Introducing Jack McDougall: Deputy Head of Business Development at The Skills Network
Details: Written by Kate Hutchinson
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Here at The Skills Network, people are our superpower!
We want to spotlight our incredible staff, including any new movers and shakers within the business. We want you to know all about their role as well as the really important stuff like which celebrities they would choose to invite to a dinner party. So without further ado, we are pleased to introduce you to Jack McDougall, our newly appointed Deputy Head of Business Development.
Over to you Jack……
Hello all, I’m Jack and I wanted to introduce myself to everyone reading this blog – many of you will already know me as I’ve worked within education for over 10 years, working hard to bring positive changes to individuals and local communities up and down the UK. That’s one of the things that attracted me to working for The Skills Network – the prospect of empowering people and being a part of transforming learning opportunities in these very challenging times.
Having worked in a variety of jobs over the last decade, I know that often education can be a frustrating sector to work in – but it can also be incredibly satisfying and rewarding to see lives turned around for the better and people taking their learning and careers onto the next level. Being a part of training up the next generation of leaders or upskilling someone to be the changemakers and innovators within their place of work is a real joy and privilege.
But whilst our work can be inspirational and transformational, it can also be complex and confusing – particularly with the constant changes of policy and leadership in Whitehall and often having to be experts on the finer details of contract implementation! That’s one of the things we can help with at The Skills Network – giving people in the sector the support, knowledge and advice to make those strides forward, as well as offering access to quality learning and resources that meet the needs of learners in a busy and confusing period for our country.
One of the other reasons I decided to join The Skills Network was that despite it being a national leader in online learning, known globally for excellence and innovation, it is also a company that is eager to listen, learn and adapt to the needs of the individuals, colleges and companies it works with.
I have worked as part of many organisations and companies that think they know it all but actually are often slow to adapt. What we need to do as a sector is start (and continue) conversations that take us all forward, whilst keeping the learner and outcomes at the centre. I will be the first to say that I don’t know everything there is to know about everything – but I am always interested to hear the views and experiences of those we work with and how we can improve and innovate to meet the challenges not just of today, but the challenges of tomorrow too!
I’d love to be a part of that journey with you and your organisation – so please do drop me a line at jack.mcdougall@theskillsnetwork.com if you want to have a chat and see how we can help.
Things are moving very quickly within education and also technologically too. It’s exciting to be at that cutting edge, being a part of delivering change. In the fortnight that I have been in my current role at The Skills Network, we have launched our new Initial Assessment tool, expanded our Skills Bootcamps provision, developed several new programme resources and also built a new suite of Multiply products to help with delivering functional maths learning! I can’t wait to see what the next few weeks hold!
Life is never perfect, but learning and progressing together can be an adventure worth taking.
- Which 3 people would you invite to a dream dinner party and why?
- My Dad. Just to talk about football and golf and hear him say he is proud of me, one last time. I say this from a place of happiness- as family is the most important thing on this earth and my Dad is my greatest hero.
- Yuri Gagarin-The first man in space. Talk about pushing boundaries and leaping into the great unknown… I could sit there and listen for hours if I could understand Russian.
- Stephen Fry. I love being in a room with people smarter than me and in my opinion, they don’t come much smarter than Stephen and he also has a wonderful, mischievous sense of humour.
- Sorry one last one, but not technically a person- I would also invite my Sausage Dog- as he brightens up a room- for better or worse and there would be no leftover food once he has finished.
- Final meal on death row?
This one is an easy one- Media Luna Vacio cut of Steak- marinated in garlic for 24 hours. Oh, and served with a bottle of Chablis (I absolutely despise red wine).
- Pineapple on pizza yes or no?
Yes. The real rule to pizza is no more than four toppings as it makes the base saggy.
- Go to Karaoke song?
Elvis Presley- I can't help falling in love or You’ll never walk alone.
Welcome aboard Jack!