Shane Agnew

A highly accomplished C-suite technology executive with over 25 years of progressive leadership across public sector, higher education, regulated outsourcing and private sector environments. Proven ability to define and execute enterprise-wide digital and data strategies that align directly with organisational mission, drive performance improvement and enable measurably better outcomes for customers, employees and partners. A credible and influential board-level voice, with a track record of translating complex technological opportunity into strategic advantage — securing executive buy-in, building institutional capability and leading large, multi-disciplinary teams through sustained change.

Equally at home shaping long-term digital roadmaps at Executive level and ensuring rigorous operational delivery against them. Committed to developing talent, embedding inclusive leadership cultures and ensuring technology is positioned as an organisational enabler, not an end in itself.

Executive Director of IT (Board Member) - Liberata UK PLC

(2018-01 - 2025-01)

Board-level executive reporting directly to the Group CEO, with enterprise-wide accountability for IT Strategy, Information Security and Governance, Infrastructure, Cloud, Secure In-House Software Development, Client IT Services, Application and Systems Administration, Architecture and IT Supplier Management. Led a team of 70+ highly skilled IT and Information Governance professionals, operating as SIRO for the organisation. Responsible for strategic IT services delivered to Liberata, OSI group companies and a portfolio of public and private sector clients.

• Enterprise IT Consolidation: Redesigned and consolidated the full IT delivery model under a single integrated tower, establishing clear end-to-end accountability, rationalising supplier relationships and materially improving service coherence across business units.
• Governance Architecture: Designed and implemented a comprehensive governance framework — including a Change and Operations Board, Technical Design Authority, Security Working Group and Technical/Change Advisory Boards — providing executive visibility of operational and change risk.
• Client Service Excellence: Sustained stretch SLAs of 99%+ availability across client IT services, underpinning business confidence and client retention in a highly competitive BPO market.
• Group IT Integration: Successfully onboarded and integrated IT services for OSI group companies, expanding the scope and scale of the IT function and generating additional revenue streams.
• Security Leadership: Held Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) accountability, overseeing compliance with PSN, Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO 27001 and PCI-DSS certification regimes.
• Automation & RPA: Implemented UiPath robotic process automation capability, automating workflows across several disparate systems and departments to remove manual handoffs and improve processing efficiency.

Head of IT Management & Governance (CISO / ITSO) - Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

(2011-01 - 2018-12)

Senior leadership role within a complex local government authority, accountable for ICT Strategy, IT Contracts, Infrastructure, In-House Development, Information Governance, Service Desk & Operations, and Business Consulting. Served as Council IT Security Officer (CISO/ITSO), leading the IG governance team and ensuring regulatory compliance. Controlled both capital and revenue IT budgets of up to £15 million.

• Digital Strategy Authorship: Conceived and delivered a Council-wide Digital Strategy structured around four transformation themes: Customer, Workforce, Borough and Partners — repositioning technology as a driver of service redesign and public value, rather than a back-office function.
• Cross-Sector Security Leadership: Chaired the Cyber Security Working Group for the Lancashire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP), producing recommendations adopted by health organisations and tier-one councils across the Lancashire and South Cumbria region.
• Enterprise Architecture Delivery: Directed the design and delivery of a complex enterprise infrastructure programme spanning mobility, data centres, virtualisation, unified communications, and line-of-business applications — aligned to a wholesale rethinking of workforce models.
• Commercialisation of IT: Generated new revenue streams by commercialising IT and Information Governance services to third-party organisations, offsetting departmental overheads and demonstrating the value of the internal capability.
• Five-Year Strategic Planning: Developed and delivered a five-year technology roadmap covering system renewals, consolidation and standardisation, with senior leadership buy-in secured through a structured change programme prioritisation framework.
• Capability & Culture Building: Implemented ITIL best practices, ISMS and risk management frameworks, and led staff development programmes that embedded a culture of continuous service improvement.

Head of IT & MIS (Senior Leadership Team) - Calderdale College

(2008-01 - 2011-12)

Executive member of the College Management and Leadership Team (CLMT/SMT), with strategic accountability for IT and Management Information Systems across six campus sites. Led delivery of a £6M campus development programme, CRM deployment, campus-wide wireless infrastructure and virtualisation implementation. Chaired the Information & Learning Technology (ILT) Committee, ensuring technology strategy was aligned with teaching, learning and student outcome objectives.

• Strategic Alignment: Formulated an IT strategy explicitly aligned to the ILT/College mission, embedding technology as a core enabler of student success and curriculum innovation — contributing to institutional inspection outcomes.
• Service Transformation: Transformed helpdesk performance from 76% to 97% SLA resolution within nine months, through structural redesign and targeted investment in dedicated support capability.
• Team Turnaround: Restructured an underperforming IT team over two years, raising user satisfaction by 10% and establishing a culture of best practice sharing and innovation.
• Five-Year Investment Planning: Developed a five-year infrastructure improvement agenda, securing capital and revenue investment across services, infrastructure and staffing.

Group Head of IT / Site Manager - Airea PLC

(2000-01 - 2008-12)

Progressed through a series of increasingly senior IT and operational leadership roles within a multi-site manufacturing group.

As Group

Head of IT, delivered IT services across six sites and chaired the Change Advisory Board (CAB), aligning technical and business strategies.

As Site

Manager, led three management functions and 60+ direct and indirect reports across a new £4M manufacturing facility, with full accountability for operational performance, budgets, HR, supplier negotiation and quality.

• Delivered ERP/MRP system development and cross-site data migration, integrating acquired businesses into core systems.
• Built and led a high-performing site management team that consistently achieved operational and quality targets.
• Partnered with senior leaders across sales, engineering, marketing and supply chain to drive strategic improvements.
• Delivered risk assessments and Business Continuity Plans (BCP) across the group.

ILM Level 7 - Collaborative Leadership - Blackburn College (2015-01 - 2015-12)

Executive Diploma in Strategic Management, Level 7 - Strategic Management - Huddersfield University (2007-01 - 2007-12)

Diploma in Management Studies (DMS) - Management - Huddersfield University

Diplomas in Management, Levels 4 & 5 - Management - CMI

Certificate in Management Studies (CMS) - Management - Huddersfield Business School