserPlus, what do you think you’d be doing?

I’ve always enjoyed the work that I’ve done so I’ve never had the desire to do anything else! I come from a software development background, so I feel as though I’ve chosen the right career for me.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself?

My main passion is cricket, I’ve played for years and I was pretty good in my youth! When I was about 16, I was invited to spend a few days training with the Lancashire cricket team which was amazing. I remember walking into the canteen after the morning training session, and some of the Lancashire players had joined my team mates on our table. There was only one spot left on the Lancashire table, so I ended having lunch sat with two cricketing legends, the West Indies captain (Sir) Clive Lloyd and one of the great West Indian fast bowlers Michael Holding. I think I was a bit too star struck to hold much of a conversation!