Henrietta Longden
Director of Ecosystems Programs
Arm©
Arm© is an engineering company. We bring brilliant people together to unlock the power of technology and spark the worlds potential wherever computing happens! We design and support the chip technology that powers your smartphones, computers, and lot of other technology! My team develops programs that deliver our key technologies into our software ecosystems, ensuring developers can easily exploit our HW capabilities as they become available.
Talking with and supporting brilliant people to deliver brilliant projects. Getting to work with diverse and interesting teams who are doing incredible things. Talking to people! Understanding their challenges and problem solving with them. Seeing my team receive recognition and thanks for their incredible efforts to provide fantastic support to the developers and our partners. There's a huge variety in my work, fast pace, and chance to work with lots of different people!
No two days are alike at Arm! I do lots of meetings, talking to project managers to understand their challenges, and working with my team to prioritise and plan work. I'll also be in sessions and workshops where I provide advice, guidance, and feedback, and support problem solving for tricky business challenges. Between meetings, I'm responding to emails, talking quickly on chat to colleagues, and responding to queries and requests for help. I also spend time supporting my team, reviewing progress, and discussing career development. Other days might be spent in long workshops with the team, working out what's important, looking at breaking down all the work we need to do, making sure we do the most important work first and that it's all achievable. I love the variety!
Although I work in Tech now, I actually studied Archaeology (looking for evidence of our past in the dirt/ground) at University. Before becoming an archaeologist, I even worked in Egypt for a while! I chose archaeology because it really interested me and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do career wise at that stage! I went back to university to study Project Management. I then landed a few roles as a Junior Project Coordinator, gradually taking on bigger and more challenging programs until I found myself working in an engineering firm as Senior Program Manager. There, I worked on Programs for the European Space Agency and Rolls Royce! My background in not engineering at all, but this is actually one of my biggest assets. It means I am able to look at problems with fresh perspective, without being distracted by technical details. I also get to ask lots of questions which can help us to work through problems! Following this, I realised I had a passion for helping others to implement Project Management processes. I joined Arm a few years ago in the Project Management Office (PMO) and have progressed up to Director level.
I want to help Arm achieve industry recognition for its Project Management Excellence. Beyond that, who knows! I like to grow and develop and as long as I feel like I am learning new things and being stretched then I will be happy! One day, perhaps I'll be able to pursue my dream of setting up a business that supports women to pursue careers in Project Management.
I love being active and I love travelling, I have an old campervan which I am learning to look after (or maybe more accurately it loves to breakdown and I have to learn to fix it). I regularly go travelling around the country so I can hike up mountains or take it to festivals to enjoy music and try new outdoor activities. I really enjoy going out to watch Cricket and Rugby. I also play netball in a local league. I'm pretty competitive and enjoy being being part of a team and the women I play with are a really inspiring and fun bunch! I've got two beautiful rescue cats so when I'm at home I make sure I'm spending time chilling out with them!
"The only way out is through." - JK Rowling I love this quote! Projects are a rollercoaster of ups and down; you need to strap in and enjoy the ride!