Personal Details Pippa Thorogood McLennan Email [email protected] Linkd In profile Pippa McLennan
As an experienced collection manager with significant Australian and international experience, I undertake tasks and projects that achieve results and meet tight deadlines. As an effective communicator I have an excellent rapport with stakeholders enabling me to get my responsibilities and projects done, to schedule and within budget. I am an effective planner which enables me to make informed decisions and achieve business outcomes. I am a strong leader, proven when I led a Collection Management team to install objects for the Special Forces exhibition at the Australian Memorial which met a finite deadline and delivered an organisational outcome. I contribute to business planning for budgets and outcomes and provide various reports on the National Collection. I apply strategic planning to my roles and projects and my fundamental capabilities include: collection management experience, effective communication, project management, financial reporting, strong leadership, successful collaboration, development of policies procedures, budget and schedule forecasting, collection analysis and advisement
Work Experience
Australian War Memorial, Canberra AUSTRALIA: - The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a world leading museum and archive with over a million objects on display and in storage. Its purpose to commemorate those who have died and suffered as a consequence of war through exhibitions, education programmes, online engagement and commemorative services.
September 2015 to present: Project Officer (Collection Services), Project Co-ordinator – Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience (SACE), Executive Assistant – National Collection (NC) Branch, October 2004 – October 2009: Assistant Registrar, Loans Co-ordinator, Senior Documentation Officer – Collection Information & Access team
As Project Officer (CS) I managed Collection Services staff and on-site contractors for the Memorial’s $1m From the Shadows exhibition, meeting tight deadlines for install and ensuring WHS compliance for staff and contractors and remain positive in stressful circumstances. I negotiated all loans, facilitated the accessioning, storage and movement, stocktake, exhibition requirements and conservation liaison at the AWM for 396 loan objects for the From the Shadows exhibition and movement around Australia of over 200 objects for Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience delivering key business outcomes for the Memorial. I effectively collaborate and communicate, building sustainable relationships with internal and external investors and across the Memorial. During From the Shadows install I gave clear direction to teams and contractors, enabling good working relationships in the space and gave regular updates to management of status. I evaluate and encourage use of collection management standards on object documentation, accessioning, loans, exhibition requirements, movement and storage and contribute to effective WHS practice. I engage and provide reporting to all levels of management effectively and demonstrate team leadership with staff to foster mentoring and empowerment of staff. I guide staff in install of exhibitions; exhibition preparation and movement, recognising training needs for team members and show persistence and focus to achieve team objectives.
Inmarsat PLC, London UK: March 2011 – March 2014 - Inmarsat is an international satellite telecommunications company with over 1700 staff across 60 locations and over $1 billion in annual revenue. They have a fleet of thirteen satellites and collaborate with the European Space Agency (ESA), UK Space Agency (UKSA) and other companies and governments across the world to deliver global safety and communication services.
Project Co-ordinator – Engineering, Project Co-ordinator - Enterprise Business Unit I co-ordinated projects with ESA on Maritime Safety and Aviation Safety projects which delivered global safety services and contributed to 13.5% increase in maritime and 37.7% aviation revenue for that year. I provided inputs to Programme Directors, Engineers and Project Managers on requirements for project submissions to ESA and managed the end of project financials remotely whilst back in Australia for the Maritime Safety project which came in under budget and ensured 50% investment from ESA. I advised staff on project management processes and reporting tools for monthly reporting, led team meetings and remote conferencing and managed actions and day to day co-ordination of finances and resources for projects.
Imperial War Museum, London UK: February 2010 – March 2011 The Imperial War Museum (IWM) is a world leading museum across five sites which explore the causes of war and impact on people’s lives through exhibitions, online engagement and research. Over 1,500 staff and volunteers manage the sites and every year the museum holds air shows of modern and classic aircraft attracting hundreds of visitors to their Duxford site.
Project Officer – Collections Management, Data Asset Migration Assistant – Collections Management Successfully managed migration of over 5,000 digital assets into the Imagen DAMS system for view in the CMS – Adlib in the first month of the project, over 8.5m web site visits during the year in 2010. As Project Officer I contributed to developing policies and procedures for collection documentation on the Adlib database with regard to minimum standard required for digital assets to be migrated onto the website. Liaise with various levels of staff at the Museum on collection management processes for digital asset migration and minimum requirement for object documentation which fed into exhibition requirements across the branches for view by over 2m visitors that year. As Project Officer, contributed to the IWM’s Fit for the Future (FFF) strategic planning. Liaised with collection teams on documentation standards and storage needs for the collection.
Volunteer Work Australian National Museum of Education, Canberra AUSTRALIA September 2014 – September 2015 Assisting with documentation of the ANME’s collection at the University of Canberra.
Australian War Memorial, Canberra AUSTRALIA Gallery Maintenance Team September 2015 - ongoing Checking of cases, dusting of artworks and cleaning of objects on open display
As an Australian War Memorial staff member I volunteer as an usher for major ceremonies including Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day.
Education University of Canberra, ACT AUSTRALIA Bachelor of Heritage, Museums and Conservation
Museums Study – online course facilitator Currently undertaking course on Moving Collections – date of completion: 30 April 2018
Project Management Institute Studying towards PMP (Project Management Professional) – expected date of completion: December 2019
Member of Australian Registrars Committee (ARC), Museums Australia, Association of Registrars and Collection Specialists (ARCS)
Computer Skills Project Management Tools - Basecamp/Daptiv/Aconex Collection Management Systems - MIMSY XG/Adlib Finance software - SAP/MIBIS Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Project, Visio
Additional Skills Current Drivers Licence and Elevated Work Platform Licence
Dual Canadian and Australian citizen