Technology M&A Senior Integration Lead

Company Description

At Informa, no two days and no two people are the same, and you'll find the freedom, opportunity and support of a fantastic community to make a real impact.

We’re an international business that connects specialists with knowledge, helping them to learn more, know more and do more through live and on demand events, digital and data-driven services and academic research.

We are home to over 10,000 colleagues across 30 countries and are a member of the UK’s FTSE 100 group of leading public companies.

In Global Support, we provide expert guidance and hands-on support to the Informa Group and Informa’s many business teams. Across tech, finance, legal, corporate development, HR, communications, operations and many other areas, we work collaboratively and flexibly to help our brands serve their customers and help the company succeed.

Job Description

Reporting to the Technology M&A Director, the Technology M&A Senior Integration Lead will act as the primary Technology contact at a specific deal level for M&A projects within TS&S. You will be responsible for coordinating technology due diligence estimates, assumptions and planning at a deal level to support transaction sign and close, ensuring the resulting plan (S&DIP) has been produced following effective engagement and input from all parties and has been approved as required. 

In addition to driving the technology DD activities, you will also have accountability for creating and managing the plan for mobilisation for specified deals, to complete target solution, integration estimates and delivery plans across the various technology domains. Where capacity allows, you will typically take ownership of the more complex deals that require more work to plan, shape and deliver than some of the smaller acquisitions. For these deals, they will also be responsible for oversight of the integration delivery which will be managed by the technology delivery teams and for ensuring all M&A-related costs (including recurring ‘Run’ costs and one-off ‘integration’ costs) are well understood, approved and tracked appropriately. They will be supported by a PMO to proactively manage risk/issue mitigation and be the point of contact for the Business PM for all technology delivery.

This role works with and through technology teams across the business. It will not specifically manage the delivery of integration efforts (which will sit with the business and the respective technology delivery teams) but will ensure they are planned, delivered and adopted effectively using repeatable, transparent and efficient processes, playbooks and resourcing models. It therefore requires the ability to lead, communicate and influence through networks, having excellent stakeholder management skills and operating comfortably at the centre of complex matrices.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

M&A technology playbooks and best practices. Accountable for:

• Running regular retros to drive a continuous learning and improvement culture and for embedding these into common practice
• Driving adoption of best practice change frameworks, processes and artefacts etc (defined by the Tech Change Team) throughout the M&A Technology Portfolio

Due Diligence

• Coordination of the technical evaluation of systems in potential acquisitions, due diligence and risk assessment. Coordinates Technology delivery teams to articulate the risk profile of the deal based on allocated transaction time and data quality obtained.
• Understanding of target technology operating models and where trade-offs exist between near term / tactical and long-term strategic integrations. Ensure that planning for completing the integration takes into account other technology activities to ensure no surprises in timelines, capacity or dependencies post deal close.

Mobilisation:

• Accountable for the TS&S mobilisation plan for an acquisition which will deliver the high-level architecture, detailed integration plan and detailed estimates. Works closely with the Enterprise Architects, Technology Business partners, Business Integration lead and Technology Platform Owners and SMEs to ensure that a holistic target state architecture is defined, along with interim and transition states if applicable which meet the business requirements and are aligned with other functions, (particularly GBS / E-Tech). Ensure that all options are fully costed, and that any scope and planning assumptions are transparently communicated to senior leadership to facilitate discussions around options / trade-offs / impacts.
• Specifically, work with the Architects and Technology delivery teams to coordinate the delivery of the following artefacts:
  1. As is architecture, As is application catalogue, As is resource model (covering internal teams and third-party suppliers), As is technology budget (covering resources, software, hosting etc), planned technology changes/investments, known technology risks
  2. Landing Architecture to move the acquired business onto the Informa stack (including any options analysis required where target architecture is not yet built and interim solutions need to be identified)
  3. Integration strategy, scope, objectives, and roadmap (including timeline and budget), based on the deal objectives, synergy targets and Informa guardrails/redlines
• Work with Finance business partners to ensure that cost budgets (recurring/BAU and one-off integration costs) and synergies are effectively understood and agreed by relevant technology leaders, and then tracked throughout the lifetime of the programme to ensure an accurate and complete picture of all integration costs
• Work with the business and Corp Dev M&A leads to work within the agreed appropriate governance structure, reporting and escalating as appropriate to ensure high quality decision-making around technology integration for each deal 
• Highlight opportunities and risks associated with key technology decisions and support the Technology M&A Director in coordinating discussions with the Business, Corp Dev and group functions to ensure alignment on options and impacts.
• Feed into the TS&S M&A Implementation Board (chaired by the Technology M&A Director) which oversees all TS&S M&A related activity across all IT domains, ensuring alignment on functional plans with GBS, and acting as an escalation point for any mobilisation or integration implementation risks and issues

