My name is Jennifer Baidoo.
I’m the Founder & Managing Director of Opportunity Pod, an organisation that can empower your business to
Innovate, Grow, and Succeed.
I’m currently available for consulting engagements.
I provide interim strategic leadership to turn ambitions into actions in businesses across various sectors.
I combine strategic thinking, leadership, and the ability to harness digital technologies to drive change and performance. I think beyond the present, collaborate effectively across teams, and align organisational capabilities and goals to ensure success.
After earning a master’s degree in business IT management, I spent several years helping businesses to adapt to the changing digital landscape and customer expectations. Over time, I became more involved in shaping strategic direction and providing oversight for increasing efficiency through planned changes to culture, structure, processes, governance, people, and technology, leading to savings of up to £30M in 5yrs.
For 7 years, I ensured that professional standards of business analysis are upheld as an examiner for the British Computer Society (BCS). I also served as a subject matter expert on the BCS’s solution development & architecture portfolio board, evaluating modules to ensure their continued relevance to industry needs.
In 2021, I returned to university to pursue an additional master’s degree in sustainable development. This has empowered me to lead and govern responsible businesses across various sectors, balancing economic, social, and environmental impacts. I also collaborate with businesses, sectors, city representatives to meet net-zero carbon targets, as well as with international agencies to promote carbon neutrality at national and global levels.
Strategic Leadership
§ Directed the development of a 10-year strategy, co-creating a performance-optimising plan with the CEO to achieve 50% revenue growth in 3yrs
§ Successfully led strategic envisioning, resulting in being appointed as Board Chair to ensure good governance, decision-making, and transparency to drive performance, social impact, and transformation towards an inclusive and environmentally responsible organisation
§ Built a trust-based matrix of collaborative multidisciplinary teams to deliver strategic outcomes. Implemented integrated governance practice, reducing overhead by 20%, leading to increased productivity due to enhanced staff morale and better reporting accuracy
§ Provided oversight for executives and board to co-create a 3-year sustainability-integrated strategy that optimised operations and increased revenue by 25%. Aligned the leadership team around a common purpose and empowered executives to take ownership and drive results
§ Redesigned processes, cutting costs by 30% and reducing turnaround time by 50%, strengthened strategic partnerships with geographically dispersed suppliers and customers
§ Ensured business analysis professional standards are upheld & portfolio of architecture and solution development modules are relevant to industry needs
Digital Transformation
§ Optimised an enterprise design function by developing strategic roadmaps that align portfolios of programmes to business drivers and strategic outcomes to deliver a cross-governmental modernisation agenda across multiple distinct operational areas within a central government department
§ Established a business architecture practice that redesigned the operating models in finance, HR and Procurement functions in a higher education institution. By making them cross-functional, costs were cut by 25% and operational performance improved leading to 40% productivity increase
§ Drove transformation in a local government council by providing high-value insights to leaders for business investment decisions. Led multidisciplinary teams, including 3rd party providers to redesign business processes and embed a digital landscape. Improved cross-functional data-sharing across 36 business units, and enhancing customer/employee experience. Achieved 50% efficiency, 30% cost savings and £1.5 M ROI over 5 years. Contributing to the city’s goal of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2038
§ Established a design function that drove the successful mobilisation and delivery of a strategic programme, securing a merchant bank’s market position and embedding Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulatory principles
§ Successful delivery of complex ‘digital first’ initiatives for efficiency outcomes in several industries. Managed global supplier relationships in a multi-supplier outsource model, enhancing customer satisfaction targets
§ Led an asset optimisation initiative, saving £600K in efficiency within 6 months
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
ESG is a set of standards measuring a business’ impact on society, the environment and how transparent and accountable it is.
ESG is a set of standards measuring a business’ impact on society, the environment and how transparent and accountable it is.
§ Enabling businesses to integrate sustainability practices into their business models and operations
§ Collaborating with key sector-level stakeholders to reduce carbon footprint to meet the city’s net zero carbon target.
§ Guiding businesses to embed carbon footprint reduction and renewable energy strategies.
§ Advocating for diversity and inclusion, empowering others, improving employee satisfaction, and community engagement.
§ Embedding good governance practices for ethical decision-making, reporting, and transparency with stakeholders, making businesses appealing to investors and supply chain partners, in effect, enabling businesses to grow.
I'm passionate about driving ethical practices as well as mitigating the impact of climate change. I contribute to driving carbon neutrality across businesses, sectors, cities, as well as nationally and globally through collaboration with international agencies.
I am currently board chair for a disable-led charity in the arts and culture sector.
I’m also writing a book on strategic planning for sustainable growth; to be published next year.
"It always seems impossible until it's done"
Nelson Mandela