CRM Transformation & Delivery Assurance Lead (20 month fixed term contract)

CRM Transformation & Delivery Assurance Lead (20 month fixed term contract), The Firm is replacing a legacy CRM platform of nearly two decades with Salesforce. Given the scale, irreversibility, and strategic importance of this change, this role exists to act as the Firm's delivery assurance and platform stewardship lead. This role acts as a key central role between our technical delivery teams and business specialists by providing independent challenge, risk visibility, and deep Salesforce expertise, while leaving day-to-day delivery execution and planning firmly with the core project roles. This is a fixed-term, outcome-focused role created to ensure the successful end-to-end implementation of Salesforce CRM across the Firm, sponsored by the Clients Department. The role exists to strengthen delivery quality, protect long-term platform value, and ensure the Firm extracts the best outcomes from both the implementation partner and the Salesforce platform. Cloud SaaS Design & Architecture Expectations: This role exists in the context of implementing Salesforce as a multi-tenant, cloud-based SaaS platform, not as a bespoke or on-premise system replacement. The CRM Transformation & Delivery Assurance Lead is expected to set and uphold clear expectations that all design, architecture, and delivery decisions reflect cloud SaaS best practice, alongside specialists from the Architecture and Delivery function. Specifically, the role will ensure that:

• Salesforce is implemented as a standardised, upgrade-safe cloud SaaS platform, not customised to replicate legacy CRM behaviour.
• Configuration is the default approach, with customisation only where explicitly justified against business intent.
• Architectural decisions remain loosely coupled, API-led, and aligned to Salesforce release cadence and roadmap
• Integration patterns avoid brittle point-to-point dependencies and favour platform-native capabilities
• Cloud operational realities (release cadence, environment strategy, security, data residency, and cost model) are considered early.
This role does not replace solution or enterprise architects from the Architecture and Delivery function, but acts as the Firm-side guardian of cloud SaaS integrity, ensuring architectural choices are sustainable, supportable, and aligned to how Salesforce is designed to operate. The guiding principle is simple: we are adopting a cloud platform, not recreating a legacy system in the cloud.Responsibilities Implementation Partner Challenge & Leverage
• Act as senior Firm-side counterpart to the implementation partner
• Challenge scope assumptions, estimates, and delivery approaches
• Ensure design artefacts are reusable, partner-agnostic, and well documented
• Guard against scope fragmentation and incremental commercial drift
Salesforce Platform Stewardship
• Ensure Salesforce is implemented as a cloud SaaS platform using configuration-first principles
• Govern configuration vs customisation decisions based on functional intent and long-term impact
• Protect upgradeability, scalability, and alignment with Salesforce roadmap
• Engage Salesforce Customer Success / Signature Success where appropriate
Business Readiness & Adoption Enablement
• Ensure business requirements are translated into platform-appropriate outcomes
• Challenge unnecessary recreation of legacy behaviours
• Support readiness across relationship, servicing, and leadership user groups
• Enable sustainable internal Salesforce capability alongside the Product Owner
Data, Analytics & Migration Oversight
• Ensure data readiness is treated as a first-class workstream
• Surface Firm-side data ownership, quality, and remediation effort early
• Support pragmatic migration scoping decisions
• Ensure analytics is treated as decision enablement rather than reporting replication
Risk, Governance & Executive Visibility
• Maintain oversight of the CRM risk register and RAG status
• Highlight risks requiring executive attention
• Provide clear options and trade-offs to sponsors and SteerCo
• Ensure success is defined by value realised, not just go-live
AI, Security & Non-Functional Readiness
• Gate AI adoption through policy alignment, data maturity, and commercial transparency
• Promote phased, value-led AI adoption
• Ensure performance, resilience, and compliance requirements are validated early
End-to-End Delivery Assurance
• Has awareness of the overall delivery plan and provides CRM specialist support where required
• Confirm legacy CRM decommissioning is planned and achievable
• Surface delivery risks early, before they crystallise into delays or rework
  
  Proven experience delivering large-scale Salesforce CRM implementations end-to-end
• Strong understanding of cloud SaaS delivery models and SDLC discipline
• Experience challenging top-tier implementation partners
• Background in Asset Management, Financial Services, or regulated environments
• Ability to bridge business, technology, and commercial considerations
Desirable:
• Experience with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud
• Experience with complex data migration and integration estates
• Exposure to AI, analytics, or data-driven CRM capabilities
• Salesforce certifications (Administrator, App Builder, Consultant)
The type of candidate that we're looking for: The ideal candidate is a senior Salesforce CRM delivery expert who can act as the firm-side guardian of a major cloud CRM transformation, ensuring that Salesforce is implemented as a true cloud SaaS platform rather than a recreation of legacy systems. They bring independent challenge, delivery assurance, architectural discipline, and business-technology translation skills to a high-stakes programme. Critical skills:
• Digital effectiveness (including AI)
• Enabling others
• Improvement mindset
• Systems thinking
• Team working
  
  At Baillie Gifford we are committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful culture in which each of our colleagues can thrive and develop. We believe that our clients are best served by a diverse workforce with the experiences, ideas and perspectives that this brings.