What would part-time progression look like if jobsharing was normalised and widely adopted?
In Episode 47 of Jobshare Stories, Laura spoke to Lisi Bouchard and Madeleine Cullum, who jobshare as Head of AI Policy for the Creative Industries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Between them, they have clocked up over four decades in the civil service, five previous job share partnerships, and are now leading one of the most fascinating and fast-moving policy areas in UK government — how AI interacts with the creative industries, from music and fashion to film, gaming and advertising. Their story is a compelling case for what part-time progression can look like when jobsharing is properly embedded.
A role right at the cutting edge
Before getting into the job share story, it's worth shining a light on the job itself. The creative industries span 13 sectors, and the question of how AI treats copyrighted creative work is one of the most contested and consequential policy questions of the moment. It's a new team too, which means part of the role is actively shaping what the work programme looks like. For a pair who between them bring an economics background, project and programme management expertise, a coaching qualification and decades of civil service experience, it's exactly the kind of role where having two brilliant minds working as one really pays off.
Serial job sharers — five partnerships between them
What makes Lisi and Madeleine's story particularly interesting is that neither of them is new to jobsharing. Between them, they've had five job share partnerships before this one — giving them a depth of experience and perspective on what works, and what doesn't, that's rare to find.
Lisi first came back from maternity leave after her third child deliberately seeking a job share, knowing it was the best way to take on a big, interesting role while managing family life. She job shared on the programme to set up the Football Regulator — and when her first partner moved on, found a second partner to see the role through. Two partners, one role, two years.
Madeleine's route was different. She had been working 3.5 days solo after returning from maternity leave, and after a couple of years found it simply wasn't working. The stop-start nature of part-time work without a partner was exhausting. She made a conscious decision that her next role would be a jobshare — and in government, where jobsharing is genuinely embedded in the culture, that was achievable. Her first partner was someone she already knew from earlier in her career. Her second came through applying for a promotion to cover a colleague on maternity leave — and then, in an elegant twist, briefly job sharing with that returning colleague as she transitioned back to full time.
As Madeleine reflects, it's a model that worked brilliantly for both:
"For her, it was an extended handover coming back — the support and resilience you get in a role, especially when things like a child who's very young is starting in a childcare setting."
It's a jobsharing application that organisations rarely think to offer — but one that could genuinely transform the experience of returning from maternity leave.
Why jobsharing started - and stuck!
For both Lisi and Madeleine, the answer to "why job share?" is simple: without it, doing the big, interesting, senior jobs whilst working part time is very nearly impossible.
Madeleine describes trying to do her role on 2.5 days before Lisi joined: getting to the end of her working week knowing what needed to be done, with not enough time left to make it happen. Lisi puts it plainly — if you want to work part time and still progress, jobsharing is "a bit of a no-brainer."
But beyond the logistics, there's something more fundamental. Both describe a sense of not being alone in the role — of having someone genuinely in their corner.
"I think I'd feel really lonely if I wasn't job sharing. Having someone who you really trust to bounce ideas around with, to balance out each other's inevitable dips and difficulties — the other one's always there to back you up."
They also note the very practical benefits that come from having six children between them — specifically, six boys — and the inevitable unpredictability that brings. Between school holidays, the occasional A&E trip, and general family life, the resilience built into a job share is not a nice-to-have. It's essential.
The benefits to the organisation — and the team
When Lisi and Madeleine talk about the benefits of jobsharing to DCMS, they go beyond the obvious. Yes, there's resilience and continuity — with six children between them, the chances of a whole week going by with neither of them available is pretty slim. Yes, there's the combined 40-plus years of experience and the complementary skill sets.
But what struck them most, reflecting after the conversation, was what it means for the team they lead. They manage a large team, with many members who are new to the civil service. Having two heads of team — with different strengths, different styles, different connections — means that team members have twice the opportunity to find the manager they connect with.
Far from being confusing, it gives the team more, not less. More support, more perspectives, more people invested in their development. It's one of the most consistently overlooked benefits of jobsharing — and one worth shouting about.
Top tips for job sharers
After five job shares between them, Lisi and Madeleine have some hard-won wisdom to share.
Be really picky. This is not just any working relationship. You need aligned values, shared ambitions and a genuine sense that you want the same things from the role. A job share where those values aren't aligned doesn't just underdeliver on the benefits — it makes working life actively harder. Get this right and everything else follows.
Build it into the recruitment process. In the civil service, questions about how candidates would approach the job share are scored at interview. That's a good model. Giving the existing job sharer a meaningful role in selecting their new partner isn't just thoughtful — it's smart.
Apply even when it's not straightforward. Madeleine applied for one of Lisi's previous job share vacancies and wasn't successful. A year later, a different opportunity came up — and she got it. The path isn't always direct, but it's worth staying on it.
Watch the over-accountability trap. One of the most powerful insights from this conversation is about the pressure job sharers put on themselves. That deep sense of accountability to your partner can tip over into overworking — staying late, checking emails on days off, going way beyond what's needed out of fear of letting the other person down. It's worth remembering: a jobshare is one role. You don't need to do two full-time jobs to be a brilliant job share partner. As Madeleine puts it, the discipline to trust your partner and work your hours is something that takes practice — and the regular check-in is the best tool for keeping that balance right.
Jobsharing is transformative - and so much more than sharing a job
And that, perhaps, is the most important thing of all. Jobsharing isn't just about covering the diary when the other person is off. It's about having someone who is as invested in the work as you are, who knows the context and the team and the stakeholders, and who has your back — every single week.
Something worth underlining from this conversation: jobsharing is one role. It's typically one FTE. The accountability you feel to your partner is one of its great strengths — but it can become a slippery slope if it tips into unpaid overtime and an obsession with a perfect handover. You can't — and don't need to — do it all.
The check-in is the antidote to that. Regular, honest conversations about whether the balance is right, whether you're both thriving, whether you're delivering for yourselves as well as for each other. That's where the magic happens — and it's something we focus on deeply in our jobshare coaching work at The Jobshare Revolution.
Want to hear more?
Search for Jobshare Stories wherever you get your podcasts — we have a back catalogue of over 40 episodes full of inspiring stories of jobsharing in action.
To find out more about how jobsharing could transform your organisation — or if you have a jobshare story you'd love to share on the podcast — get in touch at hello@TheJobshareRevolution.co.uk
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