Helen is available for hire
Hire HelenHelen Wood
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since September 11, 2019
Bio
Helen is a CXO, MD, and product manager with a true passion for design, UX, UI, and the overall customer experience. She has built and managed large UX teams for enterprise clients and, more recently, as regional head of a large digital experience agency, which is part of a 150,000-person systems integrator. She has often been brought into jobs to "rescue" problematic projects and has done so with great success.
Experience
- UX Design - 15 years
- Stakeholder Management - 15 years
- UX Leadership - 15 years
- User Needs - 10 years
- Design Thinking Facilitation - 10 years
- User Journeys - 10 years
- UX Strategy - 10 years
- App UX - 8 years
Portfolio
Spark44: Jaguar Land Rover
UX DirectionNative Mobile AppsInternet of Things (IoT)AutomotiveUser Experience (UX)Responsive Web Apps+ 7 more
Work Experience
SVP, Head of EMEA, BORN
2024 - 2026
Tech Mahindra
- Took full P&L responsibility for a $70 million regional business, leading 180 people across EMEA.
- Delivered large-scale digital and AI transformation, driving commercial growth, cost optimization, and platform innovation. Led strategic partnerships for clients, including Cartier, Chanel, BASF, Omantel, and Al Futtaim Group.
- Structured joint go-to-market opportunities and bids with platform partners, including Shopify, Mirakl, Salesforce, and AWS.
Technologies: Claude, OpenAI, Canva, Presentation Design, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Creative Direction
CXO and Head of UK & Ireland
2021 - 2024
Wipro Designit
- Led the development of market and user research, business cases, proposals, bids, user-centred product design, team growth, and leadership through a number of projects for clients such as NEOM, The Red Sea Development, and AMAALA.
- Had P&L responsibility for UKI with further financial growth targets in the region, and head of the Airlines sector globally based on results delivered.
- Experienced with a blend of public and private sectors and having diverse industry experience, which I also look for in teams that I hire.
Technologies: Sketch, Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, User Interface (UI), MVP Design, Mobile Design, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, Wireframing, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Brand Design, UX Research, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, Data Visualization, User Flows, Financial Services
Managing Director Middle East
2019 - 2021
Wipro - Dubai
- Joined a global strategic design and marketing firm to set up the Middle East design studio (one of 18 studios globally).
- Led the business across the region, P&L, from a $0 to $20 million pipeline, operations, strategy, growth, client relationships, enterprise transformation, human-centered product design, and innovation with clients in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
- Worked with clients like Qatar Airways, known for providing one of the best flying experiences in the world, in particular the business class experience, and Croamis, a cargo management tool (a JV between Qatar Airways and Wipro).
Technologies: InVision, Sketch, Adobe CC, Apps, Presentation Design, Brand Design, UX Research, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Creative Direction, User Flows
UX Team Organisation Consultant
2020 - 2020
PepsiCo Global - PepsiCo IT Services - Fieldglass
- Worked with the UX Centre of Excellence (CofE), strategy for the Pepsico Experience Centre, and the roles needed to aid fulfilment.
- Came up with the business case for why Pepsico should invest in a user-centred design team. The goal was to share with the board of directors in order to get investment approval.
- Strategised based around bringing user-centred innovation and a centralised team to the heart of all the different business lines within the organisation, to aid the growth and innovation of products and services within Pepsico.
- Worked on market trends to support the business case, point of view, and business strategy.
Technologies: Design Strategy, User-centered Design (UCD), Business Strategy, Design Thinking, User Experience (UX), Apps, Presentation Design, Design Systems, UX Research, Stakeholder Management, Visual Design, Creative Direction
Executive Creative Director
2019 - 2019
IBM
- Led user experience strategy and the UX and design team on an enterprise digital transformation program of all the government services in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On behalf of the Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions Services Authority.
- Brought in as a consultant for a failing project where there was no consistency in the user experience.
- Tasked with turning the project around with strong leadership.
- Came up with a UX strategy, meaning this vast site could evolve and be scalable moving forward.
- Taught the business how to approach UX, what the value of UX is to the company, and the end-users.
- Designed a new UX architecture as the foundation to build on.
Technologies: Apple Keynote, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Branding, MVP Design, Mobile Design, User Journey Maps, Wireframing, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Brand Design, Design Systems, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, Data Visualization, User Flows
Executive Creative Director
2019 - 2019
Darkmatter
- Served as the executive lead for user experience strategy and the UX and design team on an enterprise digital transformation program of all the government services in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. On behalf of the Abu Dhabi Smart Solutions Services Authority.
- Completely transformed the direction of this program ensuring it is user-centered and not tech-led.
- Rearchitected the entire UX of the site which will contain journeys for 80 different government entities. It's a large program with a team of 350 digital experts.
- Presented the plan to change the UX and effectively start the UX again as the way the site was architected meant it wasn't scalable and therefore led to many inconsistencies across the digital experience.
- Received the go-ahead to rearchitect the site and change the direction of the UX from Her Excellency, the Director General.
- Set my plan for the UX team in place which consists of UX designers, UI designers, user researchers, content writers (English and Arabic), SEO manager, front end developers (to build the design language system) and a scrum master (totaling 25 people for the core UX team).
Technologies: Apple Keynote, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Branding, MVP Design, Mobile Design, User Journeys, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Brand Design, Design Systems, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, User Flows
UX Practice Head
2017 - 2019
Gov.uk Ministry of Justice
- Streamlined services and improved user experience across digital engagement points for the Ministry of Justice.
- Hired a new team consisting of 35 UX, UI, user researchers, and content writers to work on the Criminal Justice System Common Platform.
