Summary
Overview
Work History
Skills
Websites
Personal Information
Certification
Toolsandplatforms
Timeline
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SAMANTHA KENNEDY

Uxbridge

Summary

Dedicated and resourceful Project Specialist with experience in project coordination, customer engagement, and event management across global organizations. Skilled at delivering projects on time and within budget, ensuring customer satisfaction, and fostering collaboration among cross-functional teams. Adept at managing multiple projects simultaneously, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring compliance with organizational policies. Experienced in supporting international teams and delivering results in dynamic, customer-centric environments.

Overview

18
18
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

EA, EMEA Talent & Apprentice Incubator

Cisco
07.2022 - Current
  • Streamlined apprentice lifecycle processes by liaising with universities and HR to correct contract discrepancies boosting legal and payroll compliance
  • Onboarding & Offboarding - Support induction lead with the successful delivery of the six-week onboarding program for new Cohorts, with the goal of leading future cohort onboarding programs
  • Engage directly with new apprentices prior to their start at Cisco, ensuring they are fully prepared, informed, and engaged with the company’s culture and expectations
  • Coordinate security badging logistics for the entire new apprentice cohort, ensuring smooth onboarding processes
  • Liaise with key stakeholders and speakers to ensure smooth coordination in line with the six-week schedule
  • Collaborate with current apprentices to facilitate apprentice-led onboarding sessions, managing the collection of presentation decks and ensuring all materials are uploaded to the Apprentice SharePoint for easy access and review by the FY25 Cohort
  • Deliver key presentations on organizational skills, Amex, Expense Policy, Workday, Smartbuy, and Ergonomics, ensuring clarity and compliance
  • Serve as the single point of contact for new cohorts, resolving issues, managing cases, and ensuring prompt resolutions
  • Organize social events within the induction program, maintaining cost-efficiency while fostering a welcoming environment
  • Going for Gold competition included managing the entry process, evaluation criteria, and voting for participants
  • Organisation of the prizes for winners including travel to Paris for a day of development
  • Collaborated with stakeholders across theatres, to ensure the attendance of meaningful presenters to ensure a motivational event ensuring the most cost-efficient expenditure while optimizing processes
  • Maintaining Mailers for Apprentice Cohorts, Location based etc
  • Central point for questions around Cisco processes and policies such as ensuring both apprentices and leadership remain well-versed in key policies and adhere to established guidelines communicating to Apprentices
  • Lead communication efforts for event announcements, policy updates, changes, and critical milestones, composing and reviewing messaging with Apprentice Management input to ensure clarity and alignment before final approval and launch
  • Work prioritization – daily calls discussion topics prioritizing topics in line with priority and deadlines
  • Event Management: Led impactful Customer Experience (CX) SLT, Leadership and Apprentice events, optimising budgets processes to meet organisational goals
  • Liaising with Cisco Event team adhering to policy and process including arranging event I.D.’s, uploading relevant information to the Global Strategic Meetings Management portal (GSMM)
  • Spearheaded the 'Office as a Magnet' initiative, enriching office culture and enhancing Apprentice networking opportunities
  • Leading the strategic development and implementation of office culture across the program on behalf of the Management Team
  • Organizing apprentice focus group, empowering participants to shape what constitutes a productive in-office experience while fostering opportunities for network growth
  • Program Calendar: Oversaw the creation and maintenance of a comprehensive 12-month SharePoint calendar aligned with key focus areas, such as UKI Sales and CX, to drive long-term engagement and success
  • Aligned these efforts with the 'Office as a Magnet' initiative and the 'Apprentice Network,' amplifying engagement through strategic social media posts and promoting a cohesive and dynamic office culture
  • Language Development Advocacy: Championed the Apprenticeship Language Club, boosting multilingual skills for rotations and assignments, acting as the primary point of contact between the management team and the Language Club
  • Ensuring apprentices have the resources and support needed to effectively develop their language skills
  • Provide the management team with insights into multilingual talent, contributing to decisions on rotations and assignments
  • Communication Drafted key communications and proof reading of both internal and external communications
  • Compliance, tracked training, and maintained compliance metrics to ensure operational continuity and policy adherence
  • Ensuring all Cisco Mandatory trainings are completed in line with company wide deadlines
  • Tracking progress and chasing those who have yet to complete
  • Opening and tracking cases where Apprentices are on long term LOA, to ensure our numbers are not affected
  • Assisted with the successful rollout of Prezent.ai to a 300-member CX EMEA community, including raising purchase orders, managing user access, and coordinating onboarding and training sessions
  • Hosted onboarding sessions and facilitated training workshops to ensure smooth adoption and user proficiency
  • Elevated cultural engagement by leading the ‘Office as a Magnet’ initiative, enriching networking opportunities for apprentices and fostering a collaborative environment
  • Championed professional development organisation of the CX EMEA ‘Going for Gold’ competition, culminating in on-site training for winners in Paris, enhancing strategic alignment and skills
  • Optimised operational oversight by managing a 12-month SharePoint calendar, providing transparent milestone tracking across regions
  • Enhanced executive efficiency by delivering comprehensive support to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Apprentice Leadership Team, enabling strategic focus and operational excellence
  • Directed impactful events for CX EMEA SLT and Apprentice Leadership Team, aligning budget management and organisational goals to achieve successful outcomes
  • Promoted skill development by leading the Apprenticeship Language Club, fostering multilingual capabilities to support apprentices’ rotational and assignment success
  • Streamlined onboarding processes for apprentices, ensuring efficient transitions through partner placements and delivering training and post-program support
  • Strengthened team cohesion by refining the Cisco Connected Recognition (CR) process and creating meaningful recognitions for senior leaders, fostering a culture of appreciation
  • Prepared worksite by setting up required tools and supplies.

