Accountable for end-to-end Digital & IT for the Cawood Scientific Group, which consists of 15 divisions across 20 sites in UK, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain and USADeveloped the Group IT Strategy, including key application strategies and security blueprintInitiated the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) application strategy, consolidating from twelve LIMS to three, aligned to the industry business units. Negotiated group licences contracts leading to 30% reduction in acquisition and maintenance cost. Successful pilot implementations of LIMS into both the Agriculture and Environment business units.Led the cyber response and recovery project, followed by the group-wide implementation of the newly defined security standards which included MFA, Sophos Antivirus XDR and centralised Palo Alto Panorama Firewall managementCreated the onboarding plan and programme for 6 newly acquired businesses into the Cawood IT landscapeDeveloped & implemented the IT re-organisation, establishing a single line organisation for the group, ensuring alignment with the Business Units and the establishment of solution centres to enable to the in-house development and deployment of strategic business solutionsMigrated from previous outsourced IT Services, Infrastructure & Security to an in-house team, leading to 55% reduction in annual costInitiated the Microsoft D365 deployment programme, extending the solution from 6 to 20 sites, including the introduction of multi-currency and multi-language capability. Implemented an outsourced support and maintenance arrangement.

Guide a team of 25 (four direct reports), to evolve the IT strategy and plan for this Veterinary Practice Service provider with 125 practices throughout the UK. Fully accountable for Business Applications, Practice Systems, IT Service Delivery and Support, IT Infrastructure and Security, as well as management of the IT Integration and Onboarding Teams for UK and Europe.Directly supervise the managers of Business Applications, Project and Infrastructure, Business Systems Improvement, and IT Service Delivery. Foster better utilisation of current systems and drive continuous improvement with Veterinary Practice Managers. Initiate, plan, and devise IT programmes and projects. Manage and fully utilise existing business applications, including upgrades and ongoing support through external suppliers. Oversee the outsourced infrastructure provider, including: data centre, networks, IT security, and data and telecoms.Engage with business leaders to fully understand and manage the demand for IT systems and needed changes

Developed the target organisation design for Operations IT, including line-of-sight objectives and measures of success for the newly formed team. Updated and embedded the portfolio management process and forums to support revised organisation design.Initiated and planned the extension and deployment of the Global SAP APO (Advanced Planner Optimizer) Demand Forecasting solution.Reduced cost by 35% for the financial budget and proposed project portfolio through a comprehensive review of the Enterprise Operations for IT.Led the Operations IT team in SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliance, to include: scope, design effectiveness, and remediation. Designed the plan for post-project embedding and sustainability.

Designed and maintained Enterprise Business Intelligence (BI) strategy. Established the BI Centre of Excellence, deployed SAP BI, and migrated to in-memory BI on SAP HANA and Microsoft Analytics. Developed reporting tools from disparate legacy, Excel and Business Objects towards SAP Lumira, Tableau, and Microsoft Power BI.Deployed and embedded the Global Enterprise BI solution over three years, whilst continuing to provide consolidated enterprise data and information from multiple legacy BI environments and constant change to data sources.Collaborated with Global Marketing to develop and embed the Enterprise data and reporting capability to support the Global Sales & Operations Planning process, enabling the replacement of over 250 spreadsheets, data warehouses, and reporting tools across the organisation.Introduced agile methodology and a strategic sourcing model, and designed a near-shore delivery capability in Romania. Reduced average delivery time by 55%, and reduced the blended day-rate for development by 70%, simultaneously maintaining the same quality standards.Developed and implemented the Enterprise Data Quality Management capability to support “source to report” transactional data reconciliation, master quality management, and data incident management, critical for the transition of data management from markets to Global Shared Services.

Transformed the IT organisation following the acquisition of STK (Skandinavisk Tobakskomagni) by BAT in 2011. Significantly exceeded the target synergy benefits for IT through process redesign and implementation of Global services. Reduced permanent headcount by 63% and cut core recurring IT costs by 48% (£17k cost per user). Drove modernisation and globalisation of IT, reducing core IT costs from Global Service lines by 40%, and decreasing the number of servers by 63%.Introduced Application portfolio Management methodology and capability, and revised the Project Portfolio governance as well as a business-benefit led portfolio focus, resulting in the execution and completion of 35 projects, and a 44% reduction of business systems (from 260 to 144). The changes enabled better informed strategic decision making, optimisation of project portfolio, and cost savings.Replaced the ERP solution in Sweden & Norway, deployed the Global Trade Marketing solution to Denmark & Sweden, consolidated over 20 BI capabilities into a single Cluster solution, closed the factory in Denmark, and moved the Cluster Commercial business office.

