Connecting people and projects, APM North West Branch Conference, 9 May 2023 Speaker: Nick Karamanis and Sundus Ahmad

1. Quality
We manage projects effectively and to
the highest quality, freeing up experts to
concentrate on their specialism, but
ensuring that activities are manage to
meet expectations. This means only
making promises that we know we can
keep, and remembering the promises we
have made to make sure we deliver.
Expertise
We ensure our teams consist of genuine
sector experts with understanding in
breadth and depth of both the theory
and the practical complex everyday
challenges faced by education providers.
Educationalists
We are educationalists with a strong
commitment to improving teaching,
learning and assessment, based on
intellectual integrity, sound evidence and
innovative approaches.
Development
We are committed to the improvement
of our staff, both to promote the long-
term development of our business and as
an end in itself: we believe in the value of
education for all.
Partnership
We work in partnership with our clients. This
is more than a cliché for us: we care about
the services we provide and the impact they
have on learners. Experience has shown us
that the best impact our work can have is
when it is undertaken alongside our clients
so we make partnership a key feature of our
project approach and management method.
Sundus Ahmad
Project Manager
May 2023
Managing Teams: setting-up, managing and developing the
PMO team of a growing small size consulting company
Dr. Nick Karamanis
Head of PMO
AlphaPlus Consultancy Limited, part of the AQA Group, Manchester UK

2. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
Who we are
Dr. Nick Karamanis
MAPM, PMP, PhD, AMIMechE, Eur. Ing.
Head of Project Management Office (PMO)
Nick joined AlphaPlus (APM corporate partner) in
2021 as the Head of PMO, responsible for leading
and developing a team of talented Project
Managers who are assigned to a diverse portfolio of
projects across the company, whilst driving high
standards in product delivery and client satisfaction.
He is a certified Project Management Professional PMP by PMI, and a full member of the
Association for Project Management (MAMP), holding a PhD in Engineering from Imperial
College in London
Prior to this role, he held senior positions in Project Management and Operations for a
blue chip corporation and he conducted Research and Development for a leading UK
institution.
Nick has recently been a panellist representing AlphaPlus and engaging with students and
other attendees during the APM’s Project management employability skills workshop and
event at the University of Leeds.
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-karamanis-pmp-phd-918b33205/
nick.karamanis@alphaplus.co.uk
Sundus Ahmad
APM Associate Member.
Project Manager
Sundus is an assessment-led project manager who
joined AlphaPlus in 2022. She is legally qualified and
is involved with assessment creation, management,
continuous improvement and quality assurance.
Clients she has worked with include the Department for Education, the Nursing and
Midwifery Council, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Saudi Commission
for Health Specialties.
She previously worked for the General Medical Council and led the PLAB 2 assessment
content development. She was also heavily involved in assessment delivery, post-
assessment statistical analysis and management of associates and panels.
Sundus was responsible for a range of projects, some of which include: restructuring the
PLAB 2 assessment and rewriting assessment content to ensure that it could run during
the covid pandemic and making the GMC the first regulator in the world to resume
assessments during this time, producing bespoke chief invigilator training, examiner
training and associate training, contributing to the creation of two new test centres,
working alongside medical schools to produce content for the medical licensing
assessment (MLA) and mapping the current PLAB 2 assessment to the MLA blueprint.
She is also involved in management and mentoring.
Sundus recently represented AlphaPlus during APM’s Project management employability
skills workshop event at the Manchester Metropolitan University by engaging with
students and other attendees
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sundus-ahmad-14258579/
sundus.ahmad@alphaplus.co.uk

3. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
What we do at AlphaPlus
Our Project Lifecycle
• We are Manchester based serving global clients
• Project driven: Corporate partner of APM
• Clients:
• School Education
• Vocational Education
• Professional Education
• Projects / Services:
• Educational standards & Curriculum
• Assessment & Certification
• Evaluation & Research
Community impact: Northwest
• Case study: Professional Education
• Developed and released onscreen knowledge
tests and objective structured clinical
examination practical assessments for
qualifying nurses and midwives, in the UK,
including the Northwest.

4. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
PMO: the journey so far
2020
2023
Challenges:
• diverse range of projects, risk averse, low
tolerance of failure industry, need to manage
quality whilst growing rapidly and maintaining
company culture
Our approach:
• emphasis on managed project processes
Enabled by APM:
• AMP corporate partnership
• APM Individual memberships
• APM volunteering
• Apprenticeship & Graduate CPD plan
• APM, PMI, Prince2 qualifications
• APM webinars & conferences
• APM publications
14
4
6
1 4.4 M
8.5 M
+105
projects
25% per
annum
growth

5. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
Success story: Amelia Geoghegan
• Project Manager
• Associate Member APM
• APM PMQ certified
• APM Graduate Ambassador
Community impact: Northwest graduates
• APM panellist
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• APM Festival of Education & Research
• London City University
• Helping final year students to develop
the necessary employability skills for a
Project Manager role.
APM Manchester Metropolitan University

6. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
Success story: Mark Wemyss-Holden
• Project Manager
• Associate Member APM
• APM Website publication – Career
changers case studies
PMO impact: Project analytics
• Project management software tool
integration
• Online Portfolio dashboard: for
improved visibility
• Real time Project KPIs: on time and
on cost delivery

7. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
Success story: Nesta Shingler
• Project Manager Service Delivery
• Associate Member APM
• APM Festival of Education &
Research – Finalist: Graduate of the
year award
Project impact: customer satisfaction
• Delivering first class customer
support to primary and secondary
school teachers using our on-screen
computerised assessment platform

8. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
How we did it: mentoring
Case study: Mentee who needed
help with self
confidence/communication:
• Created opportunities
• Helped with prep
• Controlled environment
• Incremental steps
• Currently the main lead for a big
internal project and presenting to
external partners

9. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
How we did it: mentoring
Case study:
• Mentored four individuals in my
previous role
• Provided intense training,
feedback and progressed to
delegating project streams
• All four were promoted and able
to directly evidence the
mentoring outputs in their
interviews

10. APM,
NWB
conference,
Connecting
Projects
and
People,
MMU,
9
May
2023
Join our team and shape our future
Job posts weblink: https://www.alphaplus.co.uk/work-with-us/

11. Thank you APM and participants !
Time for questions
AlphaPlus Consultancy Ltd
Unit 109 Albert Mill,
10 Hulme Hall Road,
Castlefield,
Manchester,
M15 4LY
Job posts weblink: https://www.alphaplus.co.uk/work-with-us/