Proud Programme Advisory Board

CEO at The British Training Board

Co founder of the Proud Program 

served a full 22-year career in the British Army, completing operational tours all over the globe. I left the military and retired in 2012. My transition experience is a typical one; however, being in the British Army and then going to pursue a new career was one of the most challenging missions I ever undertook

We have designed the PROUD programme in collaboration with the strategic adviser to the Wales head of place.

PROUD explicitly intended to include all the qualifications, experience and military training you have received in the armed forces to be utilised and transformed into the next stage of service to this great country by joining the civil service. 

Within the programme, we use existing and newly developed processes so that you as an individual can get the most out of your military service and also ensure maximum results not only for yourself but also for UK PLC as a whole.

As service leavers and veterans, we must uphold the values and standards we so passionately lived by in the armed forces. 

I would very much encourage you to use the guide as a road map to assist you in gaining a career in the civil service. I hope you find this guide inspirational and hope to see you on the proud programme in the future.

Strategic Advisor to the Head of Place for Wales

Co founder of the Proud Program 

Kim Ann has been a Civil Servant for over 38 years and had worked in the Criminal Justice Arena until she transferred to the Cabinet Office in 2020.

Kim Ann’s role is supporting the delivery of the Heads of Place Programme and the vision of a Modern Civil Service across Wales and Northern Ireland. Kim Ann works with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK and is working closely with British Training Board to create opportunities for Civil Servants to support Veterans and Service Leavers who seek a career in the Civil Service.

Kim Ann co-founded the Wales Anti-Slavery Leadership Group and established and Chairs the UK Modern Slavery Training Delivery Group which reports to the National 3P Board.

Kim Ann is proud to have had opportunities to work Internationally and is passionate about the benefits of Volunteering. Kim Ann volunteers with Soroptimist International and is the Assistant Programme Director - Peace and Chair of SI Cardiff and District Club. Kim Ann is also the Ambassador for Invisible Traffick.

Director, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales

If you want a fulfilling career and the opportunity to make a real difference to peoples’ lives, then there has never been a better time to join the Civil Service.  We face many challenges - building back better from COVID-19, levelling up across the UK and speeding up progress towards net zero to name but a few – and the civil service has a critical role to play. We will only succeed if we recruit and retain the best people.  We need to invest in skills, expertise and leadership and ensure that we are truly reflective of the people and communities that we serve. We want a diversity of experiences and opinions, ensuring that anyone can flourish in public service, regardless of their background or location.

I am one of those people that the civil service has enabled to flourish.  It has given me a life and career that I would never have thought possible as I was growing up.  I have done a wide variety of different roles, received the best possible support as I have learned and developed, met wonderful people from all walks of life and I have felt valued and appreciated at all times. 

Please do consider the Civil Service as you think about what comes next, not just for the opportunities that it will open up to you personally but also in terms of what you will bring to it through the knowledge, skills and experience that you have acquired during your military service. 

HMRC,Usk & Prescoed

I have been in HMPPS for thirty years and have served mainly in London prisons, but for the last five years I have been based in South Wales.  I’ve also spent some time on secondment to the Met Police and have done some short-term training roles for HMPPS.

I am also an Army Reservist having joined the Army in 1987 and have continued my Reserve service since then. The majority of that time has been as an infantry soldier with what is now the 1st battalion the London Guards, the reserve element of the Brigade of Guards.  I have deployed on operations in the UK, Iraq and Afghanistan.  I’ve also deployed on exercise and training teams to a variety of places overseas. 

My current Reservist role is as the Officer Commanding the Reserve Company of the Military Provost Staff Regiment based at MCTC Colchester.  The Regiment is a hybrid Regular/Reserve unit that deals with all aspects of military detention, from the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester to the handling of captured personnel on operations around the world.  I also act as the Commanding Officer’s reference source on the workings of the civilian prison system and as a peer advisor to MCTC.

