ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ

Alumni

Waleed Backler

Head of Debt Operational Analytics, HMRC

This picture was taken during the HMRC 2019 People Awards, where my team were named Team of the Year! This is an achievement that I am really proud of. Looking back, I can see how much ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ has helped me get to where I am today.

Memories of ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ

I have many great memories at ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ. These were inspired every day by the beautiful campus and the friendly and approachable lecturers I had. The university supported me and gave me the platform that enabled me to develop both personally and professionally. Alongside my studies I was Academic Secretary of the university’s Maths Society, a second year course representative, and a University ambassador where I was happiest sharing my knowledge and passion with younger students.

I was nominated for Student Employee of the Year 2013. I also took part in the National Mentoring Consortium (NMC) mentoring scheme during my 2nd year. Having impressed my mentor, I won the NMC Mentee of the Year Award in 2013 (I was presented the award by Labour MP David Lammy!).Encouraged to apply for industrial placements by my lecturers, I spent a successful year on placement with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) where I operated on various work streams involving patient experience statistics and built interactive tools that were published on the NHS England website. I was delighted to accept a part-time role with DHSC alongside my final year studies.

My final year mathematics BSc project was titled “Is there a relationship between the patient experience of care and the experience of staff working in the NHS?” and was awarded the Ede & Ravenscroft 325th Anniversary Prize for best overall project during my graduation ceremony. I also won the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications Prize for Outstanding Achievement.

Life after ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ

Following my placement at DHSC, I was inspired to undertake a Medical Statistics MSc at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Thanks in no small part to the experiences I gained at ÐÓ°ÉappÏÂÔØ, I was awarded a National Institute for Health Research Award, covering my course fees as well as a stipend. While undertaking my masters I applied for the Government Statistical Service Fast Stream programme. Having gone through an intensive application process, I was thrilled to secure a place on the programme. I successfully completed various postings, including a secondment outside of the Civil Service, before joining HMRC on promotion from the programme, one year early, in November 2019.

I’m now Head of the Debt Operational Analytics team in the HMRC Knowledge, Analysis & Intelligence directorate.

  • Waleed Backler
  • BSc Mathematics, 2015

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