Leading UK CIOs … who happen to be female

Cancer Research UK CIO Tiffany Hall was recently named CIO of the Year at the Women in IT Awards, recognition for a successful first full year in the sector in which the former BBC CIO brought together two different teams at the charity. Hall’s achievements also made her a CIO 100 high-flyer.

Read next: Cancer Research UK CIO Tiffany Hall describes her award-winning work

Katie Nykanen has been Global CTO at Adstream since July 2018, having joined the media company in 2012 as Senior Solutions Manager before working her way up the ranks to her current position. In 2019, she was named CTO of the Year at the Women in IT Awards.

Cobham EVP of IT raising Roche is leading a transformation journey at the manufacturing company that is raised the value of IT by cutting its costs, showing flexibility on responsibility boundaries, and gaining knowledge while investing creatively. Prior to joining Cobham in 2015, Roche was CIO of defence firm Raytheon UK for three years.

Shell International Trading and Supply CIO Clare Patterson’s use of cloud, data and IoT in wind and solar farms to optimise European power trading at the energy giant have earned her a spot on the CIO 100 in back-to-back years.

Patterson has also been investigating a range of emerging technologies, including AI, machine learning and robotics, which are helping Shell to better manage its renewable power, speed up its market trading and improve distributed energy systems.

Sarah Winwill has been Acting CIO at British Transport Police since August 2017, having joined the organisation in 2016 as CTO. Her recent achievements at the organisation helping to half critical incidents by introducing a new incident, problem and change processes and introducing mobile policing and crime systems to the front line via 2,000 mobile phone device.

Prior to joining British Transport Police, Winwill had stints as Director of IT for Professional Services at UCL, CIO at the Victoria and Albert Museum and CIO at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Pravina joined Swiss Re in April 2017, taking accountability for technology and operations across Life Capital, the company’s gateway into the primary insurance market.

Prior to joining Swiss Re, Ladva was CIO at Barclaycard, where she led its global technology and change teams to deliver a range of B2B and B2C solutions and pushed it to adopt agile delivery methods and culture.

Georgina Owens oversees the IT infrastructure that powers DAZN, which only launched in 2016 but has already become the world’s largest sports streaming service.

Owens joined the company in 2017, bringing to an end a spell as Head of Digital Process Transformation at Vodafone, which she helped drive its efforts to become a leading global digital telco company.

Read next: DAZN’s SVP of IT Services Georgina Owens reveals the tech transforming TV viewing

Jennifer Anderson is CTO of Incuto, a socially responsible fintech company that provides SaaS banking technology for credit unions and community banks that help them transform into community-focused challenger banks. Her efforts earned her a spot in the CIO 100 in 2019, which she welcomed as recognition for her team’s contribution to eradicating the Poverty Premium

“This is why we are continually looking for new ways to help our Credit Unions automate their processes further,” she said.

Jane Carolan is National Director of Health Business Services at Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE), the provider of choice for a range of business supports to the Irish public health system.

She combined this role with that of Interim CIO for six months in 2018, and has also served as CEO of eHealth Ireland, Deputy National Director of Health Business Services and National Director of Corporate Planning and Corporate Performance at HSE, which she joined in 2008.

Helen Brittain is Director of Technology and Change title at Genting UK, responsible for leading the IT and business change teams at the casino and resort operator.

She has also served as Genting’s Head of Operational Efficiency and Director of Change since joining the company in 2013 from Gala Coral Group, where was Head of Business Efficiency for Casinos.

Christina Scott was appointed CTO at News UK reporting directly to CEO Rebekah Brooks in February 2016, with the former editor of The Sun and the News of the World describing the appointment as “a coup” for Rupert Murdoch’s organisation. Scott also has a global role as Deputy CTO of News Corp.

Former Financial Times CIO Christina Scott was a high-flyer in the 2018 CIO 100, recognised for putting data at the core of the organisation’s strategy. At the FT, she was given extra responsibilities as the Chief Product and Information Officer.

A hugely popular speaker at the 2014 CIO Summit, Anna Barsby was Halfords CIO from March 2013 until July 2016, during which she was part of the rejuvenation of the ‘clicks and mortar’ retailer. Placed in top spot in the 2015 CIO 100, Barsby spent three years as Chief Technology Director at supermarket chain Morrisons before taking on a new role at Barsby Clift.

