Education & Certifications
Msc Engineering and Management Coventry University, Coventry (United Kingdom)
October 2016 – November 2017
Awarded Distinction, 1st
Dissertation: Supply Chain Issues for Electric Vehicles Batteries and Implications for the Electric Vehicles Market and OEMs - Framework Proposal and Recommendation for Adhering To New Regulations and Legislation
Senior Representative Chair, Coventry Students’ Union
Activities and societies:
Postgraduate Society
Coventry University Students' Union
Global Professional Development Programme CMI
Global Leaders Programme
Bachelor of Applied Electronics, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest (Romania)
October 2012 – August 2016
Dissertation: Software for the Detection and Signalling of a Driver’s drowsiness
Specialised in applied electronics
Subjects: Mathematics (algebra, analysis, probability analysis), Physics, Information
Transmission Theory, Microcontrollers, Databases Design, Digital Proccesing of Signals, Computer System Architecture, Basics of Artificial Intelligence, Communication, Law and legislation of businesses, Management
Assignments: Worked in teams to deliver several practical projects, such as coding and programming or conducting electronic measurements and analysing the data
Baccalaureate, Mathematics and Informatics, National College Nicolae Grigorescu (Romania)
September 2009 - July 2012
Baccalaureate, Mathematics and Informatics
Subjects: Mathematics, Informatics, Physics, English language, French language
Certifications
Practical Application of Generative AI for Project Managers, Project Management Institute, April 2026
Introduction to Leading with Motivational Intelligence (MQ), CPD Certificate, TPWTD, March 2026
National Implementation of the Paris Agreement, UN CC:Learn, 2024
Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Leadership and Management, Chartered Management Institute, 2017
Level 7 Award in Professional Consulting, Chartered Management Institute, 2017
Global Leaders Programme Diploma, Coventry University, 2017 (Activities: Workshops on Managing communications, Leading Change, Management Consultancy, Leading and Managing Teams)
Experience
Ileana & Co Ltd (September 2025 – Present)
Founder, Programme & Delivery Partner (Remote)
Independent practice offering programme and delivery services.
Launched Ileana & Co as a structured consultancy offer, defining service lines, setting commercial rates, and building ileanalupsa.com from scratch (every page, service description, blog, and video content) without external support.
Built applied AI and automation capability from scratch: designed and deployed make.com automations covering meeting note summarisation, document creation, email workflows, and approval sequences, focused on operational delivery processes.
Established a public thought leadership presence on stakeholder engagement and programme delivery through LinkedIn posts, blogs, and a video series (Connecting the Dots).
Actively built peer relationships through community platforms (Work on Climate and OpenDoorClimate) and open conversations with founders, operators, and delivery leads, as well as through LinkedIn outreach.
techUK (August 2022 – September 2025)
Programmes Management - Programme Manager for Local Public Services and Nations & Regions (Remote + UK travel)
Led delivery across two concurrent national programmes (Local Public Services, Nations and Regions) connecting tech companies, local authorities, and start-ups to drive digital innovation in public services and strengthen regional tech ecosystems.
Ran end-to-end operations across both programmes simultaneously: strategic planning, workstream coordination, stakeholder engagement, events, and communications.
Governed two programme councils with elected industry chairs: scoped two-year delivery plans, set agendas, facilitated meetings, produced minutes, and tracked actions to completion, keeping both councils representative of member priorities and shaping programme direction.
Identified a gap in local government support for digital and Net Zero and built a new programme series from scratch, subsequently continued by a colleague.
Grew and managed a complex stakeholder ecosystem across local authorities and hundreds of industry leaders, SMEs, and start-ups; tracking engagement via CRM against acquisition, retention, and financial targets, pitching to prospects, and maintaining direct member relationships to drive retention.
Delivered the Local Digital Index end to end: led a 20-stakeholder working group, partnered with an external consultancy on the annual report, authored three regional case studies, and designed and ran the launch events, informing tech sector investment and policy thinking nationally.
Designed and delivered 50+ national events including workshops, roundtables, innovation summits, and report launches, reaching 500+ senior stakeholders and managing supplier relationships and event budgets end to end.
Authored 70+ thought leadership outputs including reports, consultation responses, newsletters, and social content, positioning techUK as the authoritative voice on local digital innovation, and overseeing member content for publication.
Collaborated across techUK's market teams to align topics, agendas, and programme direction, keeping work connected across the organisation.
Managed delivery relationships across marketing, comms, design, and an external contractor; coordinated programme team assistants and presented updates, cross-team dependencies, and annual plans at all-hands and quarterly meetings.
Volunteered to lead the Premises workstream in the Net Zero Strategy team, coordinating colleagues on recycling, energy efficiency, and sustainability best practices.
Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (November 2019 – July 2022)
Programmes Management - National Networks Programmes Coordinator (Hybrid + UK travel)
Delivered stakeholder engagement and programme coordination for the national body driving the UK’s transition to zero-emission vehicles, working across academia, industry, and government.
Designed and managed the internal financial process for grant funding of up to £1M disbursed to universities and research institutions, built from the ground up, with full spend tracking and KPI reporting across programme workstreams.
Led adoption of monday.com as the organisation’s enterprise project management tool: configured the system, trained colleagues, and established shared workflows that gave visibility across concurrent workstreams for the first time.
Authored six published industry reports and led cross-sector technical workshops identifying research and commercialisation challenges in the clean technology transition, informing programme strategy and external stakeholder decisions.
Ran cross-sector knowledge transfer programmes connecting start-ups, SMEs, large manufacturers, universities, and government departments on Net Zero initiatives.
Assessed innovation funding applications spanning start-ups through to large-scale industrialisation, evaluating commercial viability and Net Zero contributions.
Aston Martin (July 2018 – September 2019)
Programmes Management - Programmes Coordinator
Cross-functional programme coordination across five concurrent vehicle programmes in a high-pressure engineering environment.
Reduced issue escalation delays across five vehicle programmes by redesigning the tracking and resolution process, running cross-functional meetings, and chasing approvals through engineering and senior management.
Built and presented weekly programme metrics to directors, translating operational status into clear inputs for steering decisions.
Killarney Telecommunications Ltd. (January 2018 – July 2018)
Project Management - Technical Project Coordinator
Coordinated technical project delivery across KTL, BT and EE, managing client queries and cross-functional communication between teams. Reviewed technical site drawings, created supporting documentation, and used Google Earth and Citrix-hosted systems to verify and cross-reference site-level data.
Let's connect
If you're interested in working together or have a question about my experience, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out via email or connect with me on LinkedIn.
I'm open to permanent roles, fixed-term contracts, and consultancy engagements and available across time zones.
Wondering if we're a good fit? Book a 30-minute call to discuss.