Laura Hopley

My name is Laura Hopley and I’m a Senior Project Manager for Jersey Financial Services Commission (the JFSC).

  • What my job involves

    I am responsible for the successful start-up, planning, design, monitoring, controlling and delivery of a project, and making sure we have the right resources and budget in place to achieve the project goals.

  • How I got into this profession

    I moved to Jersey 11 years ago to run an administration team for a utilities company and became heavily involved in a project to replace their IT system. I found that both project management and technology interested me so started to build my skills and gain the relevant qualifications. I worked my way up through a number of technology roles from systems analyst, business relationship manager and then project manager.

  • Qualifications or skills
    Listening, organisation and keeping calm in a crisis!
    There are a number of different project management qualifications you can gain using different methodologies. I’m qualified in PRINCE2, Agile and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP). Each take a different approach to project management. I would recommend researching each before undertaking the training. You will quickly decide which suits you best.

  • Being a woman in tech
    I’ve been the project manager in many male-dominated project teams and this has been a challenge at times…. I usually overcome any challenges by demonstrating my technical understanding and offering support throughout project delivery.
    I’ve always found the project teams I have worked with to be really supportive.
  • Interests

    I love walking on the beautiful Jersey cliff paths and have taken part in the round island and South Coast challenges. As a single parent to two teenagers my other hobby is being a taxi driver, although this is out of bounds on my Friday wine night!

  • What I enjoy most about my job

    I love the fact that every day is different. Technology changes at such a fast pace that you constantly have to learn to keep up. It can be a roller-coaster ride implementing a new system but there is nothing better than getting to the go-live date and launching exciting new systems.

  • An exciting project

    I am lucky enough to have been involved in a number of exciting projects. These include a new website for the JFSC and Digital ID for the Government of Jersey I’m currently working on an exciting programme of work to transform business processes through efficiency savings and system development…. Watch this space!