Sarah Flannigan was CIO of the National Trust, joining the organisation with an IT department in crisis and discussed its radical renovation with a three-year, £40 million project in an October 2014 CIO Profile interview. A high-flyer in the CIO 100 and 2015 CIO Summit speaker, Flannigan is CIO at EDF Energy.

Jacky Wright starts her role as Chief Digital and Information Officer at HMRC in October 2017. The Microsoft corporate vice president is on a secondment from the IT giant, and took over at HMRC when Mike Potter took on a new role as Director of Future Borders.

Read next: HMRC Chief Digital and Information Officer Jacky Wright interview – Developing a new operating model and culture for the digital era

Karenann Terrell is Chief Digital and Technology Officer at GlaxoSmithKline. The former Walmart CIO joined GSK in September 2017 and is responsible for developing the pharma’s digital, data and analytics strategy.

Jennifer Rigby is COO at Lloyd’s of London, joining the insurance organisation in May 2017 as CIO before being promoted to her current role two years later. Rigby has worked at the BBC, for the government, at Telefonica UK and discussed the transformation agenda at Lloyd’s of London at the 2017 CIO Summit.

Rachel Dunscombe is CIO at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and was a high-flyer in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions of the CIO 100, where she was praised for imporving patient care and returning the second highest cost savings in the NHS. Dunscombe was also a keynote speaker at the 2016 CIO Summit.

With the broader responsibilities as Digital Director of Salforf Royal Group of NHS Trusts, Dunscombe was also made CEO of the NHS Digital Academy.

Director of IT at City University, Claire Priestley, spoke to CIO UK in February 2018 about technology innovations at the institution. Part of the 2018 CIO 100, Priestley has also appeared on the CIO UK podcast.

Adidas Global CIO Fumbi Chima was previously CIO for Fox Networks Group, Walmart Asia and Burberry, where she was praised by CEO Christopher Bailey for her combination of “IT and digital expertise”.

In October 2016, Chima wrote an article for CIO UK about ways organisations can nurture and retain leading female talent in STEM roles.

Former Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer at the Home Office, Sarah Wilkinson was appointed CEO of NHS Digital in April 2017. Wilkinson was a speaker at the 2015 CIO Summit and subject of an exclusive CIO Profile in September 2015.

Wilkinson wrote about a new agile approach to IT strategy for CIO UK at the start of 2016.

CIO for Compass Group in UK & Ireland, Fiona Humphreys, is a 2018 CIO 100 member, has spoken to the CIO UK podcast and discussed the immense value that technology, and particularly data, is providing the FTSE 100 company in a CIO video interview.

Sharon Cooper was appointed Chief Digital Officer of the Economist Intelligence Unit (ECIU) in August 2018, bringing to an end a six-year spell at the BMJ that was split between stints as CDO and CTO. Cooper was recognised as a high-flyer in the 2016 CIO 100 and was also speaker at the 2016 CIO Summit.

Cait O’Riordan was appointed Chief Product and Information Officer at the Financial Times in February 2016, replacing the outgoing Christina Scott. A member of the FT executive board and reporting to CEO John Ridding, former Shazam vice president O’Riordan leads platform and product strategy, development and operations at the FT.

Alison Davis was appointed VP-CIO of GE Healthcare Life Sciences in December 2018. Prior to that, she spent five years as previously of IT at the Francis Crick Institute, the largest biomedical research centre in Europe, and spoke to CIO UK about moving into the state-of-the-art digital facility as a chance to land a new normal.

A scientist by training with a background in the pharma sector, Davis was also a speaker at the 2016 CIO Summit.

Previously Chief Digital Officer at JAB Luxury, the group overseeing luxury brands including Jimmy Choo, Bally and Belstaff, Karen McElhatton was appointed CIO at automative manufacturing and technology company McLaren Group in 2018.

Dr Caroline Hargrove is Chief Technology Officer at Babylon Health, a Technical Director McLaren Technologies, and a non-executive director for Ceres Power Holdings, a world-leading developer of low cost, next-generation fuel cell technology. Hargove is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Visiting Professor in Surgical Simulations at the University of Oxford.

