First software Product Manager appointment for Kiwi Power during its transition into a global energy software player with joint responsibility for shaping the team and product strategy. Successfully collaborated with the CEO and Head of Product to stand up the Product Management function within the company.Initiation and ground-up development of key product management resources and processes, including implementation of a Product Prioritisation Framework and the North Star Metric methodology, Product Strategy and Product Positioning Framework. Development of key product metrics (KPIs) for reporting to the CEO and Board. Led early-stage iterative exploration of a disruptive ‘direct-to-consumer’ model including business model canvas hypothesis creation, customer interviews, market sizing and lean roadmap for value proposition testing. Responsibility for developing and maintaining the lean product roadmap of capabilities including identification of emergent market trends, analysis and specification of roadmap candidate feature sets, prioritisation and alignment with strategy and leading the development teams implementing each capability.Engagement with existing and prospective clients globally (USA, Canada, Japan, EU-wide, Australia) to understand emergent market needs and ensure competitive positioning of Kiwi products. Presented on behalf of the company at several high profile external events including Canada-UK Energy Summit, Japan Energy Challenge and Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum.

Successfully achieving outstanding results in a leadership-focused MBA with key modules in Strategy and Leadership, Board Mindset, Research and Consultancy Skills, Globalisation and International Business (Central Asia focus). Delivery of strategic reports for a variety of clients including Universalbank (Uzbekistan), Momentum Services / Gruppo Cremonini (Italy) and The Metropolitan Police. Dissertation: An action research investigation into decentralised, distributed and resilient leadership Volunteering: Career Development Mentor

I started to work at Open Utility when it was a nascent startup, joining the three co-founders as the first employee in the business. Being a key senior executive appointment in the early stages of company formation, I had responsibility for our commercial strategy, revenue, profitability and acted as a trusted advisor for board appointments and corporate governance. In this dynamic and fast-paced role, I successfully secured our first three major partnerships valued in excess of £300k and firmly established the company’s position in the energy software market. I led, designed and implemented our expansion strategy by securing key partnerships in the UK, Italy and Netherlands. This included managing complex data sets in order to aid high-level decision making that successfully culminated in the identification of profitable opportunities for the business globally. With responsibility for all our business development activities, I developed and managed our sales process from initial outreach to C-level negotiations and contract signature, building a pipeline of over 100 partners with up to £20m in revenue potential. Additionally, I led a time-critical major programme to commercialise our R&D-level software platform. This involved managing multiple cross-functional teams to assess and define strategy, market position, value proposition, pricing, service levels and upgrade packages. As a member of the senior executive team, I regularly advised and influenced the board and founders on key strategic decisions including fundraising, advisory appointments, board directorships and governance processes. Open Utility was a transformative experience for me personally, exposing me to the full breadth of challenges that a startup organisation faces. I left Open Utility to pursue my MBA and I continue to be an investor in this highly successful business.

I pioneered and single-handedly established Endurance Wind Power’s presence in the UK market. As the first employee in the country, I was rapidly promoted from Sales Engineer and ultimately exceeded targets with a 1000% increase in annual sales to £25m and secured more than 50% market share. This included overseeing all UK operations including managing a network of 14 distributors with complex stakeholder relationships. I held responsibility for managing UK sales, logistics and installation teams to ensure efficient operations and accurate forecasting of sales and revenue to our headquarters in Vancouver, Canada. As the key relationship manager for our critical UK partners, I took ultimate responsibility for their results and performance, both internally and with our customers. As our key representative in the UK market, I developed and delivered training programs, educational seminars and best practices sharing to ensure industry-leading operations across the UK network. I was regularly delivered presentations to large audiences of up to 100 people, including at regulatory, industry and sales events. Additionally, I represented the company on national government policy and industry groups. As a further demonstration of my ability to contribute to the strategy of the company, I initiated a project to develop bespoke framework contracts for participation in large £10m tenders with professional project developers. This required skilled assessment of the market to develop competitive pricing and terms enabling the business to open up new strategic market segments for growth.

At Siemens Wind Power I delivered effective project management of bid proposals for wind farm contracts up to £30m in value. I excelled in the coordination of technical and commercial teams in the UK, Denmark and Germany through a internal complex project management and approval process, while ensuring that our proposals met customer expectations. I demonstrated the ability to deliver on-time, communicate effectively and working under pressure. Wind farm bids are large, complex proposals requiring the management of multiple internal and external stakeholders. A key proposal I developed was the Keadby 2 Wind Farm proposal for SSE Renewables with a contract value greater than £15m. I managed the creation of project plans, budgets, technical documentation and operational performance modelling, all combined and presented professionally to the client with over 250 pages of content. I successfully obtained Siemens internal technical and project management qualifications by successfully completing an intensive 3-month training program in Denmark. This included key modules included project management, project costing, wind speed modelling, power engineering and legal contracting.

I joined the newly formed European subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a Customer Support Engineer and was soon promoted to the role of Commercial Sales Engineer. In these roles, I was responsible for connecting our headquarters in Japan and our European clients with a goal of increasing customer satisfaction and revenue. Responsible for client relationships across EMEA, I travelled extensively to meet with our clients face to face. I led customer meetings, delivered presentations, wrote technical papers and facilitated all communication between customers and our Japanese HQ. I also achieved the Prince2 Project Management certification. As part of this role, I travelled to Japan and spent 3 weeks in an intensive training program in Takasago and Tokyo. Both in Japan and in the UK, working at Mitsubishi was culturally educational and I learned the value of the Japanese work ethic, dedication to the company and commitment to quality.

I joined Alstom initially as an intern while studying engineering, taking a year out of my studies to live abroad and get real work experience. Recognised as a high performing individual, I was offered full-time employment as a Project Engineer following my studies, which I eagerly accepted. Thus the decision to take this overseas internship proved instrumental in my life, opening the door for me to move from Canada to Europe. I developed strong analytical and project management skills at Alstom, working within teams of highly skilled specialist engineers on complex problems.