Marina Williams
Strategic Director – IT Infrastructure, Data Strategy & Intelligent Automation
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About
High-impact Strategic Director with 15 years of leadership bridging high-level corporate strategy with technical execution across IT Infrastructure, Data Strategy, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), and Intelligent Automation. Proven track record at tier-1 financial institutions (UBS) and global consultancies leading multi-million-pound digital transformations, M&A infrastructure integrations (Credit Suisse), data platform exits, and enterprise reliability programs. Spearheaded global SRE transformations encompassing observability, automated toil detection, and organizational/cultural change.
Combines hands-on technical architecture in data engineering and process automation with formal executive credentials (MSc Digital & Technology Solutions candidate at Henley Business School). Expert at translating executive vision into scalable technical operations, establishing data chapters, driving Agile/SRE adoption, and overachieving operational metrics—including a >40% reduction in toil.
Experience
Director – Change, Transformation & Infrastructure Innovation at UBS (2022-06 – Present)
- Hosting Services Site Reliability & Automation Transformation Lead: Spearheaded and led the end-to-end Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and automation strategy across global infrastructure operations. Designed and executed integrated streams spanning Observability, automated toil detection/reduction, and cultural/people change, driving a >40% reduction in operational toil while embedding modern SRE and Agile practices across engineering and support teams.
- Head of Innovation Foundry & Infrastructure Strategy: Direct IT infrastructure strategy to align with digital transformation goals. Spearheaded early-stage infrastructure planning for the complex Credit Suisse integration, leading decommission architectures, estate optimization, and target-state migration roadmaps.
- Data Platform Exits & Estate Optimization: Established the enterprise Estate Optimization Initiative, utilizing data-driven insights to achieve significant operational cost reductions. Managed data hosting migrations across 3 complex platform exits, securing required data structures for regulatory reporting and hosting metrics.
- Asset Management COO Rotation (AI & Automation Lead): Evaluated and defined enterprise AI and automation application opportunities across Asset Management, establishing operational proof-of-concepts to drive long-term cost efficiency.
- Data Engineering Chapter Lead & Product Manager: Founded the Data Engineering Chapter and Innovation service within Tech Hosting. Designed data management frameworks, data pipelines, KPI/OKR executive dashboards, and management insight reporting structures. Developed strength based coaching and junior talent development for Talent Accelerator Programme.
Head of Intelligent Automation at FDM Group (2019-01 – 2022-06)
- Orchestrated cross-functional intelligent automation strategies spanning client consulting services, internal engineering, and product lifecycle management across finance, energy, insurance, and public sectors.
- Co-created the UK's first tool-agnostic gold-standard Automation Degree Apprenticeship in partnership with TechUK and Sheffield Hallam University.
- Applied Agile product frameworks to scale consultant talent pipelines, optimizing operational workflows and delivering measurable client cost efficiencies.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Lead at Hanson Regan Ltd (2018-05 – 2019-02)
- Launched the company's enterprise RPA practice, designing technical Proof of Concepts (PoCs) for clients at early stages of automation maturity.
- Won new client accounts and managed transformation program resourcing, translating business process data into deterministic, scalable bot configurations.
Specialist Talent Acquisition Lead at RIG Healthcare (2018-01 – 2018-12)
Assistant Manager / Team Lead at Next & Double Impact (2011-01 – 2015-12)
Established core 15-year foundation in team management, operational leadership, and coaching.
Education
MSc in Digital and Technology Solutions (Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship) – Henley Business School (2025-06 – 2027-06)
Certificate in Elements of AI – University of Helsinki