Norma Dove-Edwin is Chief Data and Information Officer at Places for People having joined the organisation in June 2017 as Chief Data Officer. A speaker at the 2017 CIO Summit, Dove-Edwin has worked at top FTSE multinational organisations including BAT, Shell, Unilever, HBOS, QBE Insurance, Labatt, and BP.

Alison FitzGerald was appointed CIO at London City Airport in January 2014, and took on added COO responsibility in October 2016. A member of the London City Airport executive team, FitzGerald is a former CIO at the Financial Times and spent 16 years in the banking sector at Abbey and Santander.

Formerly global CIO at Thomson Reuters, Jane Moran replaced Willem Eelman as Global CIO of consumer goods manufacturer Unilever in 2014.

Laura Dawson is Director of Information Management and Technology at the London School of Economics, and was a speaker at the 2017 CIO Summit.

Previously CIO of the British Council, Dawson has been chair of the Charity IT Leaders organisation and a member of the 2016 and 2017 editions CIO 100. A former civil servant, Dawson has extensive experience in the senior leadership at charities as Head of Information Systems at the RSPB, and IS Director for Save the Children.

Lara Burns is Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Age UK, and the 2018 CIO 100 member has been moving the charity’s activities onto digital platforms, slashing expenditure by automating a number of administrative processes.

Laura Meyer is CIO at publisher HarperCollins, where she is a member of the executive leadership with responsibility for around 450 staff.

Executive Technology Consultant Nadine Thomson is currently working as a technology director at media company News UK and was on the steering group for CIO UK and Computerworld’s research study Making AI a Business Reality. Thomson previously served as CTO at Conde Nast and CIO of Vue Cinema and is also a board member of community film organisation Cinema For All.

Read next: News UK technology director advises CIOs to focus on their business problems adopting AI

CIO at the British Red Cross, Rosie Slater-Carr is a CIO 100 member and has been introducing a range of digital innovation initiatives at the charity.

Joanna Smith is CIO at the Sidra Medicine hospital in Qatar. Previously CIO at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, Smith was a speaker at the 2017 CIO Summit.

Lesley Morgan is Director of Technology at Penguin Random House, having joined the publisher in January 2018. From April 2013 until June 2017 Morgan was Group CIO of fellow publishing company Hachette UK, whose brands include Hodder & Stoughton – having previously held the role of Group IT Director at the same organisation, the publisher of books by JK Rowling, Stephen King and Kate Mosse.

Morgan has also held senior IT roles at Sony, Cisco, British Airways and BMG Music Publishing.

In 2011 CIO and change expert Catherine Doran left Network Rail to become Royal Mail CIO. A former CIO Summit speaker, Doran is a regular face in the CIO 100 and updated us on her strategy and projects at the Royal Mail in May 2015.

RPS Group CIO Kelly Olsen was a 2015 CIO Summit speaker and the cover profile of the September 2015 edition of CIO magazine when she was CIO of Cushman & Wakefield, Kelly Olsen previously served as CIO of NHS Property Services.

The December 2014 cover profile interview in CIO magazine, Shell VP of IT Transformation and Value  CIO Maggie Van’T Hoff has spent over 30 years at the oil giant, more than a dozen of which have been in IT leadership.

Lisa Commane is Senior Director of Business Improvement at water regulator Ofwat. Preciously Commane was at Coventry City Council’ where she had strategic responsibility for not just the public sector body’s IT, but also its transformation agenda and made her first appearance in the CIO 100 in 2016.

Monique Shivanandan is CIO at insurance company Chubb. Previously Shivanandan had returned from a role in the US in April 2014 to take up the role as Aviva CIO to bring ‘digital capabilities’ to the insurance firm. Shivanandan spoke to CIO UK in March 2015 about her vision for new initiatives at the insurance giant.

Fatima Zada was appointed Acting Chief Technology Officer of Dubai-based retail giant Majid Al Futtaim in May 2019. She previously spent five years as Director of Technology and Innovation Director Fatima Zada at Harvey Nichols, sitting on the retailer’s management board. Prior to that, Zada spent eight years at fellow UK megabrand Burberry, working across the globe in various roles including as Director of IT Service Integration & Service Management.

Previously CIO at Defra, Julie Pierce is Director of Openness, Data and Digital at the Food Standards Agency and a high-flyer in the 2019 CIO 100.

A CIO Summit speaker in 2011, Jane Scott is Group CIO of Ferrero – famous for its Ferrero Rocher chocolates, and was previously in the CIO 100 as Mars VP & CIO.

