Janelle Lawrence-Forsythe

Accomplished Head of Delivery, Governance, and Strategy with over 20 years of experience leading IT transformation, strategic program governance, and business-technology integration. Proven expertise in regulatory, FinTech, NFP, and enterprise IT leadership, managing portfolios up to $20M, driving digital transformation, operational efficiency, and strategic growth.

Exceptional leadership in technology capability uplifts, AI integration, risk governance frameworks, and financial oversight, ensuring alignment with business objectives while fostering innovation and operational resilience. Adept at leading global teams, delivering high-impact business outcomes, and navigating complex regulatory environments.

« Strategic IT Transformation | Designed and implemented comprehensive IT strategies focusing on cost optimisation, enhanced cybersecurity frameworks, AI integration, system and vendor consolidation and governance models to drive organisational efficiency and resilience.

« Program Governance Leadership | Conducted in-depth assessments and reviews of existing processes to identify bottlenecks and deficiencies, implementing tailored governance frameworks that enhanced operational transparency and alignment with strategic objectives.

« Workspace Transformation Program | Successfully led the end-to-end cloud migration, transitioning from Citrix to modern platforms including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, CrowdStrike, AvePoint and Mimecast, improving collaboration, security and scalability.

• Spearheaded enterprise-wide digital transformation across multiple sectors.
• Managed portfolios up to $20M , optimizing IT expenditures and business alignment .
• Enhanced cybersecurity and governance frameworks , ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Led global teams of 35 direct and 80 indirect reports across five countries.

• Executive Leadership & Strategic Engagement | Over 11 years of experience collaborating with Executive Leadership Teams (ELTs) across organisations including Monash College, NAB, Forsol, OBS, Save The Children, RightShip, PrimeSafe and VFF. Reported directly to CEOs and senior executives in 15+ years of management roles.
• Strategic Planning & Execution | Designed and executed IT and AI strategies, comprehensive roadmaps, digital transformations and system, platform and application optimisations. Conducted in-depth operating cost analysis and implemented cost management frameworks to support long-term strategic objectives.
• Program & Portfolio Governance | 20+ years of experience in program and portfolio governance, overseeing 50+ portfolios with budgets up to $20M, spanning up to 8 concurrent project streams. Successfully delivered initiatives in Digital, Web, SaaS, Big Data and CRM while ensuring alignment with organisational strategy and governance standards.
• Financial Strategy & Oversight | 18 years in financial management, steering budgets of up to $10M OPEX and $20M CAPEX. Expertise includes P&L management, financial forecasting and optimising working capital to align financial resources with strategic goals.
• Governance, Risk, & Compliance (GRC)| 18 years of experience driving GRC initiatives as a member of key governance committees, steering committees and advisory boards. Delivered risk management frameworks and compliance structures to enhance organisational accountability and resilience.
• People Leadership & Workforce Strategy| Managed global teams of up to 35 direct and 80 indirect reports across five countries, including Australia, India, the Philippines, the UK and the USA. Focused on fostering leadership development, strategic workforce planning and cross-cultural team collaboration.
• Enterprise-Wide Change Leadership | 8+ years leading transformational change programs for business areas such as Finance, IT, Legal and Operations. Delivered high-impact digital transformations and product, application and platform rollouts for organisations including Monash College, NAB, Forsol and Save The Children.
• Operational & Capability Uplift | Delivered system upgrades, new system implementations and business process reengineering initiatives. Improved operational efficiency through training, documentation and coaching across organisations such as Goldman Sachs, Monash College and RightShip.
• Strategic Vendor Management & Procurement| 20+ years of experience managing vendor relationships and 17 years of procurement expertise. Negotiated and managed contracts worth up to $15M, including Managed Services Agreements (MSA), outsourcing contracts and licensing for major organisations.
• Service Delivery Transition & Optimisation| Directed large-scale service delivery transitions, including insourcing, outsourcing and offshoring of Service Desk, Infrastructure, Telephony and Application Management functions for NAB, Save The Children, RightShip and Assembly Payments.

• Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, Microsoft 365
• Digital Solutions: Salesforce, Dynamics 365, SharePoint, Power BI
• Project Methodologies: Agile, Scrum, PRINCE2, ITIL
• Data & Security: AI, Cybersecurity, Risk Management, GRC