Sean Batkin

Complex organisations do not usually struggle because knowledge is missing. They struggle because it is fragmented, hard to find and difficult to scale. I design and build digital products and systems that make complex work easier to navigate: learning academies, dashboards, AI-assisted tools, standards, playbooks and workflow infrastructure that help leaders see risk, teams align work and people develop faster.

At Fidelity I built a single operational system across a global learning function serving 10,000 employees. At LSEG I made a large-scale Agile transformation navigable for 2,500 engineers. A background in animation, games and education is not a detour.

It is why I can take something genuinely complex and make it clear, usable and worth returning to.

Independent Consultant - Self-Employed

(2026-01)

Supporting organisations with digital capability, operational visibility and experience-led transformation: turning complex processes and workstreams into usable systems, dashboards, AI-assisted workflows and design standards. Currently open to new full-time and contract opportunities in digital capability, AI enablement and experience design.

Associate Director, Digital Capability & Learning Design - Fidelity International - London

(2021-01 - 2026-01)

Five years building capability systems across a global learning function serving 10,000 employees. Two direct reports, both promoted to Manager within their first year and graded exceptional.

• Connected three specialist L&D teams across the UK, India and wider APAC into one operational system with shared methods and a single view of everything in flight.
• Built the Target Operating Model (TOM) at its centre: a Teams Kanban system covering 300+ active workstreams, with dashboards and weekly cross-team triage. Adoption moved from early resistance to full fluency within six months, giving senior leadership real-time RAG visibility and cutting decision cycles by ~40%.
• Designed and built the Investment Management Academy in Articulate Storyline / Rise and the Global Learning Standards site: 700+ curated resources across six capability domains, serving cohorts from 50 to 2,000 people, with an estimated saving of over £500k by building this capability in-house rather than commissioning external vendors and designers.
• Built AI alongside the operation: a natural-language chatbot for querying live workflow data, and AI-assisted production across SharePoint, Teams and LMS / Dashboard platforms, using Canva, Adobe Firefly and Synthesia with agentic systems, Claude, Copilot and Figma, cutting content cycles and growing practical AI capability across the function.
• When COVID disrupted the original programme and the rest of the hiring team was let go, adapted independently: proposed and produced short animated explainers using After Effects, Illustrator and Premiere Pro from a home setup. The creative approach proved its value; retained as the sole continuing designer on the programme.
• Moved into the Comms team, working alongside Agile coaches to support REM adoption, producing animations, visual assets and stakeholder communications that made the transformation legible across the organisation.

Instructional & Digital Capability Design - LSEG / Refinitiv - London

(2020-01 - 2021-01)

Hired to make the Refinitiv Engineering Methodology navigable: a dense body of documentation that needed to become something 2,500+ engineers, marketers and salespeople could actually use from day one.

• When COVID disrupted the original programme and the rest of the hiring team was let go, adapted independently: proposed and produced short animated explainers using After Effects, Illustrator and Premiere Pro from a home setup. The creative approach proved its value; retained as the sole continuing designer on the programme.
• Moved into the Comms team, working alongside Agile coaches to support REM adoption, producing animations, visual assets and stakeholder communications that made the transformation legible across the organisation.

Freelance Designer - Mbryonics - Galway

(2020-01 - 2021-01)

Freelance designer for Mbryonics, a Galway-based space-tech company building optical communications infrastructure for satellite networks: visualising their satellite product line for internal and external clients.

Course Lecturer / Instructional Designer - Loughborough & Stamford Colleges

(2016-01 - 2019-01)

Curriculum design across digital media, IT and games: gamification, simulation and scenario-based learning built with SMEs and external specialists. Developed a social learning culture using video, animation and interactive resources across storyboarding, digital communication and project management.

Senior Lecturer / Programme Leader, Animation - University of Lincoln

(2008-01 - 2016-01)

Animation programme built from nothing: negotiated £45k studio investment, recruited the team, forged partnerships with UK Games and VFX studios including Double Negative and Framestore for MA accredited programmes. Designed and built the VLE for art and design, developing the online learning resource systems throughout. Eight years of programme management, QA and LMS administration.

Course Leader, Animation - Ravensbourne College of Design - London

(2003-01 - 2008-01)

UK's first SkillSet-accredited Foundation Degree in Animation, established from scratch. Ran the industry masterclass programme with leading animators and designers from the top games and VFX studios in London. Connected students with Pixar and Disney through on-set studio visits, life drawing and RenderMan sessions for the 3D CGI pathways. Taught narrative, design and gaming modules.

HEA Associate Fellow - Higher Education Academy (2015-01 - 2015-01)

PGCE Post 16 FE & HE - University of Greenwich (2006-01 - 2006-01)

BA(Hons) Animation - Animation - University of Sussex (2005-01 - 2005-01)

BTEC HND Design: Animation - Animation - University of Mid Glamorgan (1999-01 - 1999-01)