Name and Rank: Chief Technician Jonathan Clarke
Service Number: B8427431
Service: Royal Air Force
Regiment Trade: Aircraft Engineer (A Tech M)
Years Served: 23
Deployments / Operations: Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq/Syria
Current Role: Senior Project Manager for Churchill Group
I had always wanted to be in the military from a young age and joined the Royal Air Force at 18 as an Airframe mechanic. I had a fantastic time and look back fondly at the highs and the lows of my career. I left after 23 years as a Chief Technician on Hercules as Rectification Controller which involved the day-to-day management of the fleet and its highly skilled personnel. I left as it was time to put my family first and I was not getting any younger.
Unfortunately, I had no clear direction as to what I wanted to do next and used my resettlement for a Level 7 in Strategic Management and Leadership that I could take to any industry. I successfully gained immediate employment after leaving the service but left the company after a year. I then signed a 6-month temporary contract with Churchill Group to lead a new soft service contract mobilisation.
The company had won a contract covering circa 99 geographically spread sites in Scotland from Benbecula to Glasgow. Churchill Group saw that I had transferable skills that could be put to immediate effect; I could analyse, plan, engage, direct and lead as well as being polite, efficient and reliable with positive work ethics. The mobilisation was a resounding success and I had made a good impression.
I was offered a permanent job with Churchill Group and am now Senior Project Manager for Scotland, North of England, Midlands, South West and East Anglian regions. I manage all large scale, multi-site, high value soft service mobilisations from successful contract win to contract maturity as well as leading any ad hoc projects for the Senior Management Teams within my area responsibility.