James Williams-Jones

Dynamic Project Manager with over 8 years of experience, leveraging an MBA and Prince2/Agile certifications to deliver high-stakes projects across diverse industries. Known for fostering collaboration among cross-functional teams and driving successful business transformations, including the recent global restructuring of a Fortune 500 firm. Passionate about optimising project outcomes through strategic planning, risk management and innovative change initiatives.

Project Manager | Equinix | April 2023 – October 2024

• Global Restructuring Initiative (Fortune 500): Spearheaded the end-to-end project management of a complex global restructuring initiative, transitioning from a regional support model to a centralised shared service function with the implementation of a Target Operating Model. 
• Developed a comprehensive project plan, encompassing scope definition, stakeholder analysis, risk assessment, resource allocation, and communication strategies, resulting in a 13% reduction in operational budget >£1.3m saved annually.
• Effectively collaborated with senior leadership, regional managers, IT teams, HR, to onboard and train +44 external contractors across 6+ global locations to ensure alignment and buy-in throughout the transformation.
• Collaborated on a robust change management program to minimise disruption and ensure smooth adoption of the new support structure, new policies and processes, and leading the seamless transition of 80% of customer accounts within the defined timeline.
• Oracle Cloud System Upgrade: Successfully delivered a critical Oracle Cloud upgrade for 72 user testers, adhering to strict project deadlines and budget constraints. 
• Collaborated with business users to gather requirements, develop test plans, and coordinate user acceptance testing (UAT), ensuring a smooth transition to the new system.
• Proactively identified and mitigated potential risks, including data migration issues and system integration challenges, resulting in zero critical incidents during the go-live phase.
• Contributed to a reduction of over 3% in bad debts by improving billing accuracy and reporting capabilities, enabling faster identification and resolution of outstanding payments

• Project Workflow Optimisation: Developed and executed a comprehensive roadmap to optimise 40 customer project workflows across 4 key finance products. 
• Conducted a detailed analysis of existing workflows, identifying 18 key opportunities for operational improvement, including automation of manual tasks, and policy improvement.
• Implemented the identified improvements, leading to a 22% increase in overall workflow efficiency, as measured by reduction in debt recovery time.
• Partnered with product managers and business analysts to prioritise and implement workflow enhancements, ensuring alignment with business objectives.

• Project Governance Enhancement: Revamped project controls and governance frameworks across global teams comprised of FTSE 100 clients and subcontractors. 

• Point of Sale (POS) System Upgrade: Successfully led the change management and technical implementation of new Point of Sale (POS) systems for over 50 employees, minimising operational disruption and maximising user adoption. 

Kingston University | Master of Business Administration (MBA) | 2021

PRINCE2 Practitioner

Agile Project Management (AgilePM) Foundation