Ceri Parkes
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since August 23, 2019
Ceri is a delivery-focused and versatile project and operations expert, fueling transformative change through delivering business-critical initiatives and recovering complicated failing projects and programs. Ceri is recognized for successfully delivering optimum business solutions, including overhauling underperforming teams and instilling optimum changes by understanding impacts, mitigating risks, and overcoming challenging barriers.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Business Transformation
- Change Management
- IT Operations Management (ITOM)
- Process Improvement
- Project Delivery
- Project Management
- Project Rescue
- Stakeholder Management
Work Experience
IT and Operations Consultant (via Toptal)
Tent Foundation
- Conducted an end-to-end review of all technology used across the business with the objective of improving efficiency, achieving cost savings, and driving productivity across a globally dispersed team.
- Focused on the tools needed to support rapid growth, propose solutions, and drive implementation and adoption.
- Conducted the evaluation of Salesforce, its effectiveness in the organization, and possible replacement solutions.
- Placed a strong focus on migration efforts and maintaining data integrity.
Operations Consultant
Envist
- Worked on a number of client projects with a main focus on project rescue. Quickly assessed and understood the root causes of project issues, providing efficient and effective solutions and adding substantial value within tight timelines.
- Navigated complex project landscapes and offered precise, data-driven recommendations.
- Focused on creating high-performance teams, enhancing communication, fostering collaboration, and aligning individual goals with the overall mission of the organization.
IT Project Manager
Jersey Road
- Conducted an evaluation of all agency operations, including processes and systems.
- Proposed the implementation of a CRM system and improved sales operations processes.
- Managed the rollout of new systems and processes across the business.
Operations Specialist
INNOluxe
- Completed an analysis of operations across the company, from sales and marketing to supply chain, finance, and HR.
- Proposed a revised strategy, roadmap, market expansion, budget, and execution plan to increase sales through a combination of solutions.
- Introduced the change of approach to improve relationships with distributors and suppliers.
- Defined and implemented sales operations processes, including cost-effective tooling.
Finance and Operations Consultant
Outvertising
- Reviewed the current processes and tech stack, transitioning the organization to Google Workspace, Slack, Salesforce CRM (free license for NFPs), accounting software, and document sharing.
- Embedded a culture change focused on project-based initiatives, goals, and priorities.
- Restructured the commercial model and the strategy.
Chief Operating Officer
Applicita
- Conducted an overhaul of people, processes, and tech, resulting in a staff restructure and significant changes in ways of working, products, services, and pricing.
- Introduced OKRs and KPIs, driving a culture of transparency and alignment and working toward the same goal.
- Inherited complex, strained client relationships and worked to transform them into trusted partnerships and continued relationships.
- Built high-performing teams and robust and repeatable processes, resulting in measured efficiency and cost savings improvements.
- Took responsibility for setting the strategy, daily operations, budget management, commercial decisions, problem management, and human resources.
- Established the project management office (PMO), optimizing project delivery processes and governance across the organization.
Operations Specialist
Live Tech Games
- Hired the right people successfully for the growing team, implemented seamless boarding processes, and nailed productivity with the right balance of space for creativity and getting things done.
- Embedded continuous learning and process and people for rapid issue resolution.
- Enhanced data analytics in the platform to aid data-driven decisions for new features.
Digital Transformation Consultant
My Method
- Conducted a business and technical requirements analysis, focusing on how B2C and B2B users interact with the tech and people.
- Developed a prioritized feature list and vetted multiple suppliers.
- Created a business case, budget, and digital transformation roadmap, with input into a VC pitch deck.
Transformation Program Manager
Drivvn
- Engaged as the transformation program manager to lead the end-to-end implementation and execution of a complex business change.
- Managed the delivery of a brand-new, strategic, web-based platform for the business. Worked alongside our nearshore development partners to deliver under challenging circumstances and deadlines.
- Coached the team on agile ways of working to drive collaboration and efficiency.
- Led the restructure, moving from a team of 50 outsourced to 20 in-house, hiring the right people, and ensuring clarity on roles and responsibilities.
