Location: London, UK

James is a Delivery Lead at Brink. He spends his time making sure the delivery of some of Brink’s biggest programmes of work (such as the EdTech Hub) are delivered smoothly and proactively, and that teams are well supported and getting what they need. He also manages Brink’s new business pipeline, spotting needs across the team to deliver high calibre ideas to potential new partners. Finally, he looks after the delivery of our first international hub in Rwanda.

James has been working for 8 years delivering and managing Agile teams, from leading a “first of a kind” agile delivery for a systems integration projects in UK, to coaching 20+ tech startups and ventures at Brink using lean and agile methodologies, to coaching a non-profit team in their transition to social enterprise in Zambia. He has set up businesses in new geographies in East and Southern Africa, and loves to think about how you build high-performance, high-happiness teams across cultures.

James’ biggest “leap” in his career was when he became a corporate fugitive, leaving a large corporate consultancy where he had been working on a 1000 person strong systems transformation programme. His next office was a 3 person office in Lusaka, Zambia, nestled inside a middle school. It was a real journey full of worry, impostor syndrome, and uncertainty. But James is very happy that it brought him into the world of social impact for good, and sparked his enthusiasm for working and living on the African continent.

Questions James is exploring in their work right now:

• What does agile delivery really look like, when you’re working across many geographies, many diverse skillsets, and many cultures?
• How does Brink become truly global, and what does this mean for our systems and mechanisms as we grow?
• How do we “cut through the jargon” when talking about adaptive management, and encourage teams to take the first steps to changing their ways of working?