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Senior Transformation Advisory

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Operational experience. Independent advice.

I've spent 30 years inside IT services organisations, leading technology, security and transformation programmes from the inside out. Now working independently, I bring that operational experience to boards and leadership teams who need someone who has actually done it.

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Engagement overview
30+
Years of senior leadership experience
£55m
Managed services business grown under senior leadership
24+
Countries covered in global security programmes
C
Board & C-suite advisory level
Digital Strategy Cyber & Risk IT Operating Model ITIL / ITSM Data & AI Governance
What I Do

Advisory services built for complex organisations

Six areas where I work most often. Some clients need one. Most need several. The work is always shaped around what you actually need, not a pre-packaged offer.

IT Operating Model
Transformation Roadmap & Delivery
Supplier & Vendor Management

Digital, Data & Technology Strategy

Helping organisations align digital, data, technology and AI priorities to business outcomes, from strategy and use cases through to practical delivery plans.

IT Operating Model Design

Fixing IT functions that have drifted. Building operating models that are cleaner, more accountable, and set up to work with the business rather than alongside it.

Cyber Security, Data Protection & Risk

Helping organisations understand and manage cyber, data protection and supplier risk, so the board has a clear view of exposure and the organisation has the controls, policies and governance to back it up.

Organisational Design & Change

Supporting organisations through the harder side of change: restructures, capability gaps, shifting cultures, and the move away from treating everything as a project.

Transformation Roadmap & Delivery

Bringing proper structure to complex programmes: clear sequencing, honest business cases, governance that works in practice, and someone senior enough to flag problems early.

Architecture, Platforms & Modernisation

Helping organisations simplify complex technology estates, make better platform choices, and modernise legacy environments in a way that supports delivery, security and future change.

Proof behind the work

The work is grounded in senior leadership experience across growth, turnaround, global risk and executive accountability.

£55m
senior leadership role in growing a managed services business to £55m
2x
professional services profitability doubled through operational change
24+
countries covered through global cyber security, data protection and governance programmes
CIO/CISO
combined technology and security leadership at executive level
About Richard

Senior experience. Practical delivery.

Richard Starr

Richard Starr

Director, Vivid Starr

I spent 30 years working inside IT services organisations before becoming independent in 2024. I've held combined CIO and CISO accountability at a global IT services company, alongside senior roles including Information Security Director, Group Data Protection Officer, Technical Services Director and Technical Director.

I'm not coming at this as a career consultant only. My advice is grounded in operational leadership, commercial accountability and delivery experience inside technology services organisations. I've held operational oversight across technology, security and managed services environments, carried P&L responsibility, led global programmes, built and restructured teams, and delivered change under real commercial pressure. That's what clients tend to find most useful. No vendor relationships, no preferred partners. The work is shaped entirely around what you need.

Based in Fleet, Hampshire. Available for interim, advisory, programme leadership and expert witness engagements.
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How I Work

The work starts with listening, not presenting

Every organisation arrives with its own history, pressures and constraints. I shape the work around that reality, rather than forcing a fixed consulting method onto the problem. I work at senior level and get into the detail. Strategy does not stay in a slide deck. It becomes decisions people can act on, and delivery that actually happens.

Interim CTO / CIO / CISO Programme director Strategic review & assurance Board advisory
How engagements are structured
Expertise

30 years of doing this, not just advising on it

The experience spans strategy and delivery, technical and organisational. I can hold a board conversation and sit in a delivery team session the same day, and be credible in both rooms. A full profile is available on request.

Cyber Security Data Protection & GDPR Digital & Data Strategy AI Use Cases & Responsible Adoption IT Operating Model Organisational Design Programme Delivery Enterprise Architecture Risk & Governance Supplier Management CISM · CIPP/E TOGAF · COBIT · ITIL

Request a full profile, including career history, credentials and technical scope.

Case Studies

Work that made a difference

Professional & Membership Body

Interim CTO: Technology & Data Strategy

Advised on technology and data strategy, IT operating model transformation and leadership transition, aligning technology change to wider digital priorities and strengthening the foundations for AI adoption.

Strategy agreed at board level; operating model redesigned
Global IT Services

Global Cyber Security & Privacy Programmes

Held global accountability for cyber security and data protection across 24 countries, including controls, policy and incident response.

ISO 27001 achieved; GDPR programme delivered globally
IT Services

Professional Services Turnaround

Took on a £12m P&L professional services business and doubled its profitability within 12 months through operational improvements, restructure and sharper delivery discipline.

Profitability doubled in under 12 months

Further examples available on request.  Get in touch

Get in Touch

Get in touch directly

If something here resonates, or you just want to think something through, reach out. It starts with an informal conversation. No pitch, no proposal. Just two people talking.

Email
getintouch@vividstarr.com
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LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/rstarr
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WhatsApp
+44 7450 872941
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Phone
+44 7450 872941
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