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Fiona Hutchison

@fionahutchison

Fractional COO at a high-growth national membership organisation, leading an AI-enabled service transition and operating model.

United Kingdom

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What I'm looking for

I’m open to permanent, interim or fractional opportunities where I can own the operating side of the business and help founders and CEOs focus on growth.

As Fractional Chief Operating Officer for a high-growth national membership organisation, I own Customer Success, People, Events, Partnerships, Payroll and operational delivery. I’m leading a technology transition and AI-enabled service, while putting governance, KPIs and an operating cadence in place.

At UNiDAYS, I re-engineered support around customers: transaction load fell by 60%, and response times went from 24+ hours to under 30 minutes. We absorbed 30% volume growth while reducing cost and headcount by 20%, and introduced local-language support across 114 countries.

In FinTech, I built UK operations from zero and was executive sponsor for PCI DSS Level 1 certification, achieved first time. Across my career, I’ve held full P&L accountability, delivered operational change in regulated businesses, and built AI agents for founders and executives.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Fractional Chief Operating Officer

Current

National Membership Organisation

Jan 2023 - Present (3 years 9 months)

Executive owner of Customer Success, People, Events, Partnerships, Payroll and operational delivery; strategic partner to the CEO and leadership team. Leading technology transition and AI-enabled service; installed governance, KPIs and operating cadence.

Operations Leadership Customer Success People Management AI Governance KPIs Strategic Planning

Operations & Growth Advisor

Start-ups and Scale-ups

Jan 2021 - Dec 2023 (2 years 11 months)

Advised on technology selection, platform build, scoring model, pricing, and support model for a HealthTech start-up. Provided operating-model design, GTM, proposition and technology strategy for founders; built AI agents for founders and executives.

Operations Growth Strategy Technology Selection AI Go To Market Operating Model Design

Interim Customer Experience Director

National Membership Organisation

Jan 2021 - Dec 2021 (11 months)

Appointed by the CEO and COO to rebuild CX under exceptional demand: redesigned service model and SLAs, implemented CRM and AI-enabled support, outsourced first line, upskilled the team and reduced departmental cost while supporting an international launch.

Customer Experience CRM AI Service Design Outsourcing Team Leadership

Director of Operations

FinTech

Jan 2019 - Dec 2020 (1 year 11 months)

Built UK operations from zero: CX, facilities, HR and payroll, budgets, governance and compliance. Executive sponsor for company-wide PCI DSS Level 1: built the readiness case, aligned SLT across UK and Australia, led every assessment interview; certified first time.

Operations PCI DSS Compliance CX Human Resources Payroll Budgeting Governance

Global Head of Customer Experience

UNiDAYS

Jan 2017 - Dec 2018 (1 year 11 months)

Won board approval to re-engineer support customer-first: transaction load down 60%, touchpoints 2.7 to 1.2, response 24h+ to under 30 minutes; absorbed 30% volume growth on 20% less cost. Deployed AI chatbots, automation and CRM; local-language support across 114 countries; built incident, fraud and partner-reporting functions; implemented GDPR.

Customer Experience AI Chatbot Automation CRM GDPR Incident Management Fraud Management Partner Reporting

Head of Work-at-Home, EMEA

SYKES

Jan 2015 - Dec 2016 (1 year 11 months)

Designed SYKES' first EMEA remote operating model end to end (employment frameworks, recruitment, training, performance, technology); piloted and scaled into BAU.

Remote Operations Operating Model Design Recruitment Training Performance Management Technology

Head of Service / Interim Site Lead, South Africa

Webhelp

Jan 2014 - Dec 2015 (1 year 11 months)

Relocated to Johannesburg with full P&L, people, facilities and client accountability; scaled the site from c.200 to 750 and launched three new lines of business during peak.

P&L management People Management Facilities Management Client Management Scaling Operations

Head of Site

Teleperformance

Jan 2013 - Dec 2013 (11 months)

End-to-end ownership of a 1,500-person operation for a major UK retailer through peak: client, operations, P&L, HR, recruitment and scheduling.

Operations Management P&L Human Resources Recruitment Scheduling Client Management

Client Delivery Director, Inside Sales & Customer Success

ServiceSource

Jan 2012 - Dec 2013 (1 year 11 months)

Moved EMEA SaaS and technology sales from transactional to relationship-led selling during a divestment; delivered £124m quota; built Customer Success structure and lifted renewals.

Sales Customer Success Relationship Management SaaS Technology Renewals

Senior Manager, Account Operations

SYKES

Jan 2008 - Dec 2012 (4 years 11 months)

Led an efficiency programme for a global bank: migrated multilingual operations from Barcelona to Edinburgh, delivering c.£2m first-year savings, and secured the account's first PCI DSS Level 1 compliance. P&L and client ownership from RFP through MSA/SOW to deployment; designed and built CRM for three global clients.