- Directed and mentored the design team and the UX strategy across the digital transformation program.
- Delivered positive results and had a significant impact, making it easier for court clerks to manage criminal cases through the courts and speeding up a very slow paper-based process, taking weeks to process into hours or minutes in some instances.
Technologies: Zeplin, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, MVP Design, Mobile Design, Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Design Systems, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, User Flows
UX Director
2016 - 2017
Spark44 for Jaguar Land Rover
- Managed a growing team (team of 25) of user experience architects and designers, helping Jaguar Land Rover define and execute their digital transformation roadmap.
- Provided user experience team leadership across multiple locations. Supported clients in digital transformation strategy through improved customer experience.
- Collaborated with internal teams and clients, helping to break down silos.
- Established user experience methodologies globally for all the markets' websites for both Jaguar and Land Rover brands.
- Integrated evidence-led data with customer insights and analytics.
- Improved user journeys through enhanced customer experience.
- Drove process and requirements across multiple brands in multiple markets.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, App Design, Apps, Mobile Design, User Journeys, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Design Systems, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, Data Visualization, User Flows
Solutions Architect, Consultant, User Experience (UX) Lead EMEA & US, Dell Business Services
2015 - 2016
Dell
- Ideated experiences that created the need and fuel the adoption of digital experience strategies.
- Served as the UX lead for EMEA region.
- Implemented a customer-centric approach to researching, creating and evaluating customer journey mapping and future-state customer experience maps.
- Ideated and prioritized use cases to reduce customer pain points and improve customer experience, NPS and NSS scores across multiple touchpoints.
- Led an enterprise digital transformation strategy.
- Developed omnichannel experience strategy for B2B, B2C, B2B2C, B2B2B helping increase user engagement, customer spend, customer satisfaction through better customer experience.
- Won an award for outstanding financial contribution to Dell for the business I led them to win.
Technologies: iMovie, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Branding, Mobile Design, Wireframing, Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Brand Design, Design Systems, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, User Flows, Financial Services
Design Manager
2013 - 2015
TalkTalk Telecom
- Led the creative direction and inspiration to visual and UX designers, structure, and delivery management to the online team. Improved customer experience across the business.
- Ensured online creative is performing to expectations.
- Led the UX and UI design teams and UX strategy.
- Designed TalkTalk's first apps to be launched in the Apple store and Google Play store.
- Created new UX/UI designs that helped contribute to increased sales, customer engagement and customer retention with better customer experience.
- Led the rebrand of the entire suite of sites to launch in 12 weeks.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Mobile Design, Brand Guidelines, UX Research, User Interviews, Sprint Planning, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Visual Design, Creative Direction
Founder and Creative Director
2003 - 2012
Vision with Technology (now Kaliop Group)
- Grew the award-winning Vision with Technology to be the UK’s leading eZ Publish Enterprise Content Management Solutions partner.
- Worked with clients including Energy Saving Trust, CNBC Europe, Financial Times, and Random House Publishing.
- Led the design of all creative work and UX for all of our clients.
Technologies: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Mobile Design, Brand Design, UX Research, Stakeholder Management, UX Leadership, Visual Design, Creative Direction
Design Director
1996 - 2002
Ion Global (formerly Revolution Ltd)
- Started at Revolution as a junior designer. Revolution was the number one design agency in London at the time.
- Embraced new technologies at the time which the company wasn't aware of, I was able to expand the offering for the clients.
- Progressed to a senior designer then design director.
- Acted as the lead designer for Coutts Private Banking working closely with them for several years.
- Helped with the rebrand of Ion Global when Revolution was bought by ChinaDotCom.
- Worked with other clients including HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Jersey Telecom, and Nokia.
Technologies: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Director, Flash, Apps, Stakeholder Management, Visual Design, Creative Direction
Education
2025 - 2025
Certification - in Progress in Gen AI for Business
Swiss School of Business and Management - Switzerland, Remote
1990 - 1995
Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Graphic Information Design
Falmouth University - United Kingdom
Certifications
APRIL 2026 - PRESENT
AI Governance
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Skills
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, iMovie, Apple Keynote, Microsoft Office, Adobe CC, Zeplin, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Flash, InVision, Adobe, Claude, Canva
Platforms
iOS, Director, Android, Microsoft, Apple
Industry Expertise
Retail & Wholesale, Automotive, Government, Marketing, Telecommunications, Banking & Finance
Other
User Experience (UX), Stakeholder Management, UX Flows, App UX, UX Design, Web UX, User Research, Validated User Research, User Needs, UX Leadership, UI Design, Mobile UI Design, iOS UI Design, Enterprise Design, Enterprise Architecture, Design, User Interface (UI), User Testing, UX Strategy, Product Design, App Design, Apps, Mobile App Design, Branding, MVP Design, Mobile Design, User Journey Maps, User Journeys, Wireframing, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Presentation Design, Brand Guidelines, Design Thinking Facilitation, Visual Design, Creative Direction, User Flows, Brand Design, Design Systems, Sprint Planning, User Interviews, UX Research, AI Governance, Data Visualization, Financial Services, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Responsive, Omnichannel Marketing, Leadership, UX Architecture, Languages, Native Mobile Apps, Design Leadership, Mobile App UI, Web UX Design, Field Research, Private Banking, Mobile Apps, United States, B2B, Government to Government (G2G), Government to Citizen (G2C), UX Direction, Internet of Things (IoT), Responsive Web Apps, Global, Multilingual Design, User-centered, Digital, Digital Product Design, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), Automation, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Design Strategy, User-centered Design (UCD), Business Strategy, Design Thinking, OpenAI
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring