Mike Hales Email & Phone Number

United Kingdom

London , Gb

As product owner for two squads, I deliver contact and service products, including BT and EE Contact Us web and app pages, and contact services such as web forms, click-to-call and click-to-text, ensuring a simple, frictionless customer experience. The Contact Squad is also responsible for React and AEM development across the Contact and Help content spaces. I also lead a second squad that creates, manages, and continuously improves digital self-service content and services for EE and BT customers using content design processes and proactive management. Additionally, I manage a community platform (Khoros), supporting moderation teams and customer-to-customer support flows for EE, BT and PlusNet.

London, Gb

As product owner for two squads. I led a team extending EE chatbot Aimee’s capabilities by designing conversational flows and functional connections into backend services such as customer billing, product stacks and services, as well as network systems offering connectivity checks using multiple API integrations orchestrated through a BFF layer. The second squad delivers a series of content and contact products including Contact Us web and app pages and other forms of digital contact including TXT and Click to Call, all focused on a simple, frictionless customer experience.

London, Gb

Product Management in Codurance provides fluid exchange and logic between the Problem Space of users’ needs and pain points and the execution and development within the Solution Space to generate viable and valuable products for customers that deliver on business goals. I work with clients across multiple domains, supporting them to maximise ROI on products, create the most efficient delivery processes possible and develop metric frameworks to clearly demonstrate success against customer and business goals.

Auckland, Auckland, Nz

I provided strategic direction and delivery of digital services and B2B SAAS products that automated and simplified content creation workflows supporting increased publishing productivity with low overheads. Leading a development squad, successfully delivered an in-house content authoring tool used by 400+ journalists every day to complement the existing Adobe Experience Manager platform used for publishing to apps, mobile, and desktop web. Managing content and automation, including partner content ingestion, and robot writing, across platforms and tools including Wordsmith, IBM Watson, and Adobe Experience Manager. Utilizing agile development methods with a squad of developers, testers, and a BA and external vendors.

Sydney, New South Wales, Au

Accountable for the optimisation and development of the Home and Contents insurance digital products across multiple brands (State and AMI), and development of future Buy Journeys. Product Owner in a cross-skilled agile team.

Having finished with Vodafone NZ, I focused on self-employed work, taking on various projects supporting local businesses in Piha with digital integration developing commercial websites and services.

London, Gb

AI and Automated Support: As Product Owner for AI & Automated Support, I led the development of an IBM Watson-powered chatbot. This chatbot handled over 180,000 conversations in its first few months, with a 90% accuracy rate and consistently high customer effort scores (CES) of 5+ across six key business areas.Agile Implementation: I was responsible for one of the first agile squads in Vodafone NZ, which was recognized by IBM as a world-class and customer-centric team. This helped introduce agile methodologies to the company's digital transformation efforts.Knowledge Base Consolidation: As Channel Manager for Help & Support, I led a team that consolidated multiple knowledge bases into a single, company-wide resource. This unified knowledge base served both internal teams and customers, improving self-service capabilities.Community Management: I managed the Vodafone Community, a social forum with over 45,000 members, enhancing customer engagement and support.Digital Content and UX: In my role as Digital Content Manager, I created and managed design/UX and content teams responsible for designing digital experiences, building them in a CMS, and maintaining content across marketing promotions, product information, and help content.Customer Experience Improvement: Throughout my tenure, I focused on improving key metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Effort Score (CES), and self-service results.Web and Mobile Design: As Web Design & Usability Manager, I led a team of 8 professionals covering visual, interaction, and experience design for Vodafone's digital properties, including web and mobile sites and apps.These efforts collectively contributed to Vodafone New Zealand's digital transformation by enhancing customer self-service capabilities, improving user experience across digital platforms, and implementing AI-driven support systems.

London, Gb

Line manager for a team of 7 that consolidated multiple Knowledge Bases into one pan-business KB that served both internal users (frontline teams) and the public – web pages and FAQs. Additionally, Community Manager for the Vodafone Community, a social forum on the Lithium platform with more than 45,000 members. Continuous improvement in TNPS scores across web and FAQs providing self-service information to customers.

