We are currently recruiting for people to join our Audit and Risk Committee (ARC).

In this blog, Julie Wardhaugh outlines her ARC experience at Registers of Scotland. You can also find out more about how to apply for the roles available with us.

“You're encouraged to challenge. You're encouraged to ask questions.”

‘Curiosity’ is key to being a good ARC member, says Julie Wardhaugh who is set to step down from the role with Registers of Scotland (RoS) this year.

“You need to be someone who has lots of questions – even if they sometimes seem like stupid ones! It’s that genuine curiosity - when you hear something you go, ‘oh, really?’ and that drives another conversation or another thought.”

“So, someone who's curious and also not scared to challenge and to peel back the layers a little. Someone who wants to understand what makes the business tick and in the case of ARC, understand what the risks to the business are too.”

With a background as a Chartered Accountant and current Director of Commercial Finance at Sainsbury’s Bank, Julie has brought extensive knowledge and skills to RoS since joining its ARC in 2019.

When asked why she first applied for role, she explains:

“I was working three days in my ‘day job’ and had two small children who were getting older, so I had more time. I wanted to do something more, something that would challenge me and take me in a slightly different direction but that was also complementary to my day job. The ARC role at RoS felt like the right fit.”

And while Julie knew a little bit about RoS before joining, she has learned a great deal in her time with the organisation:

“My mum worked as a legal secretary years ago which included conveyancing work, so I was aware of RoS and I had an inclination of what RoS did. But at that point I thought there was probably only one register, so I’ve learned a lot over the years!

“It does feel like every day is a school day. And I'm not just learning from RoS, I'm learning from the other ARC members and the other Board members and the Executive Management Team as well. I'm always so interested to hear what they've got to say because their perspective comes from a different place to mine. We all have different skills, experience and backgrounds and so it's great to be able to leverage that. I’m absolutely sure RoS benefits from that and I know that I definitely have.”

Julie’s first impressions of RoS were that it was an ‘open’ and ‘flexible’ workplace with a ‘strong’ culture. This is something that has only been reinforced over the years.

She comments:

“From my very first meeting, I was impressed with how open everyone was. It didn't come across like a typical ‘public sector organisation’ I suppose. It came across as really innovative and really trying to change things.

“We were encouraged to go out and talk to people in the business and hear the voice of colleagues and understand what was pressing for customers. We could hear first-hand what the business challenges were and hear about some of the innovations that colleagues were working on around digitisation and new registers. It was an interesting and helpful way to get to know the people and the culture.

“And that culture has remained strong. The idea that everyone is willing to listen and get involved and be proactive and innovative, that culture has lasted right through my time at RoS regardless of who's been at the helm of or who's been in charge of any individual area at the time.”

Julie also believes that RoS’ ambition to deliver a quality service for the people of Scotland is motivating for the organisation as a whole.

She explains:

“I’ve always been impressed that RoS has a very clear view as to where it wants to get to and is willing to be really flexible about how to get there.

“I also like that we talk about the citizen all the time. There is a real focus on delivering a trusted service to the citizen and to the lawyers that we deal with. That's at the heart of everything we do. So, whilst we might be digitising and moving forward and launching new registers, at the heart of all this is trying to deliver a brilliant service for the people of Scotland. That comes across in every meeting that I'm in, it's discussed everywhere.”

For anyone considering applying, Julie says that it will be an exciting time to join the organisation as it continues its digital transformation journey and that the successful candidates can expect to get fully involved from the start:

“ARC is definitely not just a ‘tick box’ at RoS. The Board and Executive Management Team are interested in your views, and you really do have the opportunity to have a say and get involved. RoS takes its ARC very seriously and it is engrained in the day-to-day, which isn’t the same everywhere.

“And you are genuinely part of a bigger team, so if you’re able to understand the strengths that other people in that group bring and leverage that then everyone benefits.

“If you are thinking about applying, I would say definitely go for it!”

And finally, when asked to sum up her time at RoS in one word, Julie says:

“If you’ll give me two, I would say ‘intellectually challenging’…working with a diverse range of people with different perspectives as well as being an organisation that is going through such transformational change means that I learn something new and interesting at every meeting.”

Julie is the Director of Commercial Finance at Sainsbury’s Bank and has spent the majority of her career in financial services with previous roles in Virgin Money and Royal Bank of Scotland. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Find out more

Watch our video to hear our Chief Executive Jennifer Henderson  talk about the opportunities that have opened up to join our ARC.