Ross Haselhurst
Product & Engineering Executive | Digital Platforms · AI · Global Scale
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About
Strategic, product-oriented technology leader with 20+ years building and scaling global engineering organisations, driving AI-powered automation, and delivering resilient, cloud-native platforms serving 60 million daily users. Brings deep experience leading monetisation and ad-integrated products, including platforms underpinned by open and private market ad stacks (e.g., Prebid, GAM, OpenRTB). Operates at the intersection of product, architecture, and execution—translating business vision into scalable systems, high-performing teams, and measurable outcomes.
Recognised for accelerating delivery, reducing cost base (£600k+ annually), improving retention (+14%), and growing new product lines from concept to £1m ARR.
Experience
Head of Product Engineering - Reach Plc - London UK
(2022-12)
- Directed platform serving 60 million daily users; achieved £600k+ annual vendor savings through supplier renegotiations (Airship, Bitrise, Udemy etc).
- Scaled organisation 3× to 100+ FTEs, building leadership layer of 8 engineering managers; implemented growth & performance frameworks improving retention by 14%.
- Oversaw ad-powered consumer experience across iOS, Android, and Web; integrated open/private market ad stacks (Prebid, GAM) to optimise monetisation.
- Founded AI & Agentic Workflow group delivering automation-led efficiencies across engineering operations.
- Established cross-functional quality forum achieving >95% unit-test coverage across 3/4 domains. Modernised multi-domain architecture improving scalability, resilience and time-to-market (99.90% uptime). Collaborated across UK, EMEA & US time zones, partnering with Business Messaging and commercial pillars to align monetisation and engagement strategies.
- Championed inclusive leadership practices and diverse hiring across 100+ FTE, achieving 42% female representation and broad socio-economic and cultural diversity, underpinned by open feedback and psychological safety programmes.
Chief Information Officer - Portevo - London UK
(2021-02 - 2023-01)
- Built monetisation-driven B2B marketplace platform from greenfield to £1m ARR within 12 months. Partnered with Product, Commercial and Engineering leaders to align roadmap and pricing strategy with revenue growth targets.
- Scaled distributed engineering teams across UK and offshore locations; implemented ISO 27001 security framework and DevSecOps practices.
- Introduced OKR frameworks and data analytics dashboards, enabling roadmap prioritisation based on measurable ROI.
- Delivered investor-grade platform reliability and compliance supporting funding and commercial expansion.
Digital Delivery Director - Mkodo - London UK
(2019-03 - 2021-01)
- Introduced OKR-driven delivery model linking engineering execution directly to client commercial outcomes.
- Scaled multi-region delivery organisation across EMEA & North America, improving cadence and reliability of mobile and web releases.
- Partnered with regulated-market compliance, design and product teams to achieve zero audit failures and shorten certification cycles.
- Implemented cross-functional squads, improving time-to-market by 35 % and customer satisfaction to > 95 % CSAT.
Head of Product & Platform Engineering - Bede Gaming
(2015 - 2017)
- Led global product management and engineering teams across UK, Bulgaria & North America, expanding into Spain & South Africa.
- Scaled PaaS monetization platform generating $20 M+ annualised revenue, underpinning company valuation and sale to Gauselmann Group.
- Directed architecture modernisation to microservices + DevOps, reducing release cycles by > 40 % and improving uptime to 99.95 %.
- Collaborated with Design & Commercial to launch market-specific features that grew active user base 3× in two years.
- Instituted metrics-based performance reviews and delivery dashboards, linking engineering velocity to customer ROI.
Commercial Director - Bede Gaming
(2017 - 2019)
Head of Software - Insure The Box
Earlier career
Senior Consultant - Waterstons
Earlier career
Founder - SOLIDOX Infosystems
Earlier career; acquired 2007.
Founder - Juiced Web Agency
Earlier career; acquired 2007.
- Delivered enterprise software across insurance, logistics, and manufacturing sectors.
Education
BEng - Chemical & Process Engineering - Newcastle University