Amy Freeman is Associate Director of IT at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust and a member of the 2018 CIO 100, where she was recognised for a hardware and software refresh, and future plans to improve patient care at the trust.

Nisha Manaktala is part of the Executive Committee and Head of IT at car insurer AutoProtect. She was a member of the 2018 CIO 100 for technology-driven change initiatives to key business capabilities which have sent customer satisfaction scores soaring.

Dr Madhu Bhabuta was Chief Technology Officer at the Ministry of Defence, and was also part of the 2015 CIO 100 celebrations. The former CIO at the UK Hydrographic Office is a non-executive director at University of Bristol Hospitals Trust, and is now Director of Operations at facilities management company Mitie.

Rachel Murphy has held CIO and CTO roles at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, National Archives and Department for Education, and in April 2015 wrote an article exclusively for CIO UK about bridging the gap between IT and the business.

Murphy was Digital Delivery Director at NHS Digital, where she helped to provide a new digital healthcare service at NHS.UK, before becoming managing director at startup consultancy Difrent in November 2017.

Dr Carolyn Brown was CIO at the University of Durhamfrom November 2012 until taking over as Director of Information Services at the University of Westminster in November 2015. Part of the 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions of the CIO 100, Brown also spoke to CIO UK in June 2015 about changing the way students learn, lecturers teach, and universities operate.

Brown is now Group Director of Transformation at Trinity College London Carolyn Brown

Amber Burke has been CIO at Oxfam UK since March 2016, overseeing a team of 120 and implementing a business change programme since joining the charity.

Cindy Fedell, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, has been in her current role since September 2013 and wrote for CIO UK about innovating in the face of austerity and the opportunities for CIOs in the healthcare sector.

Tracey Scotter spoke to this title about digital health records, data-driven decision-making, and how technology can help the NHS try and save £20 billion over the next four years during her time as the Director of ICT at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals – and

Scotter was a speaker at CIO UK and Computerworld UK’s Agenda 2016 event and discussed how the NHS can embrace wearable tech and Big Data. She is now an interim management specialist at Veuve.

Part of the 2018 CIO 100, Daniela Weber is CIO at contraception and safe abortion provider Marie Stopes International, and has spoken to CIO UK about how her cyber security strategy protects the organisation at a tense cultural moment for the NGO.

Read next:Marie Stopes CIO Daniela Weber on protecting abortion services amid mounting cyber threats

London-based Hyperion Insurance hired Lyn Grobler as its Group CIO in November 2015 to replace CIO 100 high-flyer David Jack.

Sitting on the executive committee alongside the Hyperion CEO, CFO and General Counsel, Grobler moved industries after a 12-year career at BP managing global technology projects and strategies.

Claudette Jones was CIO at Edinburgh City Council from 2012 until September 2016 when she became CIO of the University of the West of Scotland. With an MBA and a background in the public and private sectors as well as the NHS, Jones featured in the featured in the 2015 CIO 100. In October 2018, she was appointed Interim Chief Operations Officer at National Records of Scotland.

Elena Kvochko was appointed COO for Cybersecurity Technologies at Bank of America in July 2018. She previously served as CIO of the Group Security Function at Barclays and spoke to CIO UK about merging physical and cyber security at the bank in 2016.

Astrid Fontaine is a former CIO at Mercedes-Benz in North America, and was board member responsible for human resources, digitalization and IT at the Britain-based luxury manufacturer Bentley at the start of 2018 in a broad management reshuffle by owners Volkswagen.

She is also a former Vice President of Innovation, Culture and Human Resources at Porsche in North America.

Natascha Polderman is group CIO of risk consultancy Control Risks, and a member of the 2018 CIO 100.

Christine Ashton was Thomson Reuters SVP Technology from July 2013 until the end of 2016. Pictured here at the 2015 CIO 100 celebration, Ashton was also a speaker at the 2016 CIO Summit, Ashton was previously an IT director and VP at BP, and Transport for London’s Group Strategy and Technology Director.

Claire Hamon was appointed Aviva Group CIO in September 2018. Prior to that, she was Norton Rose Fulbright’s CIO for the EMEA region and IT director at high-end Knightsbridge-based retailer Harrod. She also featured in the 2013 CIO 100.

