Kelly's Story | Serco Careers

For Kelly Paterson, social mobility isn't an abstract idea, it's personal.

As Chief Information Security Officer for Serco Group, Kelly has built a successful career in technology, security and leadership. But her journey began on the west coast of Scotland, where she grew up in a challenging environment that could have limited her opportunities.

Today, she's passionate about making sure that someone's starting point doesn't determine their future — and believes employers have an important role to play in creating opportunity.

Watch the video to hear the full interview.

Your starting point shouldn't define your future

Kelly grew up as the eldest of two sisters in an unpredictable home environment. Her mother experienced severe mental health difficulties, while her father was in and out of her life.

From a young age, Kelly took on responsibility for her younger sister and became highly attuned to the environment around her out of necessity. But she doesn't tell her story looking for sympathy. As she explains, “It's not about feeling sorry for me or anyone in my situation because when you're in that environment, that is all you know. You don't necessarily realise that other people don't have the same pressures, the same challenges as you."

What stayed with Kelly was a strong sense that she wanted something different for her future. “I genuinely believe that the way and the environment that you were born into shouldn't define how you live your life. It shouldn't hold you back.”

Skills shaped by experience

Kelly believes her early experiences also shaped skills that have stayed with her throughout her career — particularly her ability to quickly assess situations and understand what is happening around her.

“That type of environment really teaches you at an early age… how to read a room really well, really quickly, to risk assess the environment and understand what it takes to keep yourself and those that you love safe.”

She's also conscious that resilience shouldn't have to come from adversity. “Not one of my children would know how to survive a day in the environment that I was brought up in. And that's a really good thing," she says.

The environment that you were born into shouldn't define how you live your life.

Kelly Paterson

Group Chief Information Security Officer

Ambition, opportunity and taking risks

There wasn't one defining moment that changed Kelly's life. Instead, she credits hard work, ambition and a willingness to take measured risks - always looking ahead to the next challenge. “Every milestone that I've had in my life… that was always the start of the next milestone.”

For Kelly, that's also meant learning to navigate spaces where she hasn't always felt like she naturally belonged. Coming from a different background to many of the people she has encountered throughout her career, she says that sense of difference has never completely left her. “I walk in there with a regional accent and a massive chip on my shoulder that I just cannot get rid of.”

Her advice to others who might not feel they belong in the room? “Put your head down and fake it — walk into that room and believe it.”

And her ambition today extends beyond her own career. “I'm massively ambitious for myself, but even more ambitious for my children — and that's what drives me along."

Social mobility needs to be more than a message

For Kelly, meaningful social mobility isn't about putting a label on a campaign. It's about taking practical action to remove barriers that can prevent talented people from accessing opportunities in the first place.

“Social mobility isn't a brand, it's not a tagline, it's not a recruitment campaign,” she says. She points to practical measures such as paid internships, funding travel to interviews and giving young people the opportunity to experience Serco through work shadowing.

“There are people, children, young adults in those environments that are massively talented, that have huge potential, but don't have the opportunity to realise that.”

She believes Serco has an important role to play in changing that — by creating opportunities for people from different backgrounds to experience the organisation and build their careers.

“We need to be really evangelical almost about how we are supporting everyone from whatever background you have to come and experience Serco as an employer."

Creating opportunity for the next generation

For Kelly, it's important her story is ultimately about more than her own journey. It's about what can happen when ambition meets opportunity — and what employers can do to make that more accessible. “We've got a real obligation to give everyone an equal opportunity," she says.

Talent isn't limited by where someone comes from, but sometimes opportunity can be. Kelly's message is simple: where someone starts shouldn't determine how far they can go.

People Story