Russell Batchelor Email and Phone Number

Travel to client sites worldwide to deliver 15+ engineering and infrastructure projects, including projects running concurrently for Tier 1 finance and blue-chip private-sector clients, NATO and NHS departments. Implement structured project management processes to ensure IT projects provide business value. Prepare project plans and staff assignments, monitor daily work efforts, identify resource needs, perform quality reviews and escalate functional, quality and timeline issues. Track milestones and update project plans/resources accordingly. Communicate with business areas with impacts on scope, budget, risk and resources. Collaborate with Portfolio Manager, technical teams and senior managers to define and prioritise opportunities for improvement. • Consistently ensured successful project delivery across diverse IT M&A domains, encompassing network and infrastructure separation/integration, EUC upgrades, mobile endpoint deployments, and transitions from on-premises to off-premises data centers. Ensured alignment with schedules, costs, quality standards, and designs, for office refurbishments, moves, new offices• Created/maintained all required project documentation and ensured accurate reporting by following IT project management process.• Verified inclusion of support requirements in project plans from inception, that systems designed with product and support needs and that hardware complied with standard technology framework.• Served as key point-of-contact for all project activities, effectively leading teams and facilitating cross-functional collaboration in fast-paced, high-pressure environments.

I managed geographically dispersed teams and led planning, execution and delivery of technical projects in accordance with timelines, budgets and quality standards. This included creating and defining the project scope, plans, activities, schedules, budgets and deliverables; managing project initiation; and identifying client requirements, goals and as-is states. I also tracked and monitored projects, managed risks, removed roadblocks and communicated with clients and technical team members.My key outcomes include:• Created business cases outlining user needs, benefits and solutions options, including changing or creating new IT processes, systems and culture.• Cultivated relationships with stakeholders to gain agreement on scope and deliverables, selected best methodology (Agile, Waterfall) and managed delivery in alignment with processes and procedures.• Interfaced across the programme and other functional areas to determine impacts of interdependencies.• Facilitated planning meetings and workshops and wrote all necessary documentation for project board.• Identified and allocated project resources, managed and motivated team and tracked day-to-day progress.

I led business/digital transformation and change projects in a large government department for GDS assessments at public sector agencies.My key outcomes include:• Leveraged business, application, data and infrastructure architecture experience, as well as extensive background in public-sector programmes, stakeholder management and communication.• Managed technology procurement for networking, operating systems and cloud services (AWS, Azure).• Defined requirements, prepared estimations and presentations, delivered workshops, performed cost analysis and determined appropriate investments.• Performed user research, including interviews, surveys and usability testing, analysed findings and prepared recommendations in alignment with GDS standards, guidelines and best practices.• Partnered with sales team to gather and understand needs and objectives of prospective customers.

I was the lead enterprise architect providing expertise to deliver large and complex technology projects in alignment with budgets, deadlines and requirements.My key outcomes include:• Delivered 60% cost savings by managing procurement and implementation of WAN to 200+ partner sites.• Oversaw project to design and deploy sophisticated telephony network for 5K employees.• Implemented fully diverse and secure internet connectivity in preparation for transition to cloud technology.• Successfully managed re-tendering of £12M voice and data services for the entire Authority.

Contracted to lead a comprehensive review and IT restructuring project. Completely restructured the department, and created a dedicated project team focused on delivery. Delivered 96 projects, including a national VOIP programme to 32 branches/1000 end points. Asked to remain at end of assignment to provide project management for their highest profile programmes.

Responsible for global deployment and product development via a team of 22 Consultants, Analysts, Engineers and Developers, for large financial institutional clients, including JPMC, HSBC, Deustche Bank, Goldman Sachs and RBS. Transformed a deteriorating major client relationship, through delivery of a significant product enhancement, resulting in entry into the clients Global Awards Programme for Innovation. Then developed working practices and policies to increase the rollout and migration times, of servers into data centres, reducing time to deploy, from weeks to days.

Co-founder of one of the largest providers of hosted VOIP in the UK. Responsible for developing and delivering the company’s core product offering. Created and led a team of 15 specialists and Account staff; directing the design and development of all technical Managed Service projects, building key client relationships and strategic alliances with major vendors. Designed and launched the first European IP managed Service model into the MTU market. Technical Design Authority for 1.5 million sqft of campus infrastructure, including LAN and WAN design and build, fibre backbones, data centre design and build, rollout of 14000 XP desktops, diverse internet connectivity feeds, server deployments and PBX deployment.

Responsible for the engineering and project management evaluation of prospective new business sales opportunities. Also evaluated, designed and costed bespoke network solutions for non-standard product team. Projects included major bids such as the Classroom 2000 network, an infrastructure of 40,000+ networked computers connected to the Internet and the Railtrack Voice over IP programme.

Reporting to the IT Director, responsibilities included designing and project managing the entire corporate IT infrastructure for the group. Managed 17 contract and permanent personnel.