Available to hire
I’m Mick McCowen, an IT Project and Programme Manager with 20 years’ experience delivering complex technology change across M&As, Business Intelligence, Cyber Security and Cloud transformation. I’m known for turning around failing programmes, delivering large-scale transformations, and keeping progress moving to deliver measurable business benefits.
I combine a hands-on technical background with strong commercial awareness, bridging IT and stakeholders to enable effective delivery in demanding environments. I lead with calm, clear structure and direction, and I’m dedicated to turning teams into one cohesive unit that consistently delivers high-value outcomes.
Skills
Language
English
Fluent
Work Experience
IT Project & Programme Manager – consultant at Cuckoo Fibre (Owned by Fern Trading, part of Octopus Energy)
April 1, 2023 - November 1, 2025Led the migration of 3 brands’ legacy systems (incl. Salesforce) into Cuckoo’s BSS, driving data cleansing and standardisation to enable a seamless launch. Delivered to an unattainable deadline with minimal brand impact, including data lake creation in Azure and migration across tenants, while achieving regulatory-readiness and strong data governance. Approved for £0.5m revenue loss on 2 brands; achieved £0m. Delivered seamless data integration, regulatory One Touch Switch readiness for legacy brands, and minimal customer disruption (Trust Pilot shows near-zero negative impact).
Merger and Acquisitions IT consultant at Kantar XTEL
November 1, 2022 - March 1, 2023Directed IT tasks to carve out XTEL from Kantar, preparing XTEL as an independent entity and integrating an acquired company’s IT. Led discovery, POC, and migration planning for data and environment transfers to a new Azure tenant, replicated ADO onto the XTEL tenant, and managed data cleansing. Executed Workday to Bamboo HR migration, and contributed to Cyber Security, Intune, and TSA adoption. Implemented IT governance, stakeholder, risk and budget management.
IT Programme Manager – employee at Kidsloop
August 1, 2021 - August 1, 2022Delivered IAM product integration to enable launch readiness for global client rollouts, aligning Product and Engineering. Led a program to modularise products via APIs, accessed through an API Gateway, with a Web Portal for subscriptions and product setup. Established governance and stakeholder management practices which were adopted as the approved process, and helped set up the India branch as the Global Development Centre.
Transformation Programme Manager – consultant at Virgin Media Business
August 1, 2020 - August 1, 2021Worked with the Head of Transformation to guide the senior leadership through the UK’s largest telco merger (Virgin Media and O2). Led the delivery plan for a new digital IT solution suite (CRM, CPQ, Billing, EPC, Reporting, etc.), structured for release trains under capability-based squads, and oversaw tool selection (RFQs) and supplier engagement (NTT Data).
Project Manager – contractor at Visa
March 1, 2019 - August 1, 2020Led a high-profile merger and acquisition programme; onboarded two companies with complex contractual deadlines. Migrated O365 infrastructure, networks, VPNs, hardware, and software (approximately 200 apps) into Visa-owned operations; migrated HR (Workday), Financials (Oracle), PM systems (Daptiv to Clarity), ServiceNow, and Office 365, including security and pen-testing requirements.
Project & Programme Manager – contractor at O2
January 1, 2017 - December 1, 2018Delivered a cyber security programme to address government audit findings to retain CAS(T) accreditation (£135m/year). On-boarded logs from IT & Network systems into ArcSight and led a big data solution in a Hadoop data lake, industrialising O2’s cyber security service.
Project Manager – contractor at Visa Europe
February 1, 2011 - August 1, 2016Managed a 3-year, £15m programme that transformed the payment authorisation system. After a long duration, the programme was reallocated to a high-profile agile project to create a new Hyperion Financial reporting system as part of a larger AWS-based big data solution enabling Visa Europe’s sale to Visa Inc.
Business Intelligence Project Manager - contractor at Hewlett Packard (HP) – for O2
September 1, 2008 - November 1, 2010Responsible for delivering all O2 BI BAU big data projects, managing 10–30 projects simultaneously, ranging from £10k to £1m. Produced quotes, managed SOWs, and led design, development, and implementation of BI initiatives, while coordinating with stakeholders and maintaining profitability.
Project Manager at BNC Mortgage – Lehman Brothers subsidiary
April 1, 2007 - October 1, 2007Set up a new BI department and defined BI strategy (Business Objects over Oracle Data Warehouse) for BNC and another acquired company. The role concluded with Lehman Brothers’ demise.
Project Manager at Option One Mortgage Corporation
August 1, 2006 - March 1, 2007Built a Credit Score system to assess sub-prime credit-worthiness. Delivered 1 month early with a strong quality outcome; internal PMs had previously declined the project due to aggressive deadlines.
Business Intelligence Project Manager & Lead Developer at Distribution and Auto Service - Nissan Motor Co.
February 1, 2003 - May 1, 2006Built an ETL, Data Warehouse and BI solution to provide Logistics and Financial data. Recognised by CEO for progress and benefits delivered by the BI programme; presented at Hyperion user conference.
Education
BSc Honours in Mathematical Studies at University of Sheffield
January 11, 2030 - January 23, 2026Qualifications
Prince 2
January 11, 2030 - January 23, 2026Oracle PL/SQL
January 11, 2030 - January 23, 2026Industry Experience
Telecommunications, Software & Internet, Professional Services, Financial Services, Media & Entertainment
Skills
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