Michael Short

Led operational improvement and automation initiatives across corporate functions, identifying inefficiencies, redesigning business processes and implementing practical automation solutions to improve productivity and reduce operational costs.

Key accomplishments:

• ● Delivered 48 automation deployments and 56 redesigned processes, improving operational efficiency across HR, Finance and Procurement functions

• ● Generated £1.3m in cost savings and 28.6 FTE productivity gains through process optimisation and intelligent automation

• ● Facilitated cross-functional workshops to identify process inefficiencies, prioritise improvement opportunities and design future-state workflows

Led service design and business analysis activities within a growing SaaS environment, working closely with operational stakeholders, product leadership and engineering teams to translate business challenges and user needs into deliverable product and process improvements. Facilitated structured discovery workshops to diagnose operational challenges, map service journeys and design improved workflows and product capabilities that aligned with business value and technical feasibility.

Key accomplishments:

• • Facilitated stakeholder workshops and discovery sessions to capture operational challenges, define requirements and prioritise product and service improvements

• • Conducted user journey analysis and service blueprinting to identify opportunities to improve customer experience and internal operational workflows

• • Translated business needs into prioritised product backlog items and delivery plans aligned with organisational priorities

• • Introduced structured Agile governance and Jira-based delivery tracking, improving delivery transparency and predictability

• • Integrated two acquired businesses into a unified operating and delivery model

• • Improved delivery estimation accuracy by 36% by redesigning planning and sizing processes

• • Implemented KPI measurement frameworks to support leadership decision-making and prioritisation

• • Established standardised delivery and improvement frameworks used across product and operational teams

• • Mentored analysts and product teams to independently diagnose operational issues and improve workflows

Improved operational capacity and service performance by analysing demand patterns, identifying root causes of delays and redesigning end-to-end workflows across university services. Combined data analysis, user research and process mapping to diagnose failure demand and implement redesigned operating models that improved throughput and service quality.

Key accomplishments:

• • Increased service capacity by 62% by redesigning demand handling and workflow structure

• • Generated £1.1 M new revenue by creating scalable service delivery model for knowledge exchange partnerships

• • Implemented new operational processes and delivery models across multiple services

• • Introduced measurable performance indicators and operational controls

• • Designed service workflows and supporting documentation enabling consistent execution

• • Prototyped and tested new service approaches before full rollout to reduce implementation risk