Nettie Williams

Simple clear comms

Agile service teams do amazing things. Being open and transparent about what they do and how they do it is important. But often they don't have the time, or they may lack confidence or the skills.

This is where I can help.

Working with agile teams for over 10 years, I translate the complexities of the great things they do, to make it easier for people outside of those teams to understand.

I tell teams' stories creatively, producing a mix of content types to showcase and share their expertise, culture, and progress. You name it: weeknotes, blog posts, imagery, ceremonies, social media, decent slide decks—that don't put people off—videos, elevator pitches, and more.

I've got a good ear for the human stories behind the digital scenes. There's always a human side that can be told.

Growing creative comms teams into groups of well-skilled people, confident in their roles with fantastic reputations, is what I do best.

Prioritising, coaching, inclusion, culture, trying things out, and getting better matter to me.

Career highlights

To attract digital specialists to apply for DfE roles, I showcased the work of service and software teams on a rich mix of channels. These creative comms supported the hiring of over 400 specialists in 3 years.

Creative producer for Think digital, act human podcast.

Designed and ran a “truly gold-standard” induction programme that welcomed new joiners to DfE Digital’s culture and their specific DDaT community of practice.

Developed the first community and communications team operating model to support DDaT organisations and communities of practice, referred to as "gold dust" by DDaT senior leaders.

Editor of the Government Digital Service’s ‘Government as a platform’ blog, ranked top out of 116 others, 2 years running.

Head of internal comms at Government Digital Service for 2 years.

Being a GOV.UK content designer–tough, but a valuable learning curve.

Winning the best government website award for HM Treasury, way back when.

Skills and expertise

Producing agile communications about software teams, products and services (Giles Turnbull-style)

Podcast creative producer

Social media management, monitoring and content production

Editing, writing, and proofing

Valuing accessibility and knowing how to level the playing field

Using plain English to demystify and open up technical or formal content

Creating accessible, rich and content that people want to make time for

Managing blogs, writing and editing blog posts, working with authors

Content design

Understanding channels and why people have preferences

Government Communication Service professional

Hire me for...

Producing creative agile communications to bring the work of software teams to life
Quick-step content to match the pace of a team’s progress
Editing
Creating concise content with the right pitch and tone for audiences and understanding what will motivate people and spark their curiosity
Growing creative teams and fostering culture for colleagues to flourish and feel confident in
Coaching and running workshops on plain English, accessible content, and blogging
Distilling technical and complex content into compelling information

Central government departments I've worked for

Department for Education 4.5 years

Government Digital Service 7 years

Ministry of Justice 6 years

Judicial Office secondment 1 year

Department for Constitutional Affairs 2 years

HM Treasury 3 years

Some other things I've done

I lived and worked in Japan, and I was a housing officer in South London. I did all manner of jobs at the Royal Court Theatre, and I DJ’ed in the 1990s when the gender pay gap meant women didn't get paid at all. But still, I loved it. I jumped from a dot com into the Civil Service where my first role was html’ing the budget in 2001.