top of page
  • LinkedIn App Icon

Vanessa Kirby

Operational Leader | COO  | VP Delivery 

​​Building delivery infrastructure for product-led companies actually deliver on their ambitions.

Ex M&S · Argos · BT Financial

image.png

TRACK RECORD

Proven Impact

Measurable results across retail, finance, and legaltech sectors.  Deep user-centred design thinking + operational maturity + commercial track record

£3M+

Incremental revenue generated through strategic UX improvements

300-450%

Seasonal (golden quarter) revenue uplift YoY through design leadership

33%

Shifted from 33% to 66% online revenue in 12 months 

image.png

CORE EXPERIENCE

Strategic Capabilities

I came in through design because that's where I could add immediate value and because understanding users is the foundation of any good product decision. But I've always been interested in the whole machine. How does the organisation actually deliver? Where are the gaps between functions? What's stopping good ideas from becoming good outcomes? 

User centred design thinking

Expert in UCD, service design, information architecture with demonstrated ROI improvements of 15-450%

Digital & AI Transformation

Spearheading enterprise-wide transformations across M&S, BT Financial, Argos and SeedLegals with measurable impact

Departmental Development & Mentorship

Building and scaling international design organisations, reducing attrition while fostering innovation across distributed teams

Product Operations Leadership

Leading cross-functional teams to deliver products generating significant incremental revenue through user-centered innovation

Data-Driven Decision Making

Leveraging analytics and user insights to drive strategic product decisions and optimise business outcomes

Agile & Lean Methodologies

Implementing agile methodologies and design systems at scale for rapid iteration and delivery

CURRENT POSITIONS

image.png

Director of UX Design & Product Ops

April 2022 - Present

SeedLegals  London
LegalTech SaaS scale-up · ~160 people · consolidation and growth phase
  • Introduced strategic planning cadence, cross-functional GTM process, and delivery rhythm across product, engineering, marketing and CX — operating without formal authority over most functions

  • Designed and launched new market entry into the USA and a regulated investor marketplace product (deal flow to portfolio management), leading cross-functional delivery from concept through GTM

  • AI integration programme to improve operational efficiency and reduce support costs, coordinating across product, engineering and CX teams

  • Co-sponsored exco-level strategic pitch with Director of Strategy on AI-driven disruption reshaping engineering, product and CX boundaries simultaneously — operating at board level on a topic with material implications for company structure

Member Board of Trustees

Wimbledon Windmill Museum

November 2022 - Present

Strategic oversight focusing on digital content, website, and social media. Redesigned and refitted museum shop, doubling income for windmill maintenance. Introduced Bloomberg Connects app for remote exhibitions. Working with local business community to raise awareness and drive events.

Digital Advisor

Conduct Change

January 2017 - Present

Ongoing advisor for digital resources and online communications to support campaign-based mental health and anti-bullying initiatives.

image.png

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Executive Leadership Experience

UX & Design Consultant

VExD Ltd  London
Freelance consulting · maternity leave cover · global retail and edtech clients

August 2020 - April 2022

  • Director of Service Design (Mat leave cover) - Modern Human Design

  • UX Design - Altruistiq, a SaaS startup focused on ESG metrics, in creating a prototype for fundraising and kickstarting UX team

  • UX Designer - Harvard Medical for a Mental Health App in the USA

  • UX Research Lead - global bank on expat money transfer behaviours and required services.

Head of Experience Design

Marks & Spencer  London
FTSE 100 retailer · omnichannel digital transformation · team of 26+

October 2017 - July 2020

  • Led a team of 26+ across omnichannel digital experience, operating inside a complex matrix organisation with multiple senior stakeholders and competing priorities

  • Furniture category: +16% conversion - equivalent to ~£3m annual revenue uplift - through end-to-end redesign of the customer journey

  • Sparks loyalty programme revamp: +1M app downloads and +8% NPS improvement

  • CFTO redesign: +300–450% YoY growth; delivered through structured cross-functional delivery programme

Head of UX

Argos London
Major UK retailer · £4.25bn revenue · digital-first transformation · team of 26+

August 2015 - October 2017

  • Central to Argos's transformation from physical to digital-first: shift from 30% to 66% online business, hitting the £250m stretch revenue target — one of the most significant retail digital transformations of its period in the UK

  • Owned delivery of the full selling journey redesign: homepage, category, product, and checkout — plus finance integration and taxonomy — coordinating across engineering, trading, and commercial teams

  • Structured the team operating model to deliver at speed and scale inside a large, fast-moving retail organisation

Head of UX

BT Financial Group  Sydney
Investment bank · digital wealth platform transformation · team of 30+

January 2013 - July 2015

  • Business sponsor for the introduction of Agile into a large traditional waterfall organisation — accountable for change adoption, not just design execution

  • Led digital transformation of the wealth management platform: introduced design systems, experience-led strategy, and modular pattern libraries that reduced time-to-market and enabled consistent deployment at scale

  • Managed a team of 30+ through sustained organisational change in an investment banking environment

Earlier career

Group Manager – Experience Design  —  Avanade (Microsoft Technology)  London

Creative Director  —  SapientNitro  London

Director of User Experience  —  Flow Interactive  London

Senior Director – Product Interface Design & Testing  —  LexisNexis  Dayton, USA

Prior positions across UK, Asia, Australia and USA — details available on request.

My footprint
World map of places I've worked

International, in country experience

Who I have worked with
Logos of companies I've worked with
SL Logo

'If you can make things easy to use, then the world will love you'.

Making Websites Win, Karl Blanks & Ben Jesson

Conferences   

2019 ECommerce Digital conference  - Journey Mapping

2019 UX Roundabout, London - Agile & UX

2015 Interact, London - UX Unicorns -fables or legends?

2014 Digital Delivery  - Wealth Management

2012 OzChi - Agile & UX

2012 Agile UX - Sydney

bottom of page