- Coordinated gaining clarity on the product strategy, ensured alignment across the business, trained the team on agile practices, and devised repeatable onboarding processes.
- Improved strained client relationships due to complex problem-solving, negotiation, transparency, alignment, and visible progress.
Digital Transformation Program Manager
Paperchase via Palladium Digital
- Engaged as digital transformation consultant to lead a due diligence program for a major stationery store, with ownership for engaging with business stakeholders to identify and gather requirements, identify priorities, and understand resource gaps.
- Headed up due diligence, defined priorities, and implemented best practices.
- Collaborated with the client to assess and understand the benefits and costs of initiatives to determine priorities while ensuring that requirements were met.
Business Change Project Manager
Wowcher
- Conducted a work program focused on increasing the NPS score, including proving cash refunds over credit, providing more visibility post-purchase, including postage tracking, and introducing live chat on the website.
- Spearheaded the implementation of a revised refund process following extensive review to improve the overall process and timelines for customers seeking refunds.
- Embedded continuous improvement ethics, focusing on consistently researching and amending processes to better service customers.
- Managed the timely resolution of data issues to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information.
Agile Transformation Program Manager
M-Kopa (Kenya)
- Conducted change impact assessments and delivered continuous improvement sessions to gain insight and drive understanding of new ways of working, including Agile.
- Provided coaching and mentoring to business leaders. Led a scrum of scrums and instilled best practices by encouraging and driving understanding of the benefits of change.
- Managed the outsourcing of IT operations, built and maintained collaborative relationships with suppliers, and managed processes and ways of working with suppliers.
- Improved the performance and productivity of onsite IT support teams by utilizing ITIL standards. This resulted in a significant increase in incident resolutions, 1st-time fixes, and service-level agreements.
- Led a restructuring: exit of 60 local staff, replaced by 12 offshore, followed by significant process changes, embedding agile, clarity on roles and responsibilities, and the use of champions to help in adopting the change.
- Introduced OKRs and KPIs, ensuring goal alignment and the ability to measure outcomes and make data-driven decisions.
- Worked with C-level execs to educate them on the agile mindset and embed business cases, ROI, and business owners to aid in product prioritization.
- Spearheaded the creation of a PMO, standardizing processes and improving project delivery efficiency across the organization.
Technical Project Manager
Risk Management Solutions
- Oversaw and coordinated the setup and implementation of a professional services PMO with ownership for defining program and project management standards to improve delivery outcomes.
- Managed large-scale, complex programs of work (over £1 million budgets) related to a next-generation cloud platform for insurance companies with ownership for leading integration to PaaS, driving business process change, and managing third-party vendor relations.
- Provided leadership and resource management for projects with a focus on driving performance, enhancing efficiency, and managing under-performing staff.
- Spearheaded the introduction of a repeatable approach to improve ISO 27001 complaint infrastructure buildouts for the transition from client ownership to SaaS.
- Delivered a range of projects and programs, including infrastructure change, software implementation, CAT model development, data migrations, data warehousing, and API integration.
Business Change Consultant
St. Pauls' Catholic Bookstore
- Engaged as the change management consultant to review, assess, and transform the organization's existing IT processes and systems. This included implementing a POS system along with a cost-saving program across warehouse and office operations.
- Developed a business case for a POS supplier change, managed the RFP process, and negotiated discounts.
- Managed and coordinated system implementation of post-supplier selection encompassing tender, contract, implementation, and go-live phases of project delivery.
- Worked in close collaboration with key stakeholders up to C-level to define and translate the business vision into a target operating model and three-year action plan for change.
- Liaised with internal teams to resolve conflict by delivering workshops to drive improvements and address employee concerns.
Agile Delivery Manager
IMX Software
- Oversaw and coordinated as the key decision-maker the end-to-end delivery of business-critical projects. This included banknote and FX trading systems for Tier 1 banks (with a budget of over £1 million), web client application implementations, data migrations, and business change initiatives.
- Conducted an intensive review of the existing 12-month plan, identified that team structures were not working as they should, and recommended changes to existing resource structure in Vietnam and the UK.
