John Booton Email & Phone Number

Leeds, United Kingdom

In March 2018 First Utility Ltd was acquired by Royal Dutch Shell, becoming part of Shell New Energies division and First Utility was re-branded as Shell Energy Retail Limited on March 25th 2019.A dual Director role to lead the transformation of Technical Operations to cloud technologies and establish Procurement as a business-wide discipline.Terms of Reference for Director of Technical Operations:- Custodian of the live systems, infrastructure & networks; accountable for availability and performance- Accountable for the day to day support of Shell Energy user community- Management of 3rd party suppliers- Capacity planning, DR, BCP, QA & Testing, DevOps, Security- Budget preparation & management- Maintain a cost effective approach to management of resourcesTerms of Reference for Director of Procurement:- Governance of end to end process for vendor and product selection, through to contract signature / PO- Execution of commercial negotiations, securing discounts and favourable terms for Shell Energy- Ongoing development of policies covering 3rd party supplier conduct- Ongoing definition and application of internal best practice - Embed Procurement as a BAU process throughout the business

Coventry

Appointed to a role with dual responsibilities to ensure First Utility Ltd continues to operate a robust, scalable and secure platform for its customers and internal user community, and at the same time ensure procurement, in all it's aspects, becomes an effective discipline within the organisation.Director of Technical Operations:Custodian of the Live Systems, infrastructure & networks; accountable for availability, performance and security. Achieving results through a cost effective approach to management of resources and best use of technology.Director of Procurement:Provide governance of end to end process for vendor and product selection, through to contract signature / PO. Achieve a consistent cycle of cost savings, synergies and efficiencies for all First Utility Ltd products and services and embed procurement as a BAU process throughout the business.

Appointed to lead the tactical realignment and strategic direction of Technical Operations for one of the fastest growing companies in the UK; First utility has grown by over 600% in 3yrs placing significant pressure on all IT resources, both technical and human.- Restructured Tech Ops to focus on availability and performance for Online customers and CS- Completed re-provision of the core server and SAN infrastructure within 2 x data centres- Developed policy to increase use of cloud services to support Big Data / Online / Dev & Test systems- Created 24 x 7 support team covering key systems- Established control of 3rd party suppliers - Successfully scaled IT systems to support 600% growth, improving performance for Online & CS- Re-provisioned the comms network to provide stability, resilience, and increased performance- Reviewed and improved all industry facing back-office systems- Worked with newly established PMO to develop processes to support delivery of key projects- Worked closely with S/W Engineering to support delivery of new Online and mobile platforms- Created Dev Ops function to ensure successful management of system delivery and integration- Provisioned new 900 seat call centre, plus a new office in London- Introduced load testing for Website to identify future capacity issues and resolve before they occur- Established IT Risk & Assurance team responsible for Change Control, DR, IT Audit, Security & BCP- Introduced infrastructure & application monitoring, ensuring high levels of system availability & performance- Worked closely with Finance to establish control and management of IT budget- Established procurement and supplier management processes business-wide- Completed comprehensive RFP process for replacement of telephony and contact centre systems

Manchester

Responsible for strategic IT leadership & change, re-aligning the IT function with core business needs- Appointed on an initial 3-month contract, subsequently extended to allow me to complete a full review of the IT function.- Worked with the CEO / FD to review all areas of the IT department, defining a business-aligned IT strategy- Leadership, management & control of a multi-functional team of 14+ IT staff, based in the UK & the USA- Management of a portfolio of over 45+ projects covering group offices in the UK, USA, Europe & Australia- Championed the re-alignment of IT to support a complex group of companies and fee earning consultants- Developed business cases and business benefit analysis for the adoption of emerging IT / IS technologies

Warrington, United Kingdom

This was a key role within the organisation, providing service delivery and governance of the live, revenue generating systems. Responsible for the design and implementation of changes necessary to provide ‘always on’ support for the business ensuring all UK and remote (Gibraltar based) systems were supported 24 x 7 x 365.Managed a team of 30+ colleagues comprising of Service Desk, Technical Support, Online Support, IT Operations and Testing, including 3 x line managers.I was responsible for procurement and contract management within IT, ensuring the best products and services were procured and that all contracts were thoroughly reviewed with external lawyers and negotiated to a successful conclusion.

Short term role, defining a service improvement plan to raise the level of IT services to the financial institutions who outsourced share custody to RBCDIS.

Responsible for IT Opex and Capex; including defining procurement processes; commercial negotiations; contract negotiations; resolving supplier issues; RFI, RFP, RFQ processes.

Responsibility for the support of the live revenue generating systems covering seven different departments: IT operations; Technical Support; Applications Support; IT Service Desk; Change Control; Data & Environments; Comms (data & voice).