Vice President, Transformation

JOB DETAILS
Job Title: Vice President, Transformation
Reports To: CEO
Working Hours: 9:30am – 5:30pm
Place of Work: UK HQ, Mill Court, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK12 5EU
Other: Full Time - (Hybrid) 3 days on site / 2 WFH

ABOUT RWS GLOBAL
RWS Global is the world leader in groundbreaking live moments across entertainment and sports, creating customized guest experiences spanning theatrical productions, live events, immersive destinations, multimedia, consumer products and more.

RWS Global is headquartered in New York, London, Cincinnati, Shanghai, Orlando, Sydney and Riyadh with dedicated RWS Studios in NYC and the UK to serve its vast talent pipeline and client base. With a focus on entertainment and sports experiences, RWS Global serves major brands and corporations, theatres, cruise lines, sports properties, live venues, parks, resorts and more. Offering end-to-end services from ideation to operations, RWS Global’s team of world-class designers, creators, producers and visionary talent provide unrivalled scale, producing over one million live moments every day and employing over 8,000 individuals and performers worldwide.

The RWS Global roster of clients includes Apple, Azamara, The Coca-Cola Company, Commonwealth Games, Crayola, Europa-Park Resort, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, The FRIENDS™ Experience by Original X Productions, Hard Rock Resorts, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Holland America Line, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, International Cricket Council, Invictus Games, Lionsgate, MSC Cruises, Roompot, Rugby World Cup, Six Flags, Space Centre Houston, TUI Group, Vera Wang, Warner Bros., Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway, Chicago the Musical, Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes and more. For more information, visit rwsglobal.com.

ABOUT THE ROLE 
The Vice President, Transformation is responsible for leading enterprise transformation and operational excellence across RWS Global, ensuring that our operating model, processes, systems, and governance support the organisation's growth and delivery objectives as we scale.

Reporting directly to the Interim CEO, this role provides executive leadership across Continuous Improvement and Information Technology. Working closely with the Executive and Senior Leadership teams, the VP, Transformation will identify where the business requires stronger foundations, then systemize, standardize, and automate processes across business units, regions, and functions.

The right leader will bring together strategic thinking and hands-on execution, taking direct ownership of key initiatives while building a sustainable operating model. They will drive organisational performance and ensure the business has the processes, technology, and structure required to scale effectively.

This role is suited to a seasoned, collaborative leader who has scaled operations before and wants to shape how a global business grows. They will bring executive presence and a hands-on approach, and thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and globally connected environment.

RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Lead the mapping and redesign of core end-to-end processes in partnership with teams across the global business, prioritizing improvements with the greatest operational and financial impact.
• Define and embed a consistent enterprise operating model, with clear ownership, decision rights, controls and accountability across functions, business units & regions.
• Define the requirements and transformation priorities across the business partnering with IT to translate them into an integrated technology roadmap where appropriate.
• Develop a single source of truth for global operational data, supported by executive reporting that informs leadership decision-making.
• Establish a consistent operating cadence with leaders, including shared KPIs, quarterly planning, and clear accountability across functions and regions.
• Identify opportunities to simplify processes, remove duplication and reduce manual work, applying automation and technology where appropriate, with measurable improvements in efficiency, cycle time and data accuracy.
• Build a company-wide Continuous Improvement discipline that enables teams to identify root causes, improve performance and sustain better mays of working.

What You'll Own

• Own the global transformation roadmap in partnership with the executive team, setting priorities, sequencing the work, and focusing effort where it has the greatest business impact.
• Design, document, and standardize core processes globally. Where countries or teams solve the same problem differently, bring them together around a shared approach.
• Ensure technology investments are aligned to clearly defined operational needs. Partner with IT on platform selection, implementation, integration and automation.
• Provide executive leadership and business direction to the in-house IT function, with the Head of IT as a direct report. The Head of IT will own architecture, infrastructure, security, support and technical delivery, ensuring these remain aligned with business priorities.
• Establish enterprise-wide standards for operational data, reporting & accountability, working with functional leaders to improve data integrity and turn information into actionable insight.
• Build practical controls that stand up to investor and audit scrutiny, in partnership with Finance and Legal.
• Strengthen risk management, business continuity, and operational resilience so the business can scale with confidence.
• Define and strengthen governance, decision-making and accountability across major cross-functional processes.
• Build the organisational change and adoption disciplines required to ensure new processes and ways of working are embedded and sustained.

How you'll work

• You'll take a hands-on approach, facilitating process workshops, diagnosing root causes, challenging existing ways of working and leading complex cross-functional change.
• You'll lead and develop an existing team across IT and Continuous Improvement, with room to grow as the function develops.
• You'll report to the Interim CEO and collaborate daily with the executive team.
• You'll work across multiple countries and several time zones.
• Much of your impact will come through influence, as most of the change you drive will happen in other leaders' teams. Success means change that teams adopt and own, not just launch.

What You Bring

• A track record of leading enterprise transformation, including operating model, organizational, and governance design, with clear evidence of impact.
• 10+ years in operations, transformation, consulting, or business systems, including senior roles.
• The ability to translate business challenges into clear requirements and work effectively with stakeholders and specialists to deliver solutions.
• Experience leading or sponsoring major platform, systems, or integration change across multiple markets.
• Deep experience in process improvement, operating model design and organisational change, using practical methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma or equivalent approaches.
• Strong analytical, financial, and commercial judgement, with fluency in data and reporting.
• Experience leading change across multiple countries or business units.
• A collaborative style that builds trust with executives and frontline teams alike, and comfort with operational detail.
• A history of building and leading high-performing teams.
• Experience driving adoption of AI and other new technologies.
• A background in live events, entertainment, or project-based work is a strong plus.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• 10+ years of experience in Business Transformation, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Leadership roles.
• Proven experience leading global operational functions within a complex organization.
• Strong understanding of process improvement methodologies, organizational design, and operational governance.
• Experience leading large-scale transformation and change initiatives.
• Strong systems and technology background, including enterprise platforms, reporting tools, and workflow solutions.
• Demonstrated success building and leading high-performing teams.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Strong financial and commercial awareness.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations Management, or related field.
• Experience in entertainment, live experiences, events, or similarly complex global operating environments is a plus.

COMPANY BENEFITS 

• Competitive Salary
• Company Pension
• 25 days paid holiday excluding Bank Holidays
• Paid parental leave
• Computer (Mac/Windows)
• Company Phone Allowance
• Flexible working (office/remote)
• Employee Assistance and Wellbeing Program
• Childcare Support Policy
• Employer Sponsored Vision Program

DIVERSE IS WHO WE ARE
Way more than a box to check, diversity is core to RWS Global culture. We value it, promote it, protect it and hire it. All differences are welcome here. We know for a fact that each employee’s individual background, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, and capabilities are a contribution to our culture, as well as our reputation and achievements. So, bring all of who you are, no questions asked.

Please Note: While this is intended to be an accurate description of the job, this is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions associated with the position, and may require that other or different tasks be performed as necessary and assigned.