Developed the marketing strategy for Europe, to include implementation of the regional Business Intelligence (BI) platform for Marketing Information. The platform was aligned with global strategy and standards, enabled the decommissioning of existing local and regional DWH (Data Warehousing), and resulted in an estimated reduction in demand requests on end markets by 58%. Designed the Regional Trade Marketing solution roadmap, promoting adoption of the global Trade Marketing framework and solution, which facilitated decommissioning of existing trade execution systems, and resulted in cost avoidance of approximately £2.5m through re-prioritisation of projects in France, Switzerland, UK and Poland.Established European Marketing IT Drive team to leverage and reuse best practice process and solutions throughout the region, and the Regional Demand Forecasting focus group. (Utilised and fully integrated with the Global APO solution.)

Founding member of the new Global Business Information function. Contributed to the development of strategic objectives, scope and responsibilities of the function, engagement approach & the initial focus areas and initiativesEstablished and operationalised BI Governance for Global Supply Chain & OperationsDeveloped the strategy and approach for defining, approving and implementing further global standardisation.Led BI engagement with the Global Supply Chain/ Operations projects, including the Global Operating Model & Global Dashboard & Metrics projects.Established and managed the portfolio of initiatives required to (a) achieve global compliance to existing data & information standards and (b) re-align disparate existing activity to deliver strategic above market information capability.

Developed the scope and strategic roadmap for the performance management component of the Global Finance Strategic Leadership Agenda. Shaped the focus, scope & initiation of the change activity.Developed & obtained approval for high level business solution architecture for Finance Planning & Management ReportingEstablished appropriate role-based governance for the ongoing governance of global Finance standards. Drove completion, approval & communication of detailed global Finance standards.Led the development of the global functional IT plan process & piloted with the Global Finance functionInitiated process blueprint review and developed high-level solution architecture for global Treasury solution. Obtained project initiation approval including funding and establishment of cross-Finance Project Governance

Developed the Enterprise Business Intelligence strategy and implemented an Australasian Area SAP Business Warehouse reporting solution to Area Finance team. The solution was recognised as Global BAT best practice with the design adopted as the global standard.Led the restructure and process alignment of the 6 IT teams across Australasian IT AreaRepresented Australasian Finance on Global standardisation project (Global Finance CORE). Developed a set of practical, demand driven, process and data standards which were subsequently deployed as part of the Global SAP Programme.Represented Australasian Finance on Regional DRG for the Regional ERP Convergence ProgrammeDrove implementation of Legal case and document management solution (LegalNet)Developed and implemented methodology & approach for implementation of small projects and enhancements across the organisation

Established and facilitated the Area SAP Design Integrity Group (DIG) ensuring integration and alignment across the Area SAP Solution.Developed & drove the adoption of data standards, process alignment and integration within the Area SAP solution. Implemented Area Finance Reporting solution including a consistent suite of Area reports with centralised development and maintenance.Implemented Business Scorecard across Area Finance teamImplemented an Expense Management solution (Concur) across the Australian business, integrated with SAP and external data providers.Project managed the implementation of SAP into NZ and PNG. This was a fast-track implementation of 2 medium markets in 12 weeksLed the Finance & Integration team for the implementation of SAP into Fiji, Solomon Islands & Samoa. This was a fast-track implementation of 3 small markets in 10 weeks

Led the Finance Team for the upgrade of BAT Australia’s ERP system from SAP version 3.1h to 4.6c and merged 2 legacy SAP instances into 1 integrated ERP platform, which included the expansion of the solution footprint and the implementation of significant functional enhancementsConfigured and implemented the general ledger and accounts payable modules in SAP R/3 for the transfer of the Corporate Holding Company from Platinum CBA 2000.Developed the Business Decision Paper for the financials aspect of merging of the two distribution and sales systems.Finance Team Leader for the Merger project. Completed the systems design & configuration of the accounts receivable, bank accounting, and general ledger modules. Managed user acceptance testing, data conversions, process redesign, documentation and training.

Improved efficiency in month-end reporting reducing month-end close from 8 to 4 working daysUpgraded the Corporate Office accounting system to Platinum CBA 2000.Automated bank reconciliations including the download of transactions from ANZ Online, automatic cheque reconciliation and automatic account coding of recurring entries.Implemented a re-designed and functionally expanded Fixed Assets Register. Redesigned and implemented an Excel based model for quarterly Plans and Estimates.Established and managed the implementation of the Regional Cost Savings Project, which identified and realised $8m reductionDesigned and executed training courses for Head Office personnel in SAP R/3 Controlling.

Implemented new procedures for the consolidation of budget, latest estimates, and plan submissions from departments.Completed of the design, testing, and approval of the planning process, including associated system configuration, which enabled planning for direct marketing, general marketing & overheads to be completed online within SAP, eliminating the usage of Excel.Identified requirements and creation of functional reports and ABAP queries for the general ledger, cost centre accounting, internal order accounting, special ledger and profitability analysis which reduced the need for developments & provided accurate and timely information to key users.Designed direct marketing reports to aid monthly reporting and variance explanation.