Product and engineering transformation
Building product and engineering organisations that deliver
Most product and engineering problems are structural. The people are capable, but the way work is owned, funded and handed over makes good outcomes harder than they should be. I have rebuilt these organisations at Fairfax, Domain and MRI Software, usually while the business kept running.
What I work on
- Product and engineering alignment, so both sides are accountable for the same outcome.
- Organisation structure and accountability that matches how the product is built.
- Distributed engineering teams that work as one team across time zones.
- Platform consolidation after growth or acquisition.
- Delivery predictability, so a date means something.
- Product portfolio strategy, including what to stop.
- Leadership development for the managers who will run it after I leave.
- Scaling without adding bureaucracy that slows everyone down.
How I approach it
I begin with how work actually flows from idea to customer, not the org chart. Where it waits, where it gets reworked and where nobody can say who decides, there is usually a structural fix that costs less than another process.
At Fairfax I helped centralise a 170+ person product and technology organisation to launch digital subscriptions. At Domain the technology organisation grew from 48 to 230 people through a separation and a listing. At MRI Software I redesigned product and engineering across APAC and moved 82% of development and QA capacity to our GDC in India, which saved $6.2M over three years. In each case the operating model had to change before the delivery numbers did.
I try to leave behind capability, not dependency. If the leaders who stay cannot run the model without me, I have not finished.
Where I have done this
Product and engineering transformation
Improving capability while changing the cost base
The new model improved delivery capability and produced $6.2M in savings over three years, while creating a stronger base for AI-enabled product and operating workflows.
Platform separation and scale
Building the technology organisation behind an ASX listing
The separation supported Domain’s ASX listing and left the business with the scale and capability to operate and grow independently.
Product-led transformation
Turning digital disruption into a subscription business
The products created more than $60M in annual subscription revenue and gave the organisation a repeatable digital product capability during a period of intense disruption.
What I have written about this
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