Adrian Orchard

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT ADRIAN ORCHARD

I consider myself adaptable to multiple challenges and tasks. Assignments range from developing information and technical strategies, operational roles: ‘holding the fort’, covering maternity leave, or periods of corporate change. Primarily I am a hands-on manager, and where resources have been constrained have managed projects or mapped business processes personally. I am normally to be found with IT staff or stakeholders resolving challenges rather than rooted behind a laptop and a spreadsheet. Industry sectorsI am sector-agnostic, and I segue to different organisation types easily. For example, I left a rail company to assume responsibility for corporate IT and post-production for Europe’s largest group of independent television companies. However, the majority of my work has been in not-for-profits, local authorities, government non-departmental bodies and education. What are my skills?• I am foremost a ‘people person’, and I have success in managing IT staff through periods of change and transformation.• I am quick in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of provision of IT services within an organisation, and in charting a way-forward. Often only minor changes to an organisational structure, or a modest investment can yield dramatic dividends.• Managing transformation. I have designed new organisational structure, and led IT departments through centralisation, merger and change, often in the face of reluctance and sometimes hostility from staff and stakeholders.• Target operating model design: people, process, technology, service management, data and insights and governance. All important, and all with interactions between the components.• Cost savings. I have provided significant savings to organisations through redesign of application and network provision.• Supplier relationship management: I have managed outsource contracts up to 16m, and I have re-worked the supplier relationships to renew an operating model beneficial to both partiesWhat type of work do I undertake?• Interim leadership roles e.g Head of IT / CIO / Operations manager• \'Hired hand\': Where CIOs are faced with high workload. I am able to assist in operational or programme management as directed.• Current ICT provision assessment• Organisational redesign and transformation.• Target Operating model design• Technical management• Project and programme management• Service management designI have managed teams as small as five staff, as many 300. Small and large present different challenges; I enjoy them equally.