Mark Birchall Email & Phone Number

Cheshire East, England, United Kingdom

As the Head of Operations at Novus Networks, I oversee the strategic and operational leadership of key departments, including the Technical, Managed Services, and Support teams. My focus is on ensuring operational excellence while driving forward our new mission as a social enterprise.In this role, I am responsible for:• Leading a multidisciplinary team of experts in Pre-sales, Technical Services, Cyber-Security, Managed Services, and Support.• Developing and executing strategies that align with both business objectives and our commitment to social value, particularly in the education sector.• Overseeing vendor management, ensuring strong partnerships that enable the delivery of top-tier solutions to our clients.• Continuously improving internal processes and governance to maintain high standards of service and operational efficiency.• Fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation across teams, ensuring the seamless integration of services that meet our customers' needs.With the transition of Novus back to an independent entity, I am particularly focused on supporting our social enterprise initiatives, which aim to provide low-cost or free services to schools and communities. This new direction allows me to combine my operational expertise with my passion for leveraging technology to make a positive social impact.My goal as Head of Operations is to not only ensure the smooth running of day-to-day activities but also to drive transformative outcomes for both our clients and the wider community through continuous innovation and a commitment to excellence.

Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

As the Head of Technical Services at Novus Networks, I was responsible for driving operational excellence across a wide range of departments, including Pre-sales, Professional Services, Cybersecurity, Support, DevOps, and Internal Operations. Throughout my 17-year tenure, I played a pivotal role in aligning technical strategies with business goals, ensuring customer satisfaction, and fostering a culture of collaboration across teams.My responsibilities included:• Leading and managing cross-functional teams to deliver exceptional technology solutions.• Developing new products that met customer requirements and supported business growth.• Overseeing bid and tender processes to secure key business opportunities.• Enhancing vendor partnerships and maintaining high standards of service through vendor accreditations.• Ensuring technical governance, improving standards, and driving continuous improvement initiatives.A key part of my role was fostering a "one team" culture, which brought cohesion across various departments and contributed to Novus' operational excellence.

Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

As a highly experienced Technical Manager, I had a proven track record of success in leading and managing technical teams, developing and implementing technical processes and procedures, and providing guidance on new products and solutions. My ability to improve technical standards and governance within a company, and to provide direction and facilitate technical expertise in the design phase of proposed solutions, enabled me to deliver significant improvements in operations, resource planning, and completed projects.My experience working closely with all departments and the sales team, as well as my ability to ensure technical staff had the necessary skills to fulfill their duties, was instrumental in achieving key business objectives. I was a strategic thinker, and my input in high-level strategy and technical functionality documents was key to the successful growth of the company.

Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

As a Technical Consultant at Novus, I was responsible for managing complex projects, providing expert technical support and serving as a trusted advisor to clients. I was able to understand the client's needs, design and articulate the benefits of innovative solutions, products and services that best met their requirements in terms of quality, price, and delivery.Furthermore, I was the product champion for many of the desktop virtualization, server virtualization, and Client Management products offered by Novus. This role included documenting best practices, automating builds, staying up-to-date with the latest releases, and helping to improve the user experience. My expertise in these areas and my ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders were key to my success. My role as a Technical Consultant, required a deep understanding of technology, excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams.

Manchester, United Kingdom

As a 2nd Line Support Consultant for AppSense, I was a member of a team responsible for providing 24/7 global support for resellers and customers for the AppSense product range, which includes Application Manager, Environment Manager and Performance Manager. My main responsibilities were to replicate customer issues, provide resolutions using either product features or creating custom scripts, and to liaise with product teams if determined customer issues were bugs with the product.As a leader in the field of user virtualization solutions, AppSense has a proven track record of over ten years in the virtualization space. User virtualization is a highly effective method of reducing desktop management costs by treating the user environment independently of the desktop and delivery method. By standardizing the corporate desktop and automating the delivery of the user’s working environment, this approach enables IT to significantly reduce operational costs.As a 2nd Line Support Consultant, I was responsible for providing expert support to AppSense's customers and resellers, troubleshoot and resolve technical issues and ensure customer satisfaction. I was also responsible for collaborating with product teams to ensure that product bugs were identified and resolved in a timely manner. My technical skills and customer service skills were essential for my role and my ability to understand customer issues and provide effective solutions was key to my success.

Stoke-On-Trent, United Kingdom

As a Senior Developer for Merpic Ltd, I was the Lead Developer within a small team responsible for developing a Virtual Learning Environment built upon SharePoint 2007. In this role, I combined my skills as a developer and project manager to oversee the development of the platform and ensure it met the company's needs. Additionally, I provided 3rd line technical support to ensure the platform was running smoothly and troubleshoot any issues that arose.With 4 years of experience in software development, I am a highly skilled developer with expertise in SharePoint 2007. My experience in project management allowed me to effectively lead the development team and ensure that the project was delivered on time and within budget.I was responsible for designing and implementing new features and functionalities, testing and debugging code, and providing technical guidance to team members. My strong communication and problem-solving skills were essential in this role, as I had to work closely with cross-functional teams and provide guidance to other developers in the team.This role required a combination of technical and management skills, and my ability to manage the project, design and develop new features, and provide technical support was key to my success.

Longton, Stoke-On-Trent

As the Network Manager at Edensor Technology College, I was responsible for leading a team of ICT Technicians, overseeing all aspects of the school's technology infrastructure. My key responsibilities included interviewing new staff, mentoring and training current staff, and being the sole responsible for all ICT purchases for the school.During my 4 years in this role, I played a key role in radically improving the school's technology system. This included implementing a new school domain, exchange environment, XenApp farm and new network infrastructure including wireless throughout the school. I used Altiris to automate the deployment of Operating System images and applications to the end user devices. These improvements have greatly enhanced the learning environment for students and staff.With 4 years of experience in network management and a passion for technology, I am a highly skilled professional with a track record of success in leading teams, improving technology infrastructure and implementing new systems. I have a deep understanding of networking and infrastructure and my ability to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders was key to my success in this role.

Bsc (Hons), Information Systems

Hnd, Computer Science

Education record

Education record