EA to CTO, VP & Senior Director

Cisco
05.2018 - 07.2022
  • Coordinated international travel, collaborating with account managers to optimise strategic meeting opportunities and ensuring cost-efficient itineraries
  • Delivered event logistics for over 200 CX South attendees in Lisbon, managing travel, accommodations, and dietary requirements whilst adhering to corporate policies
  • Streamlined executive operations by managing complex, multi-executive schedules across time zones, ensuring effective coordination and prioritisation for each executive
  • Strengthened organisational alignment by expertly planning and executing All-Hands meetings, Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), and Town Halls, including comprehensive pre- and post-event coordination to ensure impactful outcomes
  • Optimised international travel by coordinating intricate logistics, ensuring executives were fully prepared for engagements across regions
  • Maintained financial compliance by managing expense processing in Concur and procurement through SmartBuy/Ariba; led HR operations by initiating and managing departmental changes, onboarding, and contract extensions in Workday
  • Executed impactful events by managing logistics for UK and European off sites, coordinating speaker engagements, and ensuring budget compliance
  • Partnered with the Chief of Staff to ensure the Director’s work life operated smoothly and effectively
  • Oversaw procurement operations by raising purchase orders using i-Procurement and managing approvals for PTO, POs, and requests like On-Ramp and ART

EA to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Three
05.2016 - 04.2018
  • Optimised executive efficiency by managing diaries and inboxes, drafting responses, preparing detailed briefing packs, and delegating tasks to priority needs
  • Facilitated leadership support in a complex organisational restructure, briefing stakeholders, and ensuring transparent communication in sensitive meetings
  • Strengthened brand consistency by fostering strong partnerships with creative agencies to deliver timely and impactful campaigns
  • Streamlined procurement processes by overseeing approvals to ensure campaign materials were delivered promptly and aligned with organisational priorities
  • Coordinated SLT meetings, setting agendas, and providing weekly updates
  • Initiated and led the launch of PA networking meetings, establishing a valuable platform for knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and professional development
  • Resolved high-level customer complaints by collaborating with VIP and Customer Relations teams, ensuring service standards were sustained
  • Led recruitment processes for administrative roles, overseeing job descriptions, candidate screening, and selection to secure top talent

EA to CEO

Omnifone
07.2010 - 05.2016
  • Provided stability in crisis by managing employee communications during administration, preserving trust and morale through confidential responses
  • Organised quarterly 'Omnifun' events, including Christmas parties, well-being activities, treasure hunts, and summer BBQs, enhancing employee engagement and workplace culture
  • Collaborated with PR and organisers to secure speaker slots at high-profile conferences such as CES, Midem, South by Southwest, and Amazon Web Services Summit, ensuring effective representation at key industry events
  • Streamlined client management by introducing and maintaining the partner and client database, enhancing organisational efficiency and relationship management
  • Coordinated extensive international travel by arranging itineraries, ensuring compliance with company policies, and managing essential documentation such as visas and ESTAs
  • Prepared detailed travel packs including itineraries, boarding passes and relevant presentations, ensuring executives were fully equipped for international engagements

EA to Managing Director

Picnic (NowTV)
02.2007 - 05.2010
  • Facilitated a major office relocation by acting as the main contact for the Sky Moves Team, overseeing the sourcing of a new Picnic Headquarters, managing space planning, and coordinating IT infrastructure for 80+ contractors
  • Established a new headquarters by managing space planning, IT setup, and security logistics, enabling a fully operational department from day one
  • Safeguarded confidentiality by managing the secure distribution of sensitive information to the Sky Executive Team and Board
  • Streamlined executive preparations by coordinating daily briefing packs for Board meetings, conferences, and interviews, ensuring the organised delivery of all required materials
  • Strengthened brand alignment by attending meetings with external marketing agencies to contribute to Picnic’s brand, vision and target audience strategy
  • Optimised operational readiness, organised desk allocations, and IT setup, including laptops, email accounts, and VPN connections for new hires

Skills

  • Customer Engagement
  • Relationship Management
  • Project Scoping
  • Scheduling
  • Delivery
  • Process Improvement
  • Best Practice Implementation
  • Reporting
  • Communication
  • Stakeholder Updates
  • Compliance Tracking
  • Risk Mitigation
  • Event Management
  • Logistics
  • Data Analysis
  • Calendar Management
  • Travel Coordination
  • Confidentiality
  • Budget Management
  • Vendor Liaison
  • Microsoft Office 365
  • Google Workspace
  • Concur
  • Workday
  • Cisco Webex
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Smartbuy
  • Slido

Personal Information

Title: Project Specialist

Certification

  • PRINCE2 Project Management
  • Teeline Shorthand
  • BTEC 1st Diploma in Business & Finance

Toolsandplatforms

  • Microsoft Office 365 (M365)
  • Google Workspace
  • Concur
  • Workday
  • Cisco Webex
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Smartbuy
  • Slido

Timeline

EA, EMEA Talent & Apprentice Incubator

Cisco
07.2022 - Current

EA to CTO, VP & Senior Director

Cisco
05.2018 - 07.2022

EA to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Three
05.2016 - 04.2018

EA to CEO

Omnifone
07.2010 - 05.2016

EA to Managing Director

Picnic (NowTV)
02.2007 - 05.2010
  • PRINCE2 Project Management
  • Teeline Shorthand
  • BTEC 1st Diploma in Business & Finance

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SAMANTHA KENNEDY