About me
Design leadership for complex platforms.
My focus is on turning fragmented tools and experiences into systems that scale, support teams, and deliver measurable business impact.
What I bringI shape how teams & organisations operate, not just what they produce.
I’m most effective in fragmented platform ecosystems, organisations scaling across teams, brands, or markets, and environments where quality has drifted. I work best with teams navigating change, restructuring, or unclear ownership.
Platforms & systems
I design and lead systems that scale across teams, brands, and markets, reducing fragmentation and improving consistency.
Leadership & organisational alignment
I bring direction to complex environments, aligning Product, Design, and Engineering around clear priorities and outcomes.
Quality & outcomes
I treat quality as a business concern, raising standards across tooling and front-end experience to improve engagement, trust, and revenue.
How I thinkMy approach is shaped by working in complex, scaled environments where clarity and consistency matter.
At scale, most problems aren’t creative. They’re structural.
Fragmentation, unclear ownership, and inconsistent standards create more issues than a lack of ideas.
My focus is simplifying systems and creating the conditions for teams to deliver consistently.
The goal is not more output. It’s better systems that produce better outcomes.
Done well, this turns customers into advocates, products into habits, employees into owners, and brands into something people return to. This is how design moves from output to measurable business impact.
How I operateI’m deliberate about how and where I operate, especially in complex environments where drift and ambiguity are common.
Intervention vs. Delegation
I’m deliberate about where I intervene and where I delegate. I step in when direction drifts, value slows, or complexity compounds.
Speed to market
I sequence work so teams can ship early without compromising quality. When something isn’t working, I simplify or reset rather than push through.
Managing expectations and opinion
I remove ambiguity by grounding decisions in user needs, data, and technical reality. Where alignment breaks down, I make trade-offs visible and move forward.
Making standards stick
Standards only work if they hold under pressure. I make them practical, measurable, and difficult to ignore.
I’ve led teams through sustained periods of change while maintaining delivery, quality, and morale.
Building teams and leadersI build teams that deliver consistently under pressure, and develop people into confident, capable leaders.
I’ve led globally distributed teams through company growth, restructuring, and sustained change, maintaining delivery and quality in complex environments. I invest in people and have developed several design leads into senior design leadership roles.
I set clear expectations, create accountability, and build environments where teams can deliver at their best.
“I reported into Tom on a large-scale platform design project at Condé Nast, where he stood out as a pragmatic, highly organised, and thoughtful design leader. He managed complex, global work with ease, leading multiple teams while maintaining clarity, quality, and momentum.
Tom’s breadth of expertise, from systems and workflows to nuanced product challenges, is matched by his calm, steady leadership. He inspires confidence, develops the people around him, and consistently delivers at scale.”
“Tom is a brilliant manager, a natural leader and an all-round great bloke. His management style is effortless, creating a relaxed yet hard-working atmosphere, making you feel part of the team right from the get-go.
His enthusiasm & knowledge of design best practice are both infinite and contagious, making you naturally want to strive to do great work. I would highly recommend Tom and can honestly say he’s one of the best people I have worked with within the design industry. ”
Industry contributionI contribute to the wider design community through mentoring, advisory roles, and guest speaking.
University of Birmingham
Mentor & Judge, The Birmingham Project
University of the Arts London
Industry Advisory Board member
Design for Good
Mentor
Brainstation
Industry speaker
Condé Nast Accessibility Champions Group
Founder and Chair
Outside of workThe things that keep me balanced and grounded.
Outside of work, I’m married with two children and spend time on strength and conditioning training.
It’s a consistent reset. It keeps me focused, disciplined, and comfortable working towards long-term goals, which mirrors how I approach my work.