James Wood

Professional Services - Senior Program Manager at Rithum

United Kingdom

About

With 18 + years of experience in e-commerce solutions and consulting, I am a Professional Services - Senior Program Manager at Rithum, a leading provider of cloud-based technologies and services for retailers and brands. I am responsible for managing Rithum products and capabilities for new retailer integrations and enhancement projects with our UK and European clients, from scoping through to implementation. I leverage my PRINCE2 certification and my expertise in project management, stakeholder management, and continuous improvement to deliver high-quality results and customer satisfaction. I also provide pre-sales support and consultation with prospective clients, and share best practices and insights with our Product Management team to help refine and develop Rithum products and capabilities. Additionally, I support the internationalization initiatives and the growth of the Rithum team in the UK and Europe. My passion is to coach and champion others and lead highly effective teams.

Experience

  • Rithum (8 yrs 11 mos)
    • Professional Services - Senior Program Manager (UK & Europe)
      Apr 2026 - Present · 4 mos

    • Professional Services - Program Manager (UK & Europe)
      Jul 2023 - Apr 2026 · 2 yrs 10 mos

    • Professional Services - Senior Project Manager (UK & Europe)
      Sep 2017 - Jul 2023 · 5 yrs 11 mos

      • A client-facing role, responsible for managing CommerceHub (now "Rithum") e-commerce solutions for new retailer integrations and enhancement projects with our UK / European clients, from scoping through to implementation. • Providing consulting services with our customers to share best-practices (operational and technical), to support scalable dropship programmes • Pre-sales support and consultation with prospective clients. • Providing knowledge and insight to our Product Management team to help refine and develop CommerceHub products and capabilities based upon client feedback and best practice experience. • Support of Internationalization initiatives. • Scoping and requirements definition • Estimating and scheduling • Development of formal Statement of Work documents • Workshop facilitation • Risk and Issue Management • Preparation and delivery of various training for retailer operational team • Collaboration across teams and functions (including Product, Engineering, Quality Assurance, Operations, Legal) • Management and support for customer UAT testing (including development of test plans / test cases)

  • Tesco PLC ()
    • Head of Tesco Marketplace Account Management (Online Business Services)
      Mar 2016 - Sep 2017 · 1 yr 7 mos

      • Accountable for on-boarding all partners to the Tesco Marketplace channel, including the integration of technology, operations, customer services, data quality, through to successful launch and hypercare. • Lead the team to launch and support partners to drive scalable (double digit) online growth and extended range, whilst ensuring high data quality and monitoring of partner performance to meet agreed KPIs. • Management of headcount budget and flexing resources to help meet the needs of the business. • Drive a culture of continuous improvement, introducing changes designed around simplicity, reducing cost and improving quality of launches to ensure a great customer experience. • Regularly present status updates to senior leadership team. • Develop business cases to improve customer and partner experience, drive growth and efficiencies. • Accountable for all Tesco Partner Compliance and Risk metrics and performance monitoring. • Subject Matter Expert and Marketplace champion within the Tesco Online business. • Managerial responsibilities include 121s, talent planning, coaching, performance management and recruitment.

    • Tesco Marketplace - Technical Optimisation Programme Manager
      Jun 2014 - Feb 2016 · 1 yr 9 mos

      • Setup and managed a specialist team to provide targeted technical and operational support to live partners, designed to scale, improve profitability and the customer journey. • Capacity planning to utilise resources to deliver maximum benefit to partners and the business. • Led the education of partners and colleagues to help ensure technical and operational best practice is delivered. • Project managed a number of Marketplace initiatives, including implementation of a new delivery option system across all live partners; and successful migration of high-performing partners to API platform.

    • Tesco Marketplace - Senior Launch Manager
      Nov 2011 - Jun 2014 · 2 yrs 8 mos

      • Central point of contact for all matters relating to integration of partners to the Marketplace, involving engaging with a variety of onshore and offshore cross-functional teams. • Assessed technical capabilities of prospective partners to the platform, leading initial technical calls with Directors and Senior IT leads for third parties wishing to sign up to Marketplace. • Successfully integrated and launched multiple partners, including the identification of platform and process improvements to enhance team performance, partner experience and simplification for partners.

  • Programme / Project Manager at Central Bedfordshire Council
    Dec 2009 - Nov 2011 · 2 yrs

  • Senior Consultant at Qedis
    May 2008 - Nov 2009 · 1 yr 7 mos

  • Specialist Consultant at EDS Consulting Services
    Oct 2003 - May 2008 · 4 yrs 8 mos