Nigel Rayner

Senior Programme Manager | IT & Enterprise Change | Service Delivery | Microsoft Technology | Public Sector & Commercial | MSP Practitioner

Wallingford, England, United Kingdom

About

Senior Programme Manager with 15+ years delivering complex technology and business change programmes across enterprise and public sector environments. Currently at Mott MacDonald, leading a portfolio of IT and enterprise change programmes across a global engineering consultancy with 20,000 employees and £2bn turnover. My background combines strong programme delivery discipline with genuine commercial accountability — I've owned £10m+ operations, managed P&L, grown revenue and delivered strategic change in environments where governance, stakeholder confidence and measurable outcomes all matter. Notable career achievements include securing a £6m pa government contract restart following COVID disruption; achieving a seven-fold increase in new business wins at Capita while sustaining delivery quality; leading a technology platform pivot at RM Plc that returned a loss-making global business unit to profitability; and directing an enterprise-wide ransomware resilience simulation at board level. Experienced across the full delivery spectrum: Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform, SAP SuccessFactors, enterprise data platforms, cyber resilience and public sector transformation. Skilled at translating strategic priorities into integrated delivery roadmaps and building trusted relationships across executive, technology, operational and third-party partner teams. Open to Senior Programme Manager, IT Service Delivery and interim/contract opportunities in large UK organisations. MSP Practitioner | SAFe Product Owner | MBA (Merit), Warwick Business School

Experience

  • Mott MacDonald (10 yrs 4 mos)
    • Programme Manager
      Jul 2022 - Present · 4 yrs 1 mo

      Management of IT and enterprise change programmes for global £2bn business with 20k employees. Notable projects include: - Developing data platform strategy to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) on business data - Implementation of crisis management system and global ransomware simulation with executive board - Leadership of information security programme for client project delivery - Managing response to increasing data residency and sovereignty requirements. Directly responsible for a team of Project Managers and Business Analysts, I coordinate virtual delivery teams within a highly matrixed environment across business and IT functions, acting as an escalation point for programme risks, blockers and delivery dependencies.  I have increased organisational resilience by leading agile development teams managing enterprise technology platforms, improving performance whilst identifying and addressing critical service dependencies and reducing risk. Responding to the need to improve project governance and oversight I implemented a defined lifecycle and stage gate approach for a multi-workstream enterprise transformation programme. Led engagement across executive sponsors, delivery partners, and operational teams to align strategic priorities, move quickly to achieve the desired outcomes, and realise benefits.

    • Project Principal
      Apr 2016 - Jul 2022 · 6 yrs 4 mos

      Led programme delivery for a nationally significant public sector transformation initiative commissioned by a UK government department, operating in a politically sensitive, multi-stakeholder environment with high scrutiny at every stage. Key programme: National Assessment & Accreditation System (NAAS) - a complex, multi-party programme involving government commissioners, specialist third-sector providers and operational delivery teams across England. Notable achievements include: - Secured £6m pa contract restart following COVID-19 programme suspension: rebuilt executive confidence, re-baselined delivery and negotiated continuation with senior government stakeholders, demonstrating sustained programme credibility under significant pressure. - Designed and implemented programme governance frameworks from the ground up, providing clear accountability, progress visibility and assurance to government clients throughout the programme lifecycle. - Managed a complex multi-party supply chain - coordinating specialist providers, third-sector partners and internal delivery teams across multiple concurrent workstreams. - Delivered the £2m Delivering Better Outcomes Together programme, implementing national policy reforms through coordinated stakeholder engagement - growing gross revenue 10% (2019) and 9% (2020). - Maintained delivery continuity through periods of significant disruption and changing government requirements, applying structured risk management and dependency tracking throughout. Strengths demonstrated: Public sector delivery · Multi-stakeholder leadership · Programme governance · Contract negotiation · Risk management · Benefits realisation

  • Head of Further & Higher Education at Capita Digital and Software Solutions
    Dec 2012 - Apr 2016 · 3 yrs 5 mos

    • Led the Capita Further & Higher Education business unit • Full P&L responsibility for £10m business unit • Engineered a turnaround for a mature student information system • Directed development and launch of new mobile digital platform • Achieved a seven-fold increase in new business wins within the first year.

  • MBA, Merit at Warwick Business School
    Jul 2012 - Dec 2012 · 6 mos

    Break to complete MBA ▪ Executive MBA Module – Finance and Entrepreneurship (with UCLA) ▪ Private investor pitch support and delivery for early stage UK tech company (pro bono).

  • Head of Education Management Solutions at RM Plc
    Apr 2005 - Jul 2012 · 7 yrs 4 mos

    • Appointed to launch a new ‘Software as a Service’ education management tool • Promoted and relocated to head office, led 90 strong team • Instigated strategic pivot to full Microsoft strategy, returning unit to profitability • Financial targets were exceeded throughout a complex global restructure.

  • Channel Consultant at Trustmarque Solutions
    Apr 2004 - Apr 2005 · 1 yr 1 mo

    • Transformed the reseller approach to reflect the needs of the corporate buyer • Led implementation of CRM system to improve sales efficiency • Worked closely with major vendors including Microsoft, Oracle and Sophos • Results included business achieving turnover target of £1m per employee.