Ricky Crafford

• Liaised with customers, management, and sales team to better understand customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Delivered outstanding service to clients to maintain and extend relationship for future business opportunities.
• Supported clients with business analysis, documentation, and data modeling.
• Supported major supermarket chain with Last Mile Delivery Process - technology-empowered change for commercial advantage
• Established a Cyber & Digital program to create a revenue potential of $500m & support digital development across Africa for the Mauritian Government
• Delivered +£m AI & cyber security (designs & systems) to Nominet (.uk domains - part of UK critical national infrastructure)
• UK Govt NCSC, US & Middle Eastern Govts. Acted as SRO & interface to .uk Government for the delivery of the National PDNS platform.

Present company has been utilised for interim and FTC assignments for roles detailed below

• Developed key operational initiatives to drive and maintain substantial business growth.
• Established organizational mission statement through extensive collaboration and review.
• Established, optimized and enforced business policies to maintain consistency across industry operations.
• Managed financial, operational and human resources to optimize business performance.
• Initiated strategy to drive company growth and increase market share and profitability.
• Devised and presented business plans and forecasts to board of directors.
• Established and maintained strong relationships with customers, vendors and strategic partners.
• Created succession plans to provide continuity of operations during leadership transitions.
• Directed technological improvements, reducing waste and business bottlenecks.
• Defined company roles and responsibilities to establish and enhance processes.
• Supported major supermarket chain with Last Mile Delivery Process - technology-empowered change for commercial advantage Established a Cyber & Digital program to create a revenue potential of $500m & support digital development across Africa for the Mauritian Government >Delivered +£m AI & cyber security (designs & systems) to Nominet (.uk domains - part of UK critical national infrastructure) UK Govt NCSC, US & Middle Eastern Govts Provided IT and Transformation services, including C-level IT operational technology services and Business Management Enterprise Platforms (design and application) >Acted as SRO & interface to .uk Government NCSC for the delivery of the National PDNS platform >Led Nominet 24/7 support Operations and Technology leadership (70) for the Core Registry Data Business (.uk) across all internal Group IT portfolios & with regards to all KPI metrics

• Developed key operational initiatives to drive and maintain substantial business growth.
• Cultivated forward-thinking, inclusive, and performance-oriented business culture to lead industry in innovation and push progress.

• Refined organizational structure to consolidate, streamline, and delineate necessary functions.
• Aligned organizational objectives with company mission to increase business growth and integrate work strategies.
• Oversaw day-to-day operations to keep organization running smoothly while meeting business goals.

• Subsidiary of Naspars Group (Media - B2C) t/o $2.85bn fte c7,000
• Demonstrated leadership skills in managing projects from concept to completion.
• Used critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions. for proposed ERP solution
• Consolidation of Naspars Group Businesses reducing ERP costs by over 40% - $280m to $168m
• Led Offshore Management Team (Tata Consulting) integrating a cloud based ERP >Delivered a back-office platform servicing 49 African countries and businesses, reducing operational expenditure & software lease costs by c20% - $600m to $480m
• Resolved problems, improved operations and provided exceptional service.

• Fintech t/o €20m fte 120
• Led the Data, BI and IT operations functions with a loan book responsibility of £300m >Developed work streams: IT Operations and Agile development (incl
• Developed quarterly business plans to evaluate cost projections.
• Aligned organizational objectives with company mission to increase business growth and integrate work strategies.
• Negotiated contracts and agreements to secure favorable terms and maximize profits.
• Managed crisis response to minimize potential negative impacts on company.
• Life cycle scoping, roadmap, strategic analysis for architecture, execution, testing and support)

• Media t/o $2.1b fte 6,500
• Led growth of an AI & Algorithmic Face Recognition Metadata asset and data management framework to leverage growth opportunities
• Delivered a $35m (M&A) reducing operating costs by 30% ($1.89m)
• Oversaw operations and provided corrective feedback to achieve daily and long-term goals.
• Documented processes and drafted SOPs to comply with regulations and company policies.
• Negotiated new annual contracts and service agreements with vendors to achieve prime pricing.
• Led change and transformation across business areas to deliver benefits and align company resources.
• Implemented process improvement to shape organizational culture, optimize procedures for higher efficiency and help company evolve and grow.
• Prepared annual budgets with controls to prevent overages.
• Reduced operational risks while organizing data to forecast performance trends.

• Telecoms t/o £41b fte 10,000
• Role specific: c3,000 staff - $300m budget - across 25m consumers
• Configured and implemented IT initiatives to produce measurable business value.
• Developed and led large-scale technology initiatives for long-term strategic plans and solutions.
• Analyzed financial investment in IT systems, potential return on investment and impact on productivity.
• Reduced implementation & purchase costs of Huawei long haul fibre network across 3,500 miles, increasing service availability by c24% - securing 33% ($60m) cost savings $120m
• Accountable for leading the Technology & Operations business ($300m) on behalf of stakeholders, preparing for an IPO and due diligence process across emerging markets
• Responsible for BAU 24/7 operations inc: audit, governance, policy development, business technology, customer operations, infrastructure management and HR

• Telecoms t/o £5.2b fte 35,400
• Collaborated with manufacturing and supply chain management by spearheading Vendor Management programme - accountability for control, governance, cost reduction and BPR - saved £200m (8%) vs initial £2.5Bn investment >Appointed to support Board with Next Generation Access Fibre to cabinet / premise (FTTx)
• Infrastructure delivery readiness expertise supporting Target Operating Model
• Led business readiness and IT functional areas to develop and deliver Fixed Line FTTx and Fibre delivered products where initial adoption increased per rollout area: c40% for cabinet and c55% for premise readiness - generating substantial enterprise value

• Telecoms t/o £10.3b fte 14,000
• Developed the start-up strategy for a new £150m Regulated European subsidiary, created to transform, deliver & build out Premium content, CDN & Metadata Cloud services to Pan-European & UK customer base utilising existing & incumbent business >Migrated all Pay TV platforms to Luxembourg - negotiating with Lux Government to secure a 3% vs 17.5 % VAT rate on broadcast revenues - enabling cost savings of £1Bn >Led and consolidated CWC, NTL & Telewest 24/7 operations and engineering, to reduce operating costs by 40% >BPR - improved Service Quality Levels to the UK platform - congruently directing several tiers of operational support, STB upgrading and 3rd party supplier contracts
• Remained composed and highly professional in fast-paced and constantly changing environment, effectively handling challenging situations and difficult individuals to achieve objectives.