Career Break / Professional Development at Career Break / Professional Development (2024-01 – 2025-12)
Completed MBA in commercial strategy, Gen AI Leader Certification, and Non-Executive Director Certification (finance & corporate governance). Developed expertise in AI strategy, scaling commercial operations, innovation leadership, and sustainability/climate tech landscape. Positioned for leadership roles in dynamic, startup-style, high-growth environments.
Head of EMEA Large and Complex Pursuits at ROCKWELL AUTOMATION (2021-01 – 2024-12)
Built and scaled Rockwell's EMEA pursuit function during organisational transformation. Led team of 5 (dedicated lead generator, 3 pursuit managers, 1 bid manager) across enterprise deals >$5M. Reported to VP Commercial.
- Player-coach leadership: Personally closed 5–6 complex enterprise deals annually ($5M–$30M+) while coaching AEs and pursuit managers on consultative selling, deal orchestration, and negotiation tactics
- Pipeline acceleration: Built $500M+ new-logo pipeline in 12 months through enhanced lead generation, targeted ABM, and team scaling
- GTM & ABM strategy: Led GTM-aligned lead generation and ABM programmes across manufacturing, automotive, semiconductor, and energy sectors (incl. Green Hydrogen initiatives)
- Process & enablement: Designed repeatable pursuit governance, qualification gates, and comprehensive bid playbooks; reduced bid cycle time by 20%
- Team scaling: Built pursuit team from 2 to 5; structured training programme improved bid quality, win rates, and enterprise selling capability
- Cross-functional leadership: Led strategy workshops on 20+ complex multi-country bids; coordinated inputs from sales, solutions, delivery, finance, legal, and compliance
- Reporting & analytics: Established performance dashboard tracking pipeline quality, conversion rates, cycle time, deal size, and win rates; data-driven insights guided team performance management
- Results: FY22 $20M target achieved at 120%; FY23 $25M at 240%; FY24 $32.5M at 150%. Improved pipeline quality: +60% qualified leads, doubled conversion rate, +40% win rate.
- Automotive programmes (Japan HQ) - Serbia $30M / Romania $25M: Supported the Pursuit Lead by shaping the commercial and capture strategy, aligning internal stakeholders (sales, legal, finance, product, delivery) through governance, and helping position Rockwell as the mandated Automation/Professional Services/SI standard, excluding competitor platforms once specified. Partnered with the executive board to secure $2M deal-funding per programme to strengthen competitiveness and execution confidence
- US Food & Beverage client (Ireland plant modernisation) - $20M: Supported pursuit lead by coordinating cross-functional inputs, maintaining governance cadence and bid quality, and ensuring on-time, compliant submissions aligned to client and internal decision deadlines
- US Semiconductor manufacturer - $15M: Supported the Pursuit Lead by influencing the OEM/SI ecosystem and internal stakeholders to embed Rockwell as the specified equipment standard across the programme, strengthening partner alignment and reducing competitor access
- Japanese rail technology client – Intrusion Detection System, $5M: Acted as Pursuit Lead owning win strategy, stakeholder alignment, and solution positioning to secure the award, an essential prerequisite to progress into the wider $28M programme
Senior Commercial Lead & Head of Strategic Deals, Cloud & Security Division at VODAFONE (2017-01 – 2021-12)
Led end-to-end bid management, win and pricing strategy, contract negotiations, and deal P&L/commercial development across large enterprise bids. Managed a team of 5 Bid Managers and reported to the Head of Commercial.
- Owned capture strategy, pricing model design (incl. SaaS), ROI/TCO analysis, and governance approvals for major enterprise pursuits
- Led contract negotiation, risk management, and commercial structuring; protect margin and ensure compliance with commercial guardrails
- Built bid management upskilling programme; improved deal quality, consistency, and on-time submission rates
- Develop pricing strategies and commercial modeling aligned to customer CAPEX/OPEX needs and customer value outcomes
- American conglomerate (London Datacentre services) - £11M: Led pursuit and commercial strategy, achieving 19% EBIT margin
- Major UK gas distributor (multi-tower cloud & security) - £30M: Led pursuit and commercial strategy for client's first-ever cloud order; secured 20% EBIT margin
- UK-based insurance company (cloud & security) — £35M: Led pursuit and commercial strategy; critical success factor was securing Managed Hosting, Co-location, and Network Security Services ($3.4M, 22% EBIT)
Strategic Opportunities Sales Lead, EMEAR at CISCO SYSTEMS (2015-01 – 2017-12)
Owned strategic opportunities across Scandinavia and Benelux, coordinated multi-functional pursuit teams to deliver complex enterprise outcomes.
- Pipeline & quota: Owned $122M opportunity pipeline; delivered $13M closed-won business (2016/2017), exceeding $5M annual target
- Sales methodology: Led "Deal Discovery" training equipping account managers with structured, data-driven qualification and pursuit methodology; helped customers realise >25% IT cost reductions
- Deal strategy: Developed and executed capture plans, pricing strategies, and competitive positioning based on market intelligence and customer insights
- Results: Delivered consistent commercial impact through rigorous qualification, customer intimacy, and competitive positioning
- Global satellite provider (IT & business transformation) - $2.4M services: Led pursuit for strategic services agreement supporting major transformation programme; this initial win established Cisco as a trusted partner and strengthened candidacy for broader $50M programme
- Portfolio of strategic wins across region: Delivered consistent commercial impact through rigorous qualification, customer intimacy, and competitive positioning
Role not specified at Xerox
Directed global bids across 40+ countries during a highly competitive period. Owned commercial strategy, bid qualification, contract negotiation, and cross-functional collaboration.
- UK-based financial services (managed services) - $45M: Improved bid team performance metrics and win consistency
- Major global manufacturer (print management) - $52M: Delivered 26% cost savings; demonstrated industry-leading negotiation, strategy development, and stakeholder management
- UK financial institution (print & document outsourcing) - $24M: Delivered 16% cost savings; created a stepping stone for future large-scale opportunities.
Global Account Director, ICT Deal Architect, Business Development Consultant at BT Group
- Dutch technology global (voice & networks outsource) - €250M: Architected commercial proposition for BT International's largest-ever Benelux opportunity (voice migration to IP); deal closed within 9 months.
- Global conglomerate (voice services & CPE) - £130M over 3 years: Created and developed opportunity for BT to provide EMEA voice services and global Cisco CPE supply; deal recognised as groundbreaking transformation for BT Retail and start of managed European voice services (lead time: 6 months)
Proposition Architect (UK & international markets) at Airwave
