Abu Koroma

• Defined and executed a global engineering strategy spanning apps, architecture, QA, DevOps, AI, and platform services - consolidating dual platforms into a unified direction, reducing duplicated effort by 30%, and accelerating time-to-market for new product launches.
• Scaled and structured a world-class engineering organisation of 200 engineers across multiple geographies, introducing leadership layers, succession plans, and guilds (QA, Platform, Architecture) - improving retention by 15% and enabling internal mobility into senior roles.
• Delivered measurable gains in productivity and reliability, embedding DORA/SPACE metrics and an Engineering Scorecard - achieving a 40% uplift in deployment frequency, 25% faster lead times, and a 20% reduction in customer-impacting incidents.
• Drove platform modernisation and cost optimisation, deprecating legacy systems, investing in developer productivity platforms, and optimising AWS spend - delivering £1.8m annual OPEX savings while improving engineering velocity and scalability.
• Advanced innovation and resilience, embedding AI/ML for observability and automation, strengthening secure-by-design practices, and ensuring 24/7 availability - positioning the business as a market leader and improving customer trust metrics by >10%.

[Sainsbury's, Argos, Tu Clothing & Habitat]

• Directed engineering strategy and delivery across multiple consumer brands, owning the full product lifecycle and aligning technology with business outcomes - accelerating digital transformation in a £multi-billion retail environment.
• Scaled high-performing engineering teams, establishing talent pipelines and career frameworks - improving retention and internal mobility while increasing delivery velocity by 30%.
• Optimised multi-million-pound CapEx and OpEx budgets, achieving forecast accuracy of +/- 2% and delivering savings through cloud optimisation, vendor renegotiations, and platform efficiency gains.
• Shaped and executed group-wide technology strategy, influencing enterprise-level decisions and ensuring engineering investments delivered sustainable ROI.

As Global Head of Software Engineering:

• Championed architecture and engineering best practices, fostering collaboration, innovation, and coordination.
• Led professional development of engineering leaders, enhancing skills and competencies.
• Aligned software capabilities with business goals, driving strategic roadmaps.
• Ensured scalable, secure systems, adhering to industry best practices and ISO27001 certification.
• Managed vendor relationships and offshore teams for maximum efficiency.
• Scaled engineering organisation from 20 to 85 members, ensuring team cohesion.
• Devised plan for client-agnostic microservices with external APIs, enabling client licensing.
• Implemented IaC framework with DevSecOps, improving resource provisioning speed and consistency by 30%.
• Reduced development times by 50% through reusable Components and Services pattern.
• Supported Series A funding round, raising $8M.
• Utilised a diverse technology stack, including Typescript, Vue, Angular, Flutter, NestJs, Python, PHP Laravel, Apache Kafka, Redis, Grafana, Loki, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, Goharbor, Postgres, MongoDB, Cypress, Jest, Pytest, SonarQube, Tezos Blockchain, Taquito and more.

Intercompany transfer from Essence to GroupM Data & Technology, which evolved into WPP's Choreograph.

• Practice Lead (Director) reporting directly to the CTO.
• Aligned technology initiatives with C-level management.
• Provided expertise in shaping advertising technology.
• Managed teams located across various global locations, including London (UK), Lviv (Ukraine), New York (US), Karlsruhe (Germany), and Pune (India).
• Directed technical activities, ensuring successful project execution and delivery.
• Supported acquisitions and integration.

• Recruited by Essence, a WPP company within the GroupM network, to establish and lead a Development Practice focused on building cutting-edge applications for global brands' advertising campaigns.
• Owned technology, architecture, and strategic vision.
• Led cross-regional teams to deliver innovative solutions.
• Collaborated with Design and UX teams to develop a comprehensive framework agnostic (React, Vue, Angular…) Design System for enhanced user experience.
• Provided exceptional leadership and mentoring, driving goal alignment via OKR.
• Achieved 80% test coverage with AQA driving continuous improvement.
• Fostered a collaborative and inclusive work environment.
• Stayed updated on industry trends, shaping the Practice's vision.

• Promoted to the role of Solution Architecture Lead in recognition of exceptional technical leadership and contributions to the company's flagship project - "HSBC Core Docs".
• In December 2017, the project received the prestigious award for "Best Use of IT in Corporate Banking" at the 2017 Banking Technology Awards, highlighting the project's innovation and impact.
• Further reinforcing the project's success, in April 2018, it was recognised as the sole award winner for the Celent Model Bank: Commercial Onboarding category, emphasising its excellence and industry-leading approach.
• Expertise in digital customer acquisition solutions.

• Joined as Lead Technical Consultant on flagship project for a major bank.
• Provided software architecture expertise, exceeding expectations.
• Led project lifecycle from planning to production.
• Managed stakeholders, ensured alignment and satisfaction.
• Integrated solutions with third-party systems.
• Stayed updated on latest technology advancements.

• Promoted to Head of Online, reporting to CTO.
• Led 'Online' multidisciplinary team, overseeing development of FX trading platform.
• Ensured milestone delivery and high project standards.
• Defined platform roadmap aligned with strategic goals.
• Managed stakeholders, provided technology-driven insights.
• Advised on technology strategy and explored innovations.

• Led engineering teams, driving excellence in software development.
• Collaborated with stakeholders.
• Emphasised quality and user experience.
• Implemented Agile practices.
• Published a referenced blog post on accessibility, contributing to the accessibility community: https://bit.ly/ak-a11y