I have found transitioning back to civilian life from operations a challenge in the past.  Particularly so when returning from Op Herrick 6 in Afghanistan where I was an infantry Company Sergeant Major with the Grenadier Guards.  My Company sustained several casualties and one killed in action during the tour, they were exposed to the full spectrum of infantry operations including close quarter battle.  Without many of my friends, both Army and Prison Service, I would not have got through that transition  in the relatively good shape that I did.  That experience has left me with a desire to ensure we treat ex-ASP with due regard for their service, either as colleagues or prisoners.  We are a group of people who deserve recognition and to have our service valued by the country who we were willing to give all for.

Commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Wales in 1989, I served the early part of my career as an infantry officer in the UK and Hong Kong.  Subsequently, I transferred to the Adjutant General’s Corps, a branch of the Army responsible for delivery of personnel administration which broadly equates to civilian HR.  By a relatively early stage in may career I had experienced the visceral responsibility, challenge and great honour of leading soldiers before getting to grips with some of the complexities of finance, discipline and career management.  Halcyon days at regimental duty in the Royal Regiment of Wales and Royal Tank Regiment were followed by time spent as a staff officer at various levels including in Army Headquarters and the Ministry of Defence. More and more I found myself leading diverse teams of military and Civil Servants and interacting with contractors, emergency services, charities and local and national governments, including the devolved administrations.

By retirement from the Army in 2021, I has been a crown servant for 32 years with the last few years spent in the complex environment in the Ministry of Defence.  Whilst considering what to do next I identified that I liked being a crown servant, it gave me great pride and sense of purpose to be part of something working towards national objectives; they just happened to be military objectives up to that point.  Also I had great experience as a crown servant from working in Whitehall and alongside Welsh Government on various operations in the United Kingdom.  Looking for a change of direction and a new challenge, yet exploiting my strengths and experience, I decided to set out on a new career in the Civil Service – a different type of crown servant.

Those with former military service have a great deal to bring to the Civil Service.  Whilst we are comfortable with our Service leadership codes, values, standards and doctrine, the Civil Service has its own and, despite the different language, military experience maps across well.  The Civil Service looks for success profiles, broken down into sets of behaviours appropriate to given grades.  Those might include: leadership; communicating and influencing; working together; developing self and others; working at pace; making effective decisions and seeing the big picture.  Most of those are bread and butter to Service men and women.  Now that I have been a Civil Servant for almost a year, I have found some of the most useful military attributes in the Civil Service have been adaptability – Service men and women are comfortable with change – we also see the big picture and our part in the plan.  We form teams quickly and are happy leading but equally comfortable being led and working towards team goals.

Crown Prosecution Service

Karen has worked in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) for over 37 years.

Karen has been with the CPS since the inception. Karen became the Area Business Manager (ABM) for CPS Wiltshire in 2003, for Thames Valley in 2005, and the Senior ABM for the Thames and Chiltern Group in 2007. 

In 2009 Karen was seconded to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) as a Senior Policy Advisor. In 2010 Karen was seconded to CPS HQ as part of the Capability Review Implementation Programme team. 

In Autumn 2010 she returned as the ABM for CPS Thames and Chiltern and led on the JASC panels for the Southeast Circuit. In September 2014 Karen became the ABM in the CPS West Midlands Area. 

In June 2017 Karen became the ABM for CPS Direct. Then in October 2022 Karen became the ABM for the Southeast Area.

Armed Forces Lead for Wales within DWP.

I am married with 2 boys living in Southwest Wales. I have Worked for the Civil service for 20 years, 12 years with DVLA and 8 years with DWP. My careers path within the DWP started in Treorchy Jobcentre as a work coach, then I was part of the Employer and Partnership Team In Swansea Bay. Since May 2021 I have been the Armed Forces Lead for Wales within DWP supporting our Armed Forces customers and their families. I am very passionate in helping the Armed Forces community as I have close family members that have previously/currently serving. I’m totally committed to the departments strategic objectives, specifically “improving people’s lives”.