James S.

The QinetiQ fellowship recognises and rewards top scientists, engineers and technologists. I am recognised as the only authoritative, experienced expert with exceptional strength and breadth across portfolio, programme, project management and project controls.

The rigorous Fellows progress requires sponsorship, internal recognition, external references, and a combined panel of industry experts to review and validate my entire career. The role as a Fellow is to be a visionary and define strategy for delivery of our complex integrated programmes across QinetiQ global through change and transformation programmes. I report directly to the Chief Technology Officer.

•Consulting and approving the highest complexity bids, commercials and projects.

•Building strategic relationships with external bodies, forces and industry to identify synergies, opportunities and reduce delivery risk.

•Engaged and collaborated with senior stakeholders to secure funding for and drive project management under an integrated, data based vision and strategy to transform program performance and forecast predictability challenges. Success required engaging with and mentoring large cross functional teams to deliver initiatives in support of our business goals.

•Revolutionised QinetiQ’s project delivery governance framework across Agile, Waterfall and Hybrid to match the pace and innovation demanded by our customers required strong leadership in this matrix environment to create a high-performance culture and resulted in 35% reduction in project phases.

•Drove fresh global assurance, risk management, project controls, finance, supply chain, and reporting spanning our smallest to largest scale technical programs.

•Secured multi-million global funding and budget management. Graduate mentoring and coaching.

The role worked across the QinetiQ group globally to lead on Agile; setting the vision for growth and ensuring delivery innovation through program, technical and functional excellence.

Delivering measurable continuous improvements in the consistency, efficiency and effectiveness of Agile across QinetiQ group, including strategy and process, people and external and internal engagement.

•Challenged long standing mind-sets to drive innovation and transformation in Agile assurance, project controls, ways of working, risk management, governance, finance, reporting, supply chain, commercial, and business development through matrix cross-functional change/transformation programmes spanning all levels of the organisation which resulted in creating new global delivery capability to address highly complex customer missions.

•Up-skilled senior executives, businesses and functions on innovation and agile delivery.

•Implemented an Agile knowledge network to share knowledge by bringing together the best, trusted information on Agile and giving people a space to engage and help each other.

•Revised investment process to focus on the right information through approval and delivery resulting increased efficiencies in our investments.

The main focus in this role was to build and deliver Q-Works, an innovative agile product development business within QinetiQ.

•Through inclusive, highly motivated strategic leadership, I grew high performing output focussed team to successfully grow this global agile business resulting in ~£50m of in year revenue and a strong future pipeline.

•Strong business, commercial and financial acumen were key in securing funding and managing budgets for this global business including 5 new global innovation hubs.

•Originated the industry partnering Navy PODS programme, the Navy’s first agile programme delivering military capability, with great feedback received from the 1st Sealord and multi-million £ funding.

•Demonstrated there is an innovative agile approach to military capability. Engaged globally with the industry supply market including construction of a PODS base and future capability. In this highly pressured programme I mentored the team to ensure ethical integrity and professionalism were upheld under constant challenge.

•Led governance and stakeholder alignment for a new battery test and evaluation facility, working with regulators to establish capability.

•Diversified revenue with a new a complex product portfolio comprising of rapid deployment modular disruptive capability, co-creation with joint investment, early invention to IP exploitation, IP licensing, agile hardware/software product creation, and subject matter expert partnerships.

•Utilised commercial acumen to produce brand new commercial approach resulting in a 50% quicker commercial phase.

•Increased investment success rate by 20%, adding long term growth to the business

•Collaborated to build enabling infrastructure for Q-Works; bespoke functional arrangements, agile SQEP, agile leadership, agile technical assurance, and agile terms and conditions; a full diverse eco-system built from scratch. Lightweight tailored governance and strategy across a diverse customer facing portfolio.