Infrastructure Manager (APAC) at WEX Inc. – Deeper Role Notes

This page provides expanded insights into my role as Infrastructure Manager at WEX Inc., beyond what’s covered in the main CV.

Stage, Team, and Stack

• Stage: Post-acquisition, with WEX integrating eNett’s payments platform into its global environment
• Team: Same size and composition as during my eNett tenure, but now operating with dual reporting lines — direct to a new WEX manager, and dotted-line to my former eNett manager
• Stack: Hybrid legacy VMware estate progressively being replaced with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft SQL Server as core data store, .NET / C# services, and infrastructure-as-code tooling introduced during the migration

Culture

• Post-acquisition environment with shifting accountabilities and leadership structures
• Strong compliance and regulatory oversight given the global payments context
• Staff balancing “business as usual” with a large-scale transformation effort
• Still largely work-from-home following the COVID-19 pandemic, adding extra strain to coordination

Key Challenges Deep Dive

Challenge 1: Accelerated Migration to Azure

Prior to the acquisition, the cloud migration was conceived as a three-year re-architecture: progressively breaking up the payments monolith and rebuilding services for the cloud. WEX had a different mandate — an accelerated nine-month “lift, shift, and tweak” strategy to exit the physical hosting facility as quickly as possible.

Solution Approach:

• Designed and led a migration that balanced risk with speed.
• Implemented infrastructure-as-code across servers and supporting infrastructure.
• Introduced regional redundancy architecture for resilience.
• Re-architected the data layer to handle virtualized SQL at scale.
• Negotiated with business stakeholders to secure two 2-hour downtime windows, ultimately only requiring one hour in each.

Outcome:

• Delivered the migration on time and without incident, meeting every milestone.
• Achieved operational continuity with virtually no customer impact.
• Success was particularly notable given the departure of both the Chief Architect and Head of DevOps mid-project — I assumed significant additional leadership responsibilities to see it through.

Challenge 2: Retaining and Rebuilding the Team Post-Acquisition

The acquisition was announced just as we had transitioned to a new IT structure. Staff faced uncertainty about their roles, futures, and whether their work would continue to be valued in the new environment.

Solution Approach:

• Adopted a human-first leadership style: meeting every individual in my group (skip levels included), building trust through open, honest conversations.
• Created space for staff to ask direct questions and gave the most transparent picture possible.
• Prioritised stability and respect over process-heavy interventions.

Outcome:

• Preserved critical expertise during a time of significant turbulence.
• Successfully prepared the team for redistribution across the global WEX organisation after the major migration program concluded.

Notable Achievements

• Successfully migrated the global travel payments infrastructure to Microsoft Azure under extreme time pressure
• Introduced infrastructure-as-code and regional redundancy, improving resilience and future flexibility
• Maintained system uptime and compliance through the migration
• Preserved team morale and capability during acquisition-driven organisational uncertainty

Transition

After the Azure migration program concluded, WEX presented me with opportunities to continue in alternative roles. Ultimately, the redundancy package offered was too good to refuse, and I elected to exit on positive terms following the project’s successful delivery.

Reflections and Key Takeaways

• Speed vs Design: Learned the difference between an ideal multi-year re-architecture and the realities of executing an accelerated migration without compromising resilience.
• People over Process: At moments of organisational upheaval, listening and honesty matter more than structures or frameworks.
• Personal Growth: Stepping into leadership gaps mid-project deepened my experience in executive-level responsibility and high-stakes delivery.

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