I changed some of the details so not totally outing but think I have left the context.
I used to work with someone Mary, we were peers we got on. She got promoted in a regional branch. I stayed in HQ. A role came up in her division for a maternity she moved heaven and earth to get me... jane* was a good performer, but because it was a small region she didn't really have the right experience. I was brought into help remotely but because of budget they can only get me 18 hours a week for 4 months.
Anyway 2 weeks in Mary is doing my head in, she asked me to look at the whole function and make it more effective but she doesn't want to give me people management so it is just me. I can cope with that to be fair, it will just be slower progress. Anyway last week I had a call with clients (she invited herself..... which is odd) and was trying understand what their issues in their words and she kept shutting down the conversation. I don't want to say Jane was bad at her job (she isn't) so I was trying to be subtle about my feedback and she kept disrupting the flow of conversation.
Also in the same week, a client complained about Jane's work, which wasn't really fair... I had had one call with the client and it felt like they had a very long list inflexible demands. Obviously week 2 you don't jump in with that feedback you are trying to build trust.....When I suggested to Mary they might be out of synch with the market. She told me I didn't really understand that client. All I was saying was I wanted to understand their feedback before jumping to redo the process Jane has been doing which they say doesn't work. I'm not saying they are bad people.
What do I do about her? I can't really work in this environment, it will be exhausting, I can't get off the project now. It was so hard for her to get approved.