Michelle Williamson

Senior Operations and Transformation Leader with 24+ years' experience leading operational excellence, business transformation, workforce planning, process optimisation, governance, and strategic initiatives across EY, Fairfax Media, AOL and global digital organisations. Proven track record delivering large-scale operational change, improving profitability, implementing enterprise systems, leading cross-functional teams and driving measurable business outcomes.

Operations and Communications Manager (Part-Time) - Catholic Parish of Lindfield - Killara

(2025-07)

This role is responsible for operational management, communications strategy, stakeholder engagement, procurement governance, volunteer coordination, facilities administration, and business support functions for a large parish community.

• Identified gaps in the church's digital presence and led the development of social media initiatives to enhance communication and engagement with the community.
• Conducted a comprehensive review and audit of the parish's central communications hub (website), recommending improvements to usability, content, and accessibility.
• Proactively investigated missing purchase records for church assets, collaborating with staff and vendors to conduct a full inventory audit and implement standardised procurement documentation.

Family Care Responsibilities

(2023-10 - 2025-08)

Took time away from work to provide care and support for an aging parent facing significant health challenges. Maintained professional development through AI and operational excellence training. Returned to workforce in July 2025 as Operations & Communications Manager.

Enablement and Operations Leader | Brand Marketing and Communications (Oceania) - EY - Ernst & Young

(2019-06 - 2023-09)

The role of Oceania Enablement and Operations Leader is responsible for day-to-day operations within EY's Brand Marketing and Communications (BMC) function. Core activities of the role included strategy and planning, financial management and budgeting for fiscal years. Review and recommend operational efficiencies on established processes and resource management (workforce planning) for both on-shore and off-shore teams.

• Developed and delivered an Agile Marketing Approach that transformed ways of working for Brand, Marketing and Communications Oceania which was recognised by global. This provided structure, accountability, transparency and an increased capacity to deliver results for clients.
• Project Lead for the migration of the new EY Intranet platform in line with the global project scope, completed ahead of time which meant that global looked to Oceania as a blueprint for other regions.
• Worked with Procurement to design and build the process for handling sole-trader contracts for EY firm-wide, enabling the efficient onboarding of contractors and sole-traders and process adherence to policy.
• Designed the intake processes for EY's Creative Agency and Social Media teams to enable them to triage internal requests to ensure the optimal allocation of resources.
• Within 24 hours, designed and developed the Oceania COVID-19 Communications SharePoint for internal stakeholders to keep across latest internal and external communications in relation to COVID-19 Communications.
• Developed the COVID-19 Crisis Management Team Response Process for potential COVID-19 cases and queries for 8000 staff. This enabled the firm to efficiently deal with COVID-19 cases.

Director, Operations | Commercial Innovation (Australia) - Fairfax Media

(2017-03 - 2019-01)

The role of Director, Operations is to ensure the highest level of efficiency possible for running Commercial Innovation day-to-day operations while maximising and safeguarding the profit margin. Define and refine processes and ensure the team are resourced to service and meet client expectations. Core attributes of the role are the ownership and leadership across processes, critical business leads, legal, risk and executive management reporting.

Frame

Scope of Work (SOW), Master Service Agreements (MSA) and Service Level Agreements (SLA) templates are up to date for Commercial use. A dedicated point of contact for the Sales team of 50 for all operational matters within Commercial.

• Part of the commercial product roll-out, including the sales enablement and capability along with change management for new advertising product during the redesign of Sydney Morning Herald. The redesign saw a shift from 50 to 4 ad formats, in pursuit of more engaging content. Two months after the redesign, Sydney Morning Herald had risen 2.9% in year-on-year revenue.
• Designed, developed and implemented the first Strategy-to-Campaign process connecting Salesforce to Trello using LEAN methodology. This gave the business transparency of value of briefs that converted to sales which saw on average, with a conversion rate of 52%.
• Delivered the first AMEX Shop Small in partnership with My Small Business campaign offering a $50K grant to Australia's most promising small business. The competition included Shark Tank's Steve Baxter who was instrumental in judging the competition winners. AMEX signed up to repeat the competition in the subsequent years which generated the business $100,000 in revenue year-on-year.

