FAQ

I’m a Digital Programme Director, Technical Programme Manager and Senior Project Manager with 15+ years’ experience leading digital transformation across products, platforms, web, mobile, data and enterprise systems. My background covers Director level leadership, strategy, organisational and business process change, commercial and supplier management, and complex programme delivery across client-side, consultancy and agency environments. I’m comfortable moving between senior leadership and delivery, from shaping direction, investment and priorities through to understanding the detail needed to make sound programme decisions.

What type of work do you specialise in?

My main area is digital programme and transformation leadership across products, platforms, web, mobile, data and enterprise systems. I’ve taken work from discovery, strategy, business cases and roadmaps through mobilisation, recovery, governance, supplier management, delivery, integration, testing, release and service transition. The work is often complex, involving several workstreams, technical dependencies, competing priorities, multiple suppliers and stakeholders or significant commercial pressure. In other cases, the challenge is taking a broad strategic objective and turning it into a programme that is properly prioritised, funded, governed and deliverable.

What level do you typically operate at?

My experience covers Director level leadership, programme leadership, technical programme management and senior project delivery. At Landor I was Global Systems Director, reporting directly to the Global CFO and COO, and at everywoman I represented digital and data on the leadership team; subsequent roles have kept me close to complex transformation, platforms and technical delivery. I pay attention to title because it signals seniority, but I look just as closely at the responsibility behind it: the scope, level of ownership, strategic and commercial decisions, team leadership and what the role is there to achieve.

Are you hands-on or strategic?

Both. I’m comfortable operating at different levels depending on what the work requires. At the more senior end, I add most value by setting direction, shaping priorities, working with senior leadership, making programme and commercial decisions and giving capable teams the space to deliver. I’ve also worked directly with plans, requirements, backlogs, risks, dependencies, releases, testing, data and integrations throughout my career, so I can go into the detail when it is useful, understand what is actually happening and help resolve an issue without needing to involve myself in every task.

How do you work between strategy and delivery?

I don’t see strategy and delivery as separate. A strategy only becomes useful when it is translated into priorities, investment decisions, a roadmap, workstreams, ownership, governance and measurable outcomes, and I’ve worked across that full journey. At everywoman, I assessed the digital estate and business context, developed the digital strategy and roadmap, then moved into product, data, reporting and wider platform transformation. At Jacobs Media Group, I led a commercial, systems and data audit, defined the strategy and roadmap, secured approval for the transformation and moved into delivery. For me, the important part is that strategic decisions remain connected to what the organisation can realistically execute.

What does digital transformation mean to you?

For me, digital transformation is about changing how an organisation operates and creates value, with technology and data enabling that change. I start with the business objective, whether that is growth, customer experience, efficiency, cost, capability or better decision-making, then look at what needs to change across processes, platforms, data, people, suppliers, governance and ways of working. A new platform on its own is not transformation if the surrounding processes, ownership and operating model remain unchanged. The real test is whether the organisation is better able to operate, serve its customers, control cost or make decisions afterwards, rather than simply having newer technology.

Do you have experience with business process and operating model change?

Yes. At Landor, my work covered systems strategy, operating-model design, business process change, data, suppliers and organisational capability across 26 offices. I’ve also worked on changes involving platform ownership, supplier dependency, service transition and the way responsibilities move between internal teams and external partners. For me, an operating model is not an abstract diagram; it is how the organisation actually gets work done, where decisions sit, who owns what and how the change is sustained once the programme moves into normal operations.

What kinds of problems are you usually brought in to solve?

The situation varies. Sometimes an organisation knows what it wants to achieve but needs someone to turn that into a realistic programme, roadmap and investment decision. Sometimes a major product or platform needs replacing or modernising, or several teams and suppliers need to work against one coherent plan. I’m also comfortable with programmes that need recovering, where the plan is no longer credible, requirements or ownership are unclear, decisions are stuck or stakeholder confidence has fallen. In those situations I establish the real position first, work out what genuinely matters and then put enough structure around the programme to bring it back under control. The objective is to improve the underlying position, not simply improve how it is reported.

How technical are you?

My role is programme and transformation leadership, but I work closely with engineering, architecture, product, UX/UI, data, infrastructure and analytics teams. I understand the technology well enough to discuss platforms, integrations, APIs, data flows, environments, releases and dependencies, challenge assumptions where necessary and make sound programme decisions around sequencing, risk and priorities. Recent work includes enterprise Sitecore delivery for Greystar and global Sitecore XM Cloud delivery for INEOS Grenadier, while earlier programmes have involved Affino, Community Brands, Drupal, CRM, ecommerce, payments, mobile applications, cloud and data platforms and wider enterprise systems.

What experience do you have leading data and cloud modernisation?

