Senior Executive Officer
e:
KJParr@cardiffmet.ac.uk
t: 02920 416647
Areas of responsibility
Senior Executive Officer, working alongside the Dean and senior team in the School of Art & Design. My job involves looking after the Dean’s diary and correspondence, providing administration for the School’s Management and Planning Team business, strategy and operations, servicing other School committees, running or supporting events, acting as SU and Welsh Language Standards liaison and coordinating projects. I’m lucky to have a position where I get a broad overview of everything happening in the School and generally get involved where support is needed. I tend to describe my job when asked as ‘that part of the job description that says any other duties which can be reasonably expected.’
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Degree in French & History from the University of Warwick
Biography
I grew up in Cowbridge and Pontyclun and now live in Gwaelod-y-Garth so, barring an excursion to the Midlands for University and a stint living in northern France, I’ve not gone terribly far. I live with my husband, young daughter and our black cat, Stig.
My career has taken me from working temp jobs in HE, private, public and third sector organisations after graduation to my first permanent job running the Wales office of Sustainable Travel charity, Sustrans in 2011. As their office manager I looked after all administrative functions of the Welsh branch of the organisation, oversaw health and safety for the buildings, including maintenance and fire safety. I organised team meetings and annual excursions, provided personal support to the director, managed the office budget and ran staff inductions for all new starters, as well as writing for the newsletter and posting to social media, so there really was a bit of everything. It gave me a great grounding in responsibility for the vast range of duties administration and facilities management can cover.
I joined Cardiff Met in 2015 as Executive Officer to the Vice-Chancellor and worked for the University’s former VC, Professor Chapman, for a year and a half. The role involved providing personal support to the VC, managing his diary and correspondence, servicing board meetings and supporting members of the Vice-Chancellor’s Board where required. When the opportunity came up to work as CSAD Senior Executive Officer in 2016, I jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to get the job! I’ve learned so much in the time I’ve worked at CSAD, not least about art & design education and practices, as that was not at all my background, but overall how wonderfully supportive, creative and enjoyable a place it is to work.
In my spare time, you’ll find me running around after my toddler, getting outdoors and enjoying beautiful Wales whenever we can. When I manage to get time to myself, I’ll probably be watching or playing tennis, listening to Spotify (my usual speed is rock, metal and punk, with some occasional Sinatra thrown in) and going to see live music. I also love to cook, eat in at home our out when possible, as well as just hanging out with friends and family – that’s always guaranteed to put a smile on my face!
