Phillip Jones - Director of Tech Strategy and Delivery, Trainline
What's your proudest work-related achievement of the last 12 months?
The team, process and infrastructure that (even given our huge scale) enable us release thousands of micro-optimisations every month. This constant refinement of our customer experience enables us to sell more than 204 tickets per minute and serve over 80 million customer visits per month.
What's the number one skill today's IT leaders need?
Without question, emotional intelligence. As leaders we need to be self aware, mature and maintain high levels of self control. Reading people and cues enables us to better inspire our teams, coach individuals, influence others and drive strategy across the organisation. The ability to build trust with your team is essential in establishing high-performing teams that in turn drive growth and profitability. Every day in tech is different - we must be able to manage setbacks, handle high-pressure situations and celebrate the wins along the way. I believe leaders who embrace developing their EQ will find they benefit from greater results both personally and from the team.
How many people work in IT in your organisation?
300.
What's your top priority for the next 12 months?
We have a super-exciting roadmap for the next 12 months. My priority is to keep supporting the teams who iterate our products: ensuring we constantly reduce anything that slows them down or prevents them being effective.
What's your annual IT budget?
Confidential.
Top 250 UK IT Leaders
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