I worked within the Digital Presence Programme at the University of Cambridge as a SharePoint Online Subject Matter Export and Product Owner.

The Digital Presence Programme was a wide ranging, multi-year programme of projects looking at communications, public engagement as well as Internal Operations and Communications. As part of the Internal Operations and Communications I am working with a large team responsible for building the “Intranet in a box” service.

The aim of the “Intranet in a box” service was to use Microsoft SharePoint as a platform to deliver a service that any of the 350+ organisations that form part of the university can use to publish their own intranet.

As the SharePoint Online subject matter expert I was responsible for

  • Defining the SPFx developer toolset and integrating with existing coding standards and GitLab based devops.
  • Building SPFx developer environments with Docker images (both Windows and Linux)
  • Supporting developers adopt SPFx
  • Integrating SPFx projects with GitLab based CICD, Jest and Testing Library
  • Advising on how SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams can work alongside each other to create a modern Intranet
  • Providing support to end users who have been part of the early adopters cycle
  • Preparing and demonstrating SharePoint Online for different audiences including end-users, stakeholders, key project staff, developers and other teams within University Information Systems.
  • Supporting the efforts to improve cross site navigation and how the navigation elements render on mobile devices when there is no hover option available
  • Working with the communications team to create and implement a Communications Plan
  • Working with the brand test to implement a design system and SharePoint look book for intranet sites
  • Building site scripts and provisioning templates for SharePoint site
  • Developing and testing custom webparts using SPFx and React
  • Designing and creating the SharePoint site structure
  • Designing and developing the Term Store, term sets and information strategy to support metadata at an organisation and department level
  • Supporting content managers and site owners design and create engaging content
  • Creating guidance and training material for site owners wishing to migrate to and adopt SharePoint Online
  • Integrating the custom web parts with the organisations API gateway
  • Designing and configuring the SharePoint Online and Microsoft365 services

As the Product Owner I was responsible for

  • Configuring the GitLab project to meet the project management requirements of the team
  • Building and updating the product backlog, sprint boards and lists using GitLab
  • Configuring the repos for the project
  • Backlog refinement, prioritisation using RICE, sizing, re-sizing and managing the backlog
  • Ensuring the Programme Delivery Manager understands which items are Sprint Ready
  • Working with the delivery manager to schedule sprints
  • Running daily stand-ups and resolving issues when the programme manager is not available
  • Working with business analysts, data scientists and other key project members to support the gathering of user requirements
  • Defining foundational requirements such as how we handle connections from custom webparts to the API gateway, error logging and integration with line of business systems
  • Supporting requirements gathering for identity and access management
  • Identifying and documenting technical requirements
  • Taking part in Show and Tells as a team and divisional level
  • Defining how SharePoint Online should be used as part of the wider Microsoft365 service to deliver the Intranet in a box service
  • Planning for service transition and service acceptance of the SharePoint Online service itself and the Intranet in a box service
  • Working with the design team to integrate reusable React Controls into the SPfx solutions and helping the design team to understand what can be branded in SharePoint Online and how it is done
  • Working with the Collaboration Tools team to ensure we have a transparent change control process to ensure service changes do not impact on the work each team is doing
  • Working with the DevOps teams to keep them informed of project progress and technical updates on developer tool sets and SPfx updates
  • Documentation, training and coaching