Integration Implementation Oversight:

• Supported by the Technology M&A PMO, oversee Technology implementation across the Technology delivery towers for specific integrations based on plans, scope and costs agreed at the end of Mobilisation. Actively engage with Business Integration Leads to provide a holistic and integrated view of Technology delivery with aligned plans which meet the business requirements and timelines.
• Supported by the Technology M&A PMO, work with the Technology delivery towers to identify and manage dependencies, resource challenges, escalations around scope, timelines, costs and works closely with the Technology M&A Director to escalate these for intervention where required.
• Supported by the Technology M&A PMO, ensure single source of truth from a reporting perspective of overall delivery status including delivery confidence, timelines, scope and costs. Coordinate Technology delivery towers to ensure that implementation happens on time / on budget according to the design, costs and timelines that were agreed at completion of Mobilisation. Act as a focal point for risk and issue escalation

Monitoring:

• Working with the TCT function, use KPIs, milestones and deliverables to track and measure the progress and performance of technology integration activities, ensuring the integration delivers expected outcomes
• Post-integration, evaluate the technology integration outcomes and lessons learned and provide the feedback and recommendations for continuous improvement
• Maintain visibility and tracking of integration activities for a three-year period post-deal

Communication:

• Communicate the integration vision, goals, and expectations to internal and external technology stakeholders to enable effective planning and decision-making
• Provide regular updates and feedback on the integration status and achievements they are responsible for
• Facilitate the technology integration collaboration and communication across IT teams and the business units, fostering IT alignment and an integration culture

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in technology planning and delivery
• Experience of working in M&A completing due diligence assessments and supporting deal transactions
• Expert in planning and managing programmes of complex strategic change across a federated organisation, including complex portfolio governance
• Experience supporting senior leaders to build strong relationships and ways of working, and to take a collaborative approach to complex problem-solving.
• Proven ability to drive a broad group of stakeholders with disparate views towards a common goal
• Strong business acumen and presence at the leadership level as well as with highly technical staff
• Superior analytical and problem solving skills
• Highly numerate with strong experience of financial planning and cost management
• Ability to communicate effectively, with strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence
• Strong negotiation skills: negotiates internally and externally at high levels or with persons of influence
• Strong leadership skills with a team-oriented and collaborative approach to work
• Ability to influence corporate opinion and key stakeholders and to make timely decisions
• Ability to understand the big picture, with an eye for detail
• Organizational knowledge, motivational skills and ability to quickly prioritize
• Global or multi-national business experience preferred

Additional Information

We work hard to make sure Life at Informa is rewarding, supportive and enjoyable for everyone. Here’s some of what you can expect when you join us. But don’t just take our word for it – see what our colleagues have to say at LifeAt.Informa.com

Our benefits include:

• Freedom & flexibility: colleagues rate us highly for the flexibility and trust they receive and most of us balance time in the office with time working remotely
• Great community: a welcoming culture with in-person and online social events, our fantastic Walk the World charity day and active diversity and inclusion networks
• Broader impact: take up to four days per year to volunteer, with charity match funding available too
• Career opportunity: the opportunity to develop your career with bespoke training and learning, mentoring platforms and on-demand access to thousands of courses on LinkedIn Learning. When it’s time for the next step, we encourage and support internal job moves
• Time out: 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after two years, plus a birthday leave day and the chance to work from (almost!) anywhere for up to four weeks a year
• A flexible range of personal benefits to choose from, plus company funded private medical cover
• A ShareMatch scheme that allows you to become an Informa shareholder with free matching shares
• Strong wellbeing support through EAP assistance, mental health first aiders, a healthy living subsidy, access to health apps and more
• Recognition for great work, with global awards and kudos programmes
• As an international company, the chance to collaborate with teams around the world

We’re not solely focused on a checklist of skills. We champion energy and ambition and look for colleagues who will roll their sleeves up, join in and help make things happen. If it sounds like a match and you have most – although not all – of the skills and experience listed, we welcome your application.

At Informa, you'll find inclusive experiences and environments where all perspectives and backgrounds are welcomed. As part of this approach and our diversity and inclusion commitments, we are also formally an Equal Opportunities Employer. This means we base decisions on relevant qualifications and merit and do not discriminate on the basis of key characteristics and statuses, including all of those protected by law. Ask us or see our website for full information.

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