Leadership is Personality Work
Leadership is about understanding what drives people and using that to achieve an outcome.
4 min read
James Jones
Leadership, Technology & Insights
Professional Summary
I'm a senior engineering leader with 15+ years' experience leading multi-squad teams across platform, product, and infrastructure domains. I specialise in aligning engineering delivery with commercial outcomes, scaling teams without increasing complexity, and building structures that support autonomy, pace, and clarity.
After successfully scaling engineering at eNett over an 8-year period, I intentionally stepped into high-growth startups to broaden my leadership experience. Across Meeco, SILC, and Ettle I gained first-hand insight into startup dynamics, learning how to balance speed with compliance, drive clarity without adding weight, and navigate resource-constrained environments. These experiences, alongside my established record of building stable, resilient platforms in financial services, give me a dual perspective: scaling large organisations with stability, and building from zero in ambiguous conditions.
I'm known for being the calm in the storm, bringing clarity to ambiguous environments through strong decision-making structures, cross-functional alignment, and pragmatic execution. I've managed organisations of 30+ engineers across multiple squads and coached both ICs and emerging leaders.
Key Competencies
Leadership & Management
- Multi-squad engineering leadership (30+ engineers across infra, platform, product)
- Career development, coaching, and performance management
- Difficult conversations and retention strategies
Delivery & Strategy
- Agile transformation and delivery governance
- Metrics-driven prioritisation and decision frameworks
- Initiative Management Office / portfolio prioritisation
- Incident management and operational resilience
Technology Domains (led teams in)
- Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Microservices and scalable platform architecture
- CI/CD and infrastructure automation (Kubernetes, Terraform)
- Security and compliance (PCI-DSS, ISO27001, SOX)
- Observability and monitoring (Prometheus, Grafana)
Cross-Functional
- Product and revenue alignment
- Risk and compliance integration
- Vendor and partner management
- Regulatory navigation in fintech and Web3
Career Highlights
Scaled engineering organisations with stability and clarity: At eNett, grew infrastructure from 2 sysadmins into a 20+ person function across five disciplines; at Meeco, introduced structures that gave engineering squads clearer ownership and autonomy.
Delivered major platform transformations under pressure: At WEX, led the $13B payments platform migration to Azure; at eNett, re-architected core databases for zero-downtime maintenance.
Introduced enduring delivery practices: At SILC, created planning rhythms and lightweight risk controls that outlived my tenure; at Meeco, established an Initiative Management Office to align strategy and engineering.
Balanced Speed & Uncertain Regulatory Environment: At Ettle, prepared a blockchain payments platform for market entry while aligning with regulatory frameworks.
Leadership and Team Development: Across Meeco, WEX, and eNett, coached engineers into lead roles, supported new managers, and built structures that improved retention.
Professional Experience
Startup Leadership Experience (2022 - 2025)
After eight years scaling infrastructure and engineering at eNett and WEX, I made a deliberate move into the startup ecosystem to broaden my leadership experience. I wanted to test my skills in early-stage environments where clarity, speed, and adaptability are critical. Across Meeco, SILC, and Ettle I faced different challenges—funding uncertainty, regulatory change, and cultural tension—but in each I strengthened my ability to:
- Build delivery frameworks and decision-making structures quickly
- Align technology investment with business strategy under tight constraints
- Balance innovation with compliance and operational resilience
Not every startup secures long-term funding, but the experience sharpened my leadership in resource-constrained settings and complemented my proven track record in scaling mature technology organisations.
Chief Technology Officer
Meeco | Sept 2024 - June 2025
Company context- Led technology in a privacy-first data exchange platform.
- Introduced decision-making processes that clarified priorities and improved delivery cadence without additional headcount.
- Established an Initiative Management Office, giving the company its first shared roadmap and reducing reliance on undocumented priorities.
Head of Technology
SILC Group | July 2023 - June 2024
- Led technology for a licensed trustee and fund administrator.
- Introduced planning rhythms, backlogs, and lightweight reporting that improved predictability.
- Delivered a blockchain pilot that demonstrated feasibility of tokenising illiquid assets.
Career Break
January 2023 - June 2023
Took intentional time out following intensive startup leadership period for family and strategic career planning.
Chief Technology Officer
Ettle | April 2022 - June 2023
Web3 startup behind AUDE, Australia's first cash-backed stablecoin.
- CTO of a venture-backed Web3 startup building Australia's first AUD-backed stablecoin.
- Established engineering decision-making practices and delivery rhythms that enabled pace without sacrificing resilience.
- Aligned technical work with compliance expectations, preparing the platform for regulatory readiness.
Director - Travel Infrastructure
Wex Inc | April 2021 — March 2022
- Retained post-acquisition to lead travel infrastructure, reporting into global leadership.
- Oversaw migration of $13B payments platform to Azure, delivered on compressed deadlines.
- Built and stabilised new Platforms team, achieving the highest staff retention in the division despite organisational upheaval.
Head of Engineering - Platforms
eNett | June 2020 — April 2021
- Led platform and data engineering functions during the disruption of COVID-19.
- Introduced “infrastructure as a service” practices, improving release reliability.
- Rebuilt the Data Engineering team into a strategic capability, enabling product and business insight.
Infrastructure Manager
eNett | August 2012 — June 2020
- Scaled infrastructure from 2 sysadmins to 20+ engineers across five specialised groups.
- Built the information security function, which became a standalone capability.
- Re-architected core databases for zero-downtime maintenance, enabling uninterrupted growth.
Information Technology Manager
Wisewould Mahony Lawyers | Feburary 2008 — August 2012
- Managed small internal IT team and external vendors for a mid-sized Melbourne law firm.
- Modernised legacy systems, refreshed desktop/print infrastructure, and improved practice management systems while controlling costs.
- Built a KPI-driven internal IT function and improved vendor accountability.
Education & Continuous Learning
Masters of Business Administration, Swinburne 2015.
Masters of Information Systems Management, Swinburne 2015
Collaboration & Speaking
Available for consulting engagements, speaking opportunities, and collaborative projects focused on AI implementation, technology leadership, and organizational transformation. Particularly interested in challenges that require building new approaches where existing playbooks fall short.