London, Gb

Created and managed a design/UX team of 4 and a content team of 6. Team was responsible for designing digital experiences, building them in a CMS (Oracle Web Centred Sites) as well as BAU maintenance of that content, which included marketing promotions, product info, help content, video and interactive tools, aligned to outbound marketing activities. Direct responsibility for design/UX, information architecture, content quality and onflow into sales funnel/self-service content. KPIs included TNPS, CES and self-service and sales results. Worked with partners such as Optimal Workshop, Oracle and more.

London, Gb

Responsible maintaining and development customer-facing help content and services on mobile and the web, including a Community service based on the Lithium platform, FAQs and web content across the Vodafone website, supporting sales flows as well as dedicated Help channels. Additionally, responsible for developing and maintaining internal support content using Oracle Service Cloud products, and line management of a team of 4 content producers.

London, Gb

Responsible for customer experience of Vodafone digital properties including web and mobile site design and apps, I built and led a team of 8 covering visual, interaction and experience design, site architecture, content creation and management.

Emigrated to Christchurch from UK, managed clients as large as Ravensdown and as small as a local shoe store, providing digital transformation consultancy, UX/UI design for websites and mobile apps. Successful design, build and launch of travel and other commercial websites, mobile apps for wheelchair users.

New York, Ny, Us

Worked pan-European, leading a blended onshore/offshore team developing digital properties on a new CMS platform. Skills applied included UX, UI, SEO, IA, UCD, and proposition planning and development. Results included successful launches of music, women’s, entertainment and news channels across UK, France and Germany.

New York, Ny, Us

Business owner for the digital Entertainment portfolio including music, video, games, TV, Kids and Film. Responsible for channel strategy including content, partner management, budgeting and delivery. Results included relaunch of a revamped radio channel, HD video music events involving Crowded House, Sugarbabes and Amy Winehouse with live events transformed into digital content including commercial partnerships with record labels. Managed a team of 8 content producers.

New York, Ny, Us

Business owner for the music channel portfolio including streaming music video and radio, live events (Aol Sessions). Strategy and commercial management of partners including major and independent music labels, radio and TV stations. Results include a number of successful live events, relaunched radio and video platforms and strong unique visitor traffic growth through channels supporting ad revenue.

Freelance digital consultant providing digital strategy, content management, team structure advice and more for various clients including The British Council.

London, England, Gb

Digital lead for 6 Music radio station developing and executing content strategy across web, interactive TV, mobile and digital radio platforms. Results include design and launch of successful website, interactive events including Glastonbury and live music sessions as well as BAU products for digital radio such as text services etc.Also, Interactive lead for 5 Live managing a team of four integrating news and sport radio and interactive output, across web, interactive TV, mobile and live text with radio platforms covering news, current affairs and domestic and international sporting events.

Digital music startups supported by Universal Music and Sony BMG, GetMusic was the online equivalent of MTV, while Pressplay was an early mover in the digital music service space based on the Windows Media platform. Successful launch of European website and early iteration of music service.

New York, Ny, Us

Business owner and responsible for all propositional, operational and editorial programming activities for the Internet service provider brand across 15 channels. Line manager for 25 people across content, design, marketing and technology. Results include successful overhaul of content programming, marketing relaunch of brand (CompuServe 2000), continued growth of subscription and ad revenue and launch of in-house subscriber magazine.

Editorial management of 3 digital properties – Virgin Radio, TFI Friday and The Priory. Managing a team of 6 content producers including design, technical development and content production. Results include Virgin Radio becoming the most popular radio station online, winning a Webby Award and successful launches of The Priory online and relaunch of the TFI TV Show online.

London, City Of London, Gb

Managing editor for Internet Magazine, Interactive Week, PC User and chief sub-editor and reporter for Middle East Economic Digest (all EMAP). Achievements include launching one of EMAP’s first websites for PC User and Internet Magazine and a daily email news service with more than 3,000 subscribers.

Arabic Studies, Arabic Language And History

O And A Levels - English, French, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Art, Geography, History