Alumni Profile - Richard Freeborn
Here Richard Freeborn, full-time MBA 2010-2011, talks about his involvement in this year’s Olympic Games in his current role as London 2012 Programme Manager for BP.
1. Tell us a bit about your current role as London 2012 Programme Manager for BP.
The first part of my job is to design and implement a ‘once in a life time’ secondment programme, placing BP graduate trainees in roles at the London 2012 Games this summer. We’re paying their salaries, accommodation and travel and really working hard to make the whole thing an amazing experience. Secondly I need to maximise the potential of this programme to enhance BP’s employer brand through PR and marketing.
I started the role four days after submitting my MBA dissertation, mid-September, after BP came across my profile on LinkedIn (I can’t stress how useful that site is).The role itself is proving really interesting, with immensely tight timescales to turn everything around in time for the summer which makes it both fun and challenging!
2. What’s your typical day like?
I wouldn’t say there is any typical day, but generally I’m at work from 8.30 – 5.30 (the hours are pretty good at BP). Usually I spend most days running between meetings, both internal meetings and external ones, with our creative design agency, PR agency or the LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games). Then there’s the less glamorous budget and procurement meetings (the less said about them the better!). I’d say I’m in the office at BP maybe three days a week, with at least one day in external meetings and one working from home, catching up on all those emails!
3. This sounds like an amazing role, what aspect of it do you enjoy most?
By far the most exciting aspects of the job are the pace and the autonomy I have been given. To set up something like this in less than a year is quite tight and as a result we’re having to move on ideas at 100 miles per hour which is quite exciting. Also the project is extremely high profile so I get great exposure internally with some of the company’s most senior managers.
The highlight of the job has definitely been managing a PR launch with Kelly Holmes (double Olympic gold medal winner) although most of this was photos outside and it was very cold!
4. For those that are unsure, what is BP’s role in the Games and how does your position fit into that?
My role is just a small part of BP’s pretty incredible sponsorship of the London 2012 Games. What they are doing is unbelievable!
5. Do you feel your Durham MBA prepared you for/helped you obtain your current role? If so, how?
Yes – the MBA definitely helped me gain the position. It was the combination of having relevant prior work experience together with a mark of quality the Durham MBA gave me that got me the job.
Within the role I would say the MBA has given me more confidence among a number of areas, from dealing with the large budget to project management as well as those softer skills such as dealing with a variety of different types of stakeholder.
6. What are your fondest memories of your time in Durham?
The people! I met some amazing people in the cohort, but also some of the staff were characters I will remember for a lifetime (you know who you are)!
Specific highlights would definitely be passing my exams (phew… some scary moments waiting to open the envelope), the finale day (saying goodbye to some friends and generally having a good time) and some of the external speakers we had coming – particularly Martin Wolf. Also, some of the modules were amazing – I even really enjoyed the economics and finance modules which really surprised me as I hadn’t ever studied or worked in these areas before…. but that is one of the great things about the MBA –it pushes you in to so many new directions!
7. Do you keep in contact with many people you met at Durham?
I have attended one alumni event so far in London and intend to attend many more going forward. I met some amazing people during my year on the MBA and am sure I’ll keep in touch with them for many years to come! It was great to see lots of them recently at graduation this January.
8. Tell us something about yourself that your fellow alumni would find interesting.
The MBA was my 5th year in total spent in Durham – 3 as a music undergraduate, 1 as a sabbatical officer at the students union and now the MBA. It’s an amazing place!
9. What do you do to unwind?
At the moment I am on one gigantic health kick. The bad side of the MBA is all the comfort food you eat between writing those essays and dissertations – I put on nearly a stone in weight, so this is an effort to lose it! I’m currently 3 weeks into it all and going to the gym (lots)! Aside form this I’m often found down the pub (putting the calories I burn off at the gym back on with a glass of wine, or three)!
10. What do you consider to be your main strengths and weaknesses?
My main strengths are dealing with people (be that line management or simply building relationships with stakeholders) and coming in to projects thinking strategically to give it direction. My biggest weakness is definitely my attention to detail – I’m too easily distracted!
11. Where do you envisage your career going in the future?
My career could take a number or routes next, but I definitely want to stay within the HR / Recruitment space… hopefully one day making a Head of Resourcing for a large company. Immediately however I’d like to stay within BP and try my hand out at other roles. A global role would be something I am really keen on in the near future, and there are definitely opportunities for that within BP.
12. If you had one piece of advice to current students, what would it be?
Networks are key! Knowing people helped get my job here at BP (through LinkedIn) and my previous job!