As part of our 'meet the team' series, we talk to IP Support Services Trainer Naomi Armitage about moving into a learning and development role, supporting others to succeed and her love of Lego.
Naomi worked at Mewburn Ellis for 14 years as a secretary and later, a patent administrator. She recently made a career change, moving into training and support after a new role was created within the IP Support Team.
“I heard about the new training role in November 2022,” explains Naomi. “As a patent administrator I enjoyed helping new starters and was already involved in training alongside the day job. When this role was advertised and I saw that it would be dedicated to the induction of new team members and the ongoing training of the IP support team, I was amazed to see a job that could see me doing the aspects of my role I already really enjoyed, full time. I was also encouraged by some lovely colleagues who were quick to suggest I applied – they could see that it had my name all over it.”
Naomi studied criminology and sociology at university, in part due to the influence of her parents who both worked in prisons.
“My mum worked as a teacher in a prison and my dad, a former probation officer, was a prison chaplain working with young offenders,” she says. “I was interested in what had led the inmates to end up there and that encouraged me to opt for a degree that included criminology. When I left university I briefly considered becoming a probation officer but in the end took an administration job working for a theatre charity.”
Working at the charity and looking for a role with a bit more job security, Naomi went for various administrative roles but decided IP sounded the most interesting. “When I joined Mewburn Ellis as a secretary in 2009, I was new to IP,” she says. “I learnt so much in those first few years – I was like a sponge, soaking it all up. I really enjoyed the job.”
A friendly face
Naomi’s new role is still evolving. It involves a lot of structured classroom based training, which helps build the required foundation knowledge before practical application on the job, as well as working closely with the learning and development team, and expanding her knowledge about the firm and other departments such as the records team.
“The more I do the job, the more I see that it really plays to my strengths and is the right thing for me,” she says. “Training is different from the everyday people management involved in other roles – it’s not about line management, it’s about supporting people to learn. I’m very positive, a people person and am approachable – something you need to be in this job. It’s hard being a new starter – I remember it well – so you need a friendly face welcoming you.”
One of Mewburn Ellis’s values is ‘trained for excellence’ and that, explains Naomi, applies across the whole firm, regardless of role.
“My favourite part of the job is interacting with people and helping them be the best version of themselves in the role they are working in,” she says. “I get a lot of satisfaction from playing a small part in their success. It’s great to see patent administrators moving on to paralegal roles and knowing you helped to support them to progress. I can be quite motherly when it comes to the support team!”
A positive presence
Colleagues describe Naomi as a “positive presence” who is “proactive and engaged”. One of the biggest projects she has worked on so far has been training the team on the filing of the new European Patent Office unitary patent. “The creation of the EU’s new unitary patent system in June 2023 was one of the biggest changes in patents in the last 50 years,” explains Naomi. “I was thrown in at the deep end, working with the team to prepare for the new process and work out how to train the client support assistants and administrators. There was a lot of learning on the job.” Naomi’s next big project is creating the Administrator Competency Framework.
The most challenging part of her role are the competing priorities. “I didn’t have that responsibility when I was a patent administrator,” explains Naomi. “Then I was part of a team and every day we divided tasks up between us. Now it’s just me. I’m much more autonomous which is great, but it means I am having to learn how to spin a lot of plates. It’s hard but I have a lot of support from the people I work with.”
Naomi is married with two boys, aged eleven and three. “They keep me busy a lot of the time,” she says. “In my own time, I love puzzles, reading and watching films. As a family we’re massive Lego fans. The Lego’s not just for the kids though, there’s plenty of sets for grown-ups these days, building flowers, or Christmas decorations, and I enjoy those too!”
The family are also regulars at their local church. “We have some great friends there and our Christian faith is really important to us,” says Naomi. “I also sing in the church band which I really enjoy.”