Former CIO of J Sainsbury and the Girl Scouts of the USA, Warner Music Group and Dell alumnus Maggie Miller was appointed CIO of the State of New York in December 2014.

Charlotte Baldwin was appointed Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in January 2018.

Her CV also includes stints as SVP and Chief Technology Officer at Pearson and Head of MIS – Financial & Risk, and Global Growth and Operations at Thomson Reuters Global.

Baldwin was nominated for the Leader Award at the 2016 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards.

Charlotte Light is Channel 4 Controller of Systems Delivery, starting the new role which replaced the CIO post in November 2015 having previously been an IT director at Specsavers.

Aline Hayes is Director of Technology for EMEA at Experian. She was previously Head of Systems at Lloyds Banking Group. where she led the development of Big Data and AI at the bank. Her CV also includes spells as Interim Director of ICT at Sheffield City Council and Director of Information Systems & Technology at Sheffield Hallam University.

Lucy Burrow has been Director of Infrastructure & Operations at Rolls-Royce since August 2019, having joined the company in 2017 as Head of Global Service Operations. She was previously  Director of Global IT Service Delivery at the University of Nottingham and has also worked at King’s College London, Goldman Sachs and tobacco giant Philip Morris.

Co-operative Group Retail CIO Cheryl Marshall was previously the organisation’s Transformation and Service Delivery Director, becoming the CIO in February 2015. Marshall also has experience at the group as Head of Financial Services as was Director of Somerfield Integration following the 2008 takeover.

Socitm Vice President Nicola Graham has been Head of ICT at Aberdeenshire Council since December 2012, and spoke to this title at the end of 2016 about transforming digital learning across the organisation.

Head of Information Systems at the British Museum Lydia Weller started her latest role in February 2014, having previously worked at Greenwich and Kent universities, and as a Director of IT.

Kath Roach is Interim Group CIO at ERM, a provider of environmental, health, safety, risk and social consulting services. Her previous roles includes Group IT Director at London-based retailer Selfridges, IT Director at brewer Heineken and CIO & Supply Chain Director at outdoor leisure retailer Blacks.

Former Post Office CIO Lesley Sewell spoke to CIO UK in 2014 about its modernisation and separation from the Royal Mail, and she is now COO of financial services company Belmont Green.

Former CIO transformation director Louise McCarthy held executive change roles at Specsavers, Aviva and HMRC and penned an article for CIO UK in January 2016 about the importance of commercialising the IT department.

While this has been a list of UK CIOs, Intel technology executive Kim Stevenson oversees the chip maker’s worldwide estate of 6,000 IT professionals and took some time to speak to CIO UK at the end of 2014 about the Internet of Things, and the importance of appointing technology expertise and diverse skill sets at board level.

OK, Gerri Martin-Flickinger isn’t strictly UK either but as Starbucks CTO she is guiding the organisation’s global technology strategy, and as Adobe’s SVP and CIO she led the global information technology team, providing direction and management of their infrastructure worldwide (and the UK is part of the world). And because she follows me on Twitter – we include Gerri in our list.

Active on social media, Sabine Everaet is the Europe Group CIO for the Coca Cola Company and a great source of information for important technology and business articles CIOs should be paying attention to.

Slightly ‘off-piste’ and away from the traditional CIO UK beat, long-time Google exec Megan Smith was appointed by US President Barack Obama as the government’s CTO in September 2014 and really needed to be included in the list.

The current US federal government CIO is Suzette Kent, appointed by Donald Trump in January 2018.

Of course, there a number of other CIOs we know of and have covered including Home Office Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer Joanna Davinson, Deloitte CIO Sheila Doyle, Lloyds Bank Retail CIO Sam Fisher, Network Rail’s Susan Cooklin, DMG CTO Heather Utecht, WaterAid Director of Finance and IT Paula Laird, Scottish Government CIO Anne Moises, the BBC’s Tiffany Hall, University of West England CIO Tracey Willis, LGC’s Dr Frances Crummay, Iglo Foods COO Tania Howarth, London Borough of Tower Hamelts Head of ICT Nadira Hussain, Angela Morrison at Direct Line and KPMG UK’s Edel McGrath, as well as public sector CDOs Jacqueline Steed (Student Loans Company) and Lucie Glenday (Surrey County Council).

And keep going…