IT Leader Profile: Catherine Doran

Catherine Doran is director of information mangement at Network Rail

What does your job entail?
I wear two hats. I’m a member of the Executive Management Group in Network Rail, charged with building the strategy for the whole business. My other role is delivering the technology to enable us to achieve our goals. We have a large complex IT estate, a large user base that relies on our IT services, and ambitious plans to deliver new capabilities to our front line workforce.

What was your first job?
My father ran a mobile greengrocers and I worked for him during holidays and weekends. My first real paid job was on the assembly line in Hallmark Cards in Dublin.

How did you get into the IT profession?
Purely by chance. After university I signed up for a teacher training course. While waiting to start, I saw an advert for trainee computer programmers in the paper and applied, even though I had no idea what the role was.

How often do you check your BlackBerry?
I find myself checking it constantly, from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. It allows me to deal quickly with some matters, but is less good when it comes to attachments! We have a rule that your BlackBerry should not be brought into meetings, so that helps to keep their use in some sort of check.

Which technology has had the biggest impact on your working life?
Mobile computing has caused a fundamental change to my working life. It allows a much more dynamic work-life balance. You can end up “always on” if you’re not careful, but the benefits are huge.

Is now a good time for people to enter the UK IT profession?
I think so. Working in IT means you get to work right across the business and see everything that’s going on. It’s constantly changing and stretching.