Mark Kessler

My role as the General Manager of Digital MarTech & Transformation is ultimately responsible to deliver the entire portfolio of Digital & MarTech improvement initiatives aligned with organisational objectives and customer experience requirements through the engagement with internal stakeholders and external partners Additionally, I am responsible for the following key focus areas and deliverables:
• Overall strategy and execution of all digital initiatives across digital channels including the public facing website, partner portals, tablet, mobile and internal platforms
• Management of cross-functional, multi-disciplinary teams working under SAFe, Agile, Lean and start-up methodologies
• Digital self-serve capabilities for customers and service providers including chatbot and AI/Intelligent FAQs implementations
• Driving digital leads and ultimately conversion via optimised customer experiences and integrated MarTech automation between nbn and retail service providers (RSPs)
• Streamlining customer interactions and removing pain points & moments of friction including business process optimisation
• Data & Insights – analytics and actionable insights from day one including end-to-end attribution, behavioural and intent/propensity scoring
• Full financial responsibility covering both Capex and Opex (approx. $25m)

As the Director of Customer Experience (CX) Transformation, I was accountable for leading the CX Team including defining and implementing strategies that standardise and improve customers' experience across all touchpoints and products with a specific focus on getting it 'right first time' This included understanding customers’ needs, outlining strategies and options to ensure these needs were met in the design of product propositions and service experiences and finally ensuring go to market propositions ensure execution.
Execution involved transforming processes, systems, organisational culture and involved embedding the required infrastructure to achieve end-state. In the role of Director of Customer Experience (CX) Transformation, I was primarily responsible for:
• Setting the vision for world class customer experiences and leading the transformation to this future state
• This included the overall Sales, Digital & Service Strategy and all products (Mobile – Pre-Paid and Post-Paid, Fixed, TV, Devices) as well as all bundling and cross-sell propositions for Consumer and SMB segments
• Designing and architecting a customer centric approach to strategy which included development of operating models, processes and systems
• Using detailed analytics and relevant Agile, Hypothesis Driven Experimentation, Lean Six Sigma and Design Thinking approaches to scope programs of work, define key problems, identify and to implement solutions with appropriate measurement criteria
• Management of all relevant costs (functional, Opex and Capex) and any associated revenues/margin within agreed budget

Responsible for global and regional leadership to build new Agile/Lean based capabilities across the entire Group focusing specifically on Customer Experience (CX) Digital Delivery and Workflow across Retail, Wealth and Insurance products focusing on APAC and Europe. The key responsibility of the role was to identify and remove blockers and friction in end-to-end customer journeys and from back-office operations.
Direct responsibility for the Digital portfolio of activities, projects and deliverables including running these autonomously and as a key contributor and influencer to initiatives being run by other global teams in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.
• Implement end-to-end customer experience and technical solutions
• Deliver new products and solutions that evolve via test and learn and quickly develop into commercially successful lines of business driving revenue and shareholder return
• Define and deliver improvement opportunities across customer experience, retail banking and wealth products, sales, operational and digitally native capabilities

As the General Manager, I had the overall responsibility to deliver on executing the Commonwealth Bank’s digital strategy through researching, designing and testing customer experiences and designs that achieved business outcomes. The purpose of the role was to support the delivery of best-in-class, digital financial services experiences, which enabled customers to manage their banking and wealth, research and apply for products online while achieving sustainable shareholder value.

In addition, I was responsible for leading and managing a team of 80+ User Experience, Visual Design, Research, Front-End Web Development and Product Owner professionals ensuring and improving performance, productivity, efficiency and profitability.
Specifically, the role involved the following:
• Setting and executing the strategic digital vision for the Group
• Formulating and executing on digital strategy in collaboration with the broader channel and executive leadership
• Leading user experience and design staff (User Experience Design, Visual Design, Research, Customer Centered Design and Front-end Web Development) to ensure research and designs were well understood by stakeholders and met the business and customer experience objectives
• Undertaking initiatives to ensure more customers financial needs are met (from acquisition to conversion to funding and activation)
• Developing, refined, and managed design processes to achieve leaner design practices (Agile, Lean, Design Thinking, CCD/HCD focused)
• Managing the operating budget

As the Head of Digital for BT Financial Group (Westpac), I led a team of 24 digital professionals covering digital marketing, social media, content strategy and creation, analytics, user experience (UX), user interface design (UI) and technical development & Implementation focused on online product development and delivery.
• Managed all digital product channels including www.bt.com.au and www.bt.com.au/mobile/ including 30+ websites and all social digital platforms (YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
• Developed market leading customer experiences for all online products to facilitate ease of use and to maximise sales and conversion
• Championed innovation and continuous improvement of best practice infrastructure and technologies, online customer experience (CX), analytics to drive measurement of integrated campaigns and content management utilising Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)

• As the Digital Strategy & Development Director I was ultimately responsible for the overall digital strategy for clients, the user experience for all digital deliverables and the day-to-day management of the Digital Team
• This included maintaining existing client relationships, recommending digital services and solutions, presenting company credentials and capabilities for business development, leading all digital initiatives and growing the digital team from both from a capability, skills and team size perspective

• Ultimately responsible for overseeing the design, development and overall user experience of all online deliverables spanning Adobe's vertical business units and corporate marketing.
• Managed a team of 30+ full-time employees and contractors including one-on-one management of seven senior direct reports.
• Responsibilities also included leading individual business unit and corporate marketing interactive initiatives spanning email marketing campaigns, microsite development, web metrics and reporting.
• Managed end-to-end content, design, production, and development of Adobe.com and supporting sites.