Director, Client Services and Operations | made Content Marketing (Australia) - Fairfax Media

(2015-07 - 2017-04)

The role of Director of Client Services, within the content marketing division 'made,' was responsible for the project teams' deliverables on integrated strategic campaigns across print, digital and events. Managing both tactical and strategic operational changes across the team structure creating a better and more agile environment. Ownership and leadership of processes, legal, resource capacity management and procurement as well as vendor relationship management.

The role demanded a strong working relationship across multiple stakeholders (internally & externally) strategic reporting, leadership and influential capabilities.

• Involvement in uplifting the cultural value for collaboration across the sales team through key initiatives/programs, targeted campaigns that promoted recognition through awards. Its development was conducive to a positive cultural environment and enabled the sales team to excel in their revenue targets. This resulted in greater sales staff retention.
• Increased the maturity posture for financial reporting by focusing on getting the processes right, understood and streamlined to maintain a profitable P&L. This saw a profit margin increase of 25%.
• Instrumental in the deployment of Salesforce (SFDC) across the business and the assignment of project leads for 'made' and SME for a wider organisational deployment. The deployment of SFDC gave the business the transparency of sales if needed to make better business decisions.

Head of Client Services and Ad Operations (UKIE) - AOL | Huffington Post | Ad.com - London, UK

(2010-03 - 2015-06)

The role of Head of Client Services and Ad Operations was responsible for leading 20 staff members and was a pivotal role in the overall delivery of campaigns to AOL's UK and International clients.

For Huffington Post International

Sales with AOL Joint Ventures, acted as the Point of Contact for all International briefs from other entities that work with AOL and was also responsible for collating Request For Proposals (RFPs) for the Own and Operated UK Sales team. Revenue retention through compliance with legal and financial corporate polices. Supporting the Huffington Post Global Campaign Process. Margin protection for the business for AOL and ad.com.

• Created and executed the First Native Advertising on Huffington Post with the 'Inspired by Iceland' campaign which won an AOP Award in 2012.
• Developed and maintained client relations (providing best-in-market, pre, during and post campaign support). The single point of contact for key clients such as Ebay (€3.9 million) and Criteo SA (€1.2 million).
• Responsibility for the launch of AOL Programmatic Reserve (APR) - One by AOL Platforms. This involved reshaping the team and enabling buying across all screens on one platform, freeing up sales to focus on nurturing relationships with their clients.
• Involved in the go-to-market ad-products launches such as the Portrait Ad, which generated 7.82% interaction rate, an average of 102 seconds of engagement time and 42 seconds of video viewing. It was awarded a Rising Star by the IAB.

Head of Ad Operations and Account Services (EMEA) - Bebo Inc.

(2007-08 - 2010-02)

The role of Head of Ad Operations and Account services role required accountability for all the online advertising communication and client accounts across the UK, Ireland and Europe. Developed and supported a team of up to 8 people. Ensured client retention was maximised by delivering custom tailored services.

Financial reporting accuracy, work closely with Business Development, Account Managers and Sales Managers. Troubleshot issues to ensure client satisfaction and effective use of processes (responsible for communications between UK/EU and US).

• Developed reporting for Engagement Campaigns for Originally Commissioned Dramas including Sofia's Diary, The Gap, Year and Kate Modern, which was watched for a BAFTA in 2008.
• Involved in brokering and then managing the deal between Bebo and Yahoo, which saw Yahoo sell the display advertising across the UK and Ireland. Combined, this saw Yahoo and Bebo reach 75% of the UKIE users.
• Managed key client relationships including P&G, Samsung and O2 for Engagement Campaigns and Original Commissioned Dramas. Identified and advanced any opportunities that improved performance of campaigns to generate growth for advertisers.
• Created and documented the ad operations best practices policies and procedures, including an Insertion Order (IO) trafficking SLA. Developed workflow processes for account services and ad production.

Bachelor of Arts - Major in Communications & Computer Science - University (name not specified)

Certification - IBM - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Badge - EY Innovation - Agile - Bronze Badge - EY

Certification - Six Sigma & LEAN Methodologies

Certification - Train the Trainer - Australian Institute of Management

Certification - Project Management: Microsoft Project