See below for a list of CIfA staff and their roles and responsibilities. CIfA recognises its duty of care to staff in their dealings with members and customers and would encourage you read our statement about the dignity and respect for staff and others engaged in CIfA activities
CIfA is a real living wage employer.
Alex is co-CEO of CIfA alongside Kate, working to ensure the Institute meets its strategic and business aims. Alex also has oversight for membership and governance.
Alex has worked in various roles for CIfA including membership and event management, and more recently focusing on finance, strategic development and governance.
Away from work, Alex enjoys dog walking, football, rowing, Formula One, and spending time with her family.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-llewellyn-a7995017/
Alice is responsible for the institutes’ banking functions, sales and purchase ledgers for all CIfA services, payroll, expenses (internal and those of volunteers) and meeting the various reporting needs of the organisation.
When not working, Alice is mostly found outdoors either gardening or performing comedy poetry at festivals. She is a big fan of board gaming, D&D, knitting and crochet.
Amanda’s background is vocational training, assessment and English teaching. She looks after the delivery of assessment for apprenticeships and NVQs.
Her main focus is to make sure that candidates are fairly and rigorously assessed; as these are regulated qualifications, there’s also a fair bit of work to make sure that operations are compliant.
When she’s not happily ensconced making pretty PowerPoints, she can be found swimming, power walking (thus looking ridiculous) and learning to paint abstracts.
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-frances-wood
Anna began her career at the BBC as a PA and went on to work in a range of sectors, including the NHS. She joined CIfA as an Executive Assistant in 2016, bringing a wealth of experience in administrative and organisational support.
She is now responsible for overseeing CIfA’s governance framework, ensuring Board operations, HR processes, and internal systems are managed effectively and in alignment with best practice. She also supports the Board and provides strategic support to the co-CEOs.
Outside of work, Anna is a proud Aston Villa supporter and an enthusiastic gardener who loves growing her own vegetables. She enjoys music, travel, food and spending time outdoors—especially walking her energetic springer spaniels.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-pardoe-527b38245/
Before working for CIfA Anna worked on site and in post-excavation, heritage administration and museums. Work now includes running the Accredited degree and Approved training & CPD schemes as well as developing and promoting training and careers.
Outside work Anna is likely to be found in museums, galleries and gardens, in the gym, reading, watching Formula One or catching up with friends and family.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-welch-7b4a4142/
Cara joined CIfA in May 2024 to support the annual cycle of administration and communications for CIfA’s Groups. She supports the volunteer led Groups and their members by providing guidance and opportunities for engagement.
Her hobbies include hiking, reading (book recommendations always welcome!), birdwatching and travelling.
Cara is Head of Skills and Development and leads on CIfA’s strategic skills workstreams. Working in professional archaeology for the last 20 years in a range of roles, Cara joined CIfA in 2017 to support the delivery of Scotland’s Archaeology Strategy. Cara’s role is now UK wide.
In her spare time Cara enjoys reading, going out to eat great food, camping anywhere North of the Central Belt and watching Grand Designs with a critical eye.
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/cara-jones-596905148
Carl joined CIfA in September 2022. His areas of responsibility include managing all aspects of CIfA’s internal and external communications, including editing its fortnightly e-newsletter and social media output.
After graduating with a degree in Medieval Archaeology from UCL, he went on to spend years in communications and marketing manager roles in the heritage, higher education and charity sectors. He has worked for organisations as diverse as the Science Museum, University College London, the Royal Society (the UK’s academy of science), and a Member of Parliament, often specialising in science communication.
Outside of work, Carl enjoys (depending upon the result) watching Liverpool FC, countryside walks, exploring his historic hometown of Chester and rugged North Wales, and attempting to improve his appalling French
Elizabeth joined CIfA in 2018 as their first in-house event manager. She is responsible for the management of CIfA’s various event portfolios. This includes strategic development of the overall programme as well as operational management of individual events.
When not working, Elizabeth can often be found enjoying child-friendly activities in Scotland’s central belt with her two children. Whatever time remains is usually filled with crafting.
Ellen supports both the Validation process for accredited applications and the CIfA Registered Organisations scheme. Her work involves processing membership applications and offering support and guidance to applicants.
She enjoys rock climbing, pottery and can usually be found reading a good book
Jen leads on the management, review and implementation of the Institute’s professional practice initiatives and standards. She manages projects and collaborates with sector colleagues/specialists to support the development and delivery of good practice guidance.
Jen loves walking, listening to audio books and visiting museums. She admits to being a ‘fair weather’ camper and undergoes a daily battle of wills with her unruly (but lovable) cat.
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/jen-parker-wooding-she-her-5010847b
Kate has worked for CIfA since 2005 in a variety of professional skills and standards roles before becoming co-CEO with Alex Llewellyn in 2025. She works closely with Alex to ensure the Institute meets its strategic and business aims and provides oversight for the learning & skills and influence areas of CIfA’s work.
Outside work, you’ll mostly find Kate bimbling about the Welsh uplands and tending her small flock of sheep.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-geary-2a175216/
Katie joined CIfA in September 2025 and is supporting the Develop strand of the Institute undertaking various administrative tasks to assist the team.
When not working she enjoys music, hiking in the hills, swimming and eating delicious food.
Kerry BA MA MCIfA coordinates the CIfA Registered Organisations scheme, facilitating the peer-reviewed quality assurance programme, chairing inspections, guiding panel members and reporting to the registration committee. Kerry contributes to all the other work streams with feedback and data from consultation with Registered Organisations.
Kerry enjoys going “off piste” in the local forests exploring the badger trails and subsequently having bits of twig picked out of her hair by complete strangers! She is a plantaholic, an accidental galanthophile and a keen dog sports enthusiast.
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/kerrywiggins
Laura joined CIfA on 1 May 2012 and throughout various roles, including those before CIfA, has over 20 years of experience in administration. Laura manages the subscription processes, including payments, renewals and enquires, and ensures the effective delivery of general administration tasks to support the day-to-day running of the Institute. While also managing business procedures such as Health and Safety, IT, and supplier contracts etc.
Outside of work, Laura enjoys spending time with her partner and fur babies. She is also movie mad, particularly horror (well I was born on Halloween!), and is a keen supporter of Liverpool FC.
Lianne leads on professional accreditation and engagement, supporting governance to provide member benefits and support volunteer involvement in CIfA’s work. She has worked her way up to this role since August 2012, first coordinating applications and now managing that process, including Groups, administration and Advisory Council, plus line managing three amazing staff.
When not working, Lianne can be found with her head in a good book, a gardening trowel (or G&T) in hand, or visiting an archaeological site in the UK or abroad with her husband.
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/lianne-birney-ba-mcifa-a5910059
Michael joined CIfA in February 2022 and carries out a wide range of administrative duties to support the day-to-day running of the Institute. While also managing the weekly Jobs, Training and Volunteer bulletin, book reviews and answering members queries via phone and email.
In his free time, Michael enjoys watching and playing sport especially basketball and football, and can be found traipsing around record stores looking for vinyl records to add to his collection
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-sharp/
Rob leads the delivery of CIfA’s ‘Influence’ strategy. He is primarily responsible for developing external relations with government, industry and other key stakeholders, developing and agreeing policy objectives with the Board and expert members, and carrying out the Institute’s advocacy function.
Rob likes to escape people and policy documents in the mountains, hiking, biking, climbing, and birdwatching.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-lennox-6b58b445/