Data and cloud have featured in a number of the transformation programmes I’ve led, including application and platform modernisation, migration, integrations, reporting and changes to how organisations manage and use data. At Landor, this formed part of a wider global systems transformation involving cloud migration, integrations and progressive modernisation of the application and data estate, while at Jacobs Media Group the systems and data assessment shaped the wider strategy and roadmap. My role is to lead the transformation around that work, bringing together the business priorities, specialist teams, suppliers, governance and organisational change rather than presenting myself as the data engineer or cloud architect.

Do you work with digital products as well as programmes?

Yes. My background includes product strategy and ownership, roadmaps, discovery, requirements, customer journeys, backlogs, supplier-led development, testing and launch. At everywoman, for example, I recovered and delivered Pathfinder, a skills-diagnostics and learning-recommendation product for more than 30,000 members, as part of the wider Digital Programme Director role. I defined the client-side product and delivery requirements and led the work with the supplier development team, so the experience covered both product thinking and the practical programme work needed to get it delivered. My strongest fit is where product, technology, transformation and programme leadership need to work together.

Do you manage budgets, suppliers and commercials?

Yes. I’ve managed significant technology budgets and programme portfolios, developed business cases, assessed investment options, led supplier selection and procurement, managed commercial arrangements and held suppliers to their delivery commitments. I look at whether an investment makes business sense rather than simply whether something can technically be delivered, which may mean securing funding for the right approach, challenging unnecessary expenditure, comparing build and platform options or changing direction when the evidence no longer supports the original plan. At Landor, for example, I controlled £1m+ annual CapEx and OpEx, while at Jacobs Media Group the work included commercial appraisal, supplier assessment and securing approval for a £400k transformation.

How do you approach programme governance?

I like governance to be useful. It should give people a reliable view of the important milestones, risks, dependencies, decisions, finances and ownership, while making clear who has authority to act. The right level depends on the programme: a complex transformation involving significant investment, several suppliers or regulatory exposure will need more control than a relatively contained initiative. What matters is whether the governance improves decisions and gives leadership genuine control rather than simply creating more meetings, reports and approval layers. I’ve written about this in more detail in my guide to programme governance.

What is your leadership style?

Clear, calm and practical. I want people to understand the direction, what they own and where decisions sit, then I give capable people room to do their jobs rather than assuming senior leadership means being involved in every task. With senior stakeholders, I focus on what they need in order to make a good decision: the actual position, risk, commercial impact, available options and my recommendation. Where the evidence suggests that something is wrong, I’ll get close enough to understand it properly and stay with it until the position is under control, then step back rather than becoming a permanent layer in the work.

Have you built teams and functions as well as delivered programmes?

Yes. Landor is the strongest example. I originally joined as a contractor and was later appointed Global Systems Director, reporting directly to the Global CFO and COO. I inherited part of the existing US capability, assessed and reshaped the team, recruited the UK capability and built a six-person core Global Systems function supporting 26 offices, while also leading the strategy, suppliers, budgets and operating model. That responsibility went well beyond an individual programme and included people leadership, organisational capability, investment decisions, application ownership and deciding how a global function should operate over the longer term.

Have you worked globally and across different sectors?

Yes. International and distributed work has been part of my career for many years, from Landor’s 26-office Global Systems remit to more recent multi-market Sitecore delivery for Greystar and global web delivery across INEOS Grenadier’s Sitecore XM Cloud estate. My sector experience covers financial services, banking and fintech, travel and insurance, technology, automotive, property and real estate, retail and ecommerce, media and publishing, professional services, membership and learning, events and the public sector. The business context changes, particularly where regulation, customers or commercial models differ, but many of the underlying transformation problems recur: legacy technology, fragmented data, unclear ownership, inefficient processes, supplier dependency and the difficulty of modernising while the organisation still has to operate.

What are some examples of the outcomes you have delivered?

At Landor, I built and led the Global Systems function across 26 offices, reporting to the Global CFO and COO, managing £1m+ annual CapEx and OpEx and delivering £8m+ ROI through cloud, systems and data modernisation. At everywoman, I led digital and data strategy and the wider platform transformation, including the Community Brands migration, which delivered £130k in first-year platform savings and reduced reliance on custom development. At Jacobs Media Group, reporting to the Global CEO, I led a commercial, systems and data audit, defined the strategy and roadmap, secured approval for a £400k Affino transformation and delivered the first of eight planned migrations, with costs projected to fall by 40% over three years. Those examples are different in scale and context, but each involved connecting technology decisions to a wider commercial or organisational outcome.

What type of opportunity are you looking for?

I’m particularly interested in permanent Director-level leadership roles across digital transformation, programmes, technology, delivery and digital operations. The strongest opportunities are those where I can help shape direction, work with senior leadership, lead teams and partners, make commercial and investment decisions and turn strategic objectives into meaningful organisational change. I’m looking for genuine leadership responsibility and the opportunity to take broader responsibility over time, while remaining close enough to delivery to understand how the organisation is actually executing. I’m also open to selected interim or contract work where the scope is genuinely senior and strategically interesting, and you can contact me directly through this website or LinkedIn.