- Was instrumental in stabilizing two failing projects within three months by analyzing and defining project needs and executing robust change to resolve and enhance operations.
- Reduced the Vietnam team to six resources and increased the UK team to six. I also introduced a buddy system to enhance the performance and productivity of the Vietnamese resources.
- Engaged with the client regularly to understand priorities for each sprint, restructured project plans to ensure conflicting priorities were achieved, and changed sprints from four weeks to two.
- Managed scrum ceremonies, removed blockers, coordinated global teams, maintained project PM status, and velocity reports in line with project specifications.
- Defined and implemented robust processes and role changes to enhance the efficiency and performance of the offshore team and developers.
Project History
Recovered Failing Project
Succeeded in stabilizing the project within three months by enhancing efficiencies and performance.
Agile Transformation
Succeeded in implementing agile practices and resolving existing problems.
Business Transformation
Succeeded in executing a redundancy program, significantly improved SLAs, and instilled positive motivation in the workforce.
Education
Bachelor's Degree of Science in IT and Management
Birkbeck (University of London) - London, UK
Certifications
Inbound Marketing Certified
HubSpot
Managing Successful Programs - Practitioner
QA
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Prince2 - Practitioner
QA
ISEB Business Analyst Essentials
ISEB
CIMA Foundation
CIMA
Skills
Tools
Google Docs, Slack, HubSpot, Jira, Microsoft Project, Salesforce, Google Workspace, Asana
Paradigms
Change Management, Continuous Integration (CI), Agile Project Management, Scrum, Management, Organizational Change Management (OCM), PRINCE2, Agile, Waterfall Delivery, Kanban, Agile Software Development, Agile Leadership, Marketplace Platforms, DevOps, B2B2C, B2B, B2C
Industry Expertise
Insurance Technology (Insurtech), Energy, Insurance, Retail & Wholesale, Renewable Energy, Digital Agencies, Africa, Financial Markets, Automotive
Platforms
Azure
Other
Risk Assessment, Business Process Refinement, Project Budget Management, Project Leadership, Project Management, Vendor Management, IT Projects, Process Design, Business Processes, Budgeting, Requirements, Scope, Software Project Management, Business Transformation, Process Transformation, Project Delivery, Client Management, Outsourcing, Third-party Management, Delivery Management, Process Improvement, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Communication, Project Planning, Stakeholder Management, Processing, Leadership, Remote Team Leadership, Project Timelines, Project Rescue, Process Optimization, Coaching, Sprint Planning, Best Practices, Project Scheduling, Backlog Management, Process Definition, Process Mapping, Program Management, Resource Allocation, Workshops, Business Requirements, Microsoft, Project Discovery, Product Delivery, Emerging Markets, Estimations, Business Transformation Program Management, Target Operating Models, Discovery Workshops, Custom Solutions, Project Management Office (PMO), Agile Transformation, Digital Transformation, Resource Management, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Complex Problem Solving, Executive Presentations, IT Operations Management (ITOM), Risk Management, Executive Support, Budget Management, Change Leadership, Governance, eCommerce, Agile Program Management, Scrum Master, Software Development, Workshop Facilitation, Distributed Team Management, Waterfall Methodology, Chief Operations Officer (COO), RFPs, RFQs, ITTs, Responses, Proposals & Quotes, Dashboards, User Stories, Pitch Decks, Go-to-market Strategy, Financial Modeling, Market Research, Training, SOP Development, Product Management, Product Roadmaps, SaaS, Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Project Management Infrastructure, APIs, Technical Requirements, Process Flows, Inbound Marketing, CRM Systems, Startups, New Product Development, Technical Project Management, Business Analysis, Culture Management, Software as a Service (SaaS), Agile Coaching, Strategy, Negotiation, Data-driven Decision-making, IT Outsourcing, Mentorship, Human Resources (HR), Google, WhatsApp, Sales, Operations, Marketing, Gaming, Consulting, IT Consulting, IT Infrastructure, Sales Effectiveness, Sales Process Management, Sales Operations, Workflow, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Market Research & Analysis
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring