Meet Adrian Barlow; Helping Civil Society & Government Organisations Appoint Digital, Data, Technology & Cyber Leaders .

How do you find, attract and select the right digital, data and tech leaders for your organisation? In a world where technology is evolving at an ever increasing pace, it can be hard to make the right hiring decisions. With over 25 years’ experience in technology recruitment, Adrian Barlow has the expertise to answer these nuanced questions. Director of Digital, Data, Technology & Cyber (DDT&C) for Green Park’s Civil Society & Government Practice, Adrian helps organisations attract and appoint digital leaders, to drive corporate strategy, brand reputation and growth.

Adrian’s focus is on serving clients across the public sector. Working in tandem with Green Park’s Interim Management; People Solutions and Diversity Culture & Ethics teams, he shapes thinking and drives best practice in the development of innovative, and inclusive, end-to-end executive search solutions.  Adrian works across disciplines including; Digital Transformation, Product, Service Design, Customer Experience, Architecture, Platforms, Data Services and Cyber Security. For Adrian, the key is to understand what the organisations objectives are, the type of leader who can help to achieve them and the markets in which they might be found. This calls for considerable insight, extensive cross-sector networks and a values-based approach to building relationships between candidates and senior stakeholders. With a substantial career at the heart of the industry, Adrian brings all three.

From the start, Adrian was attracted by the IT industry and its phenomenal growth. Moving into tech recruitment, he gained exposure to everything from outplacement, executive coaching and solutions design, to international account management and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). In 2016, his skills caught the eye of a leading executive search firm, who asked him to play a key role in founding a new Digital, Data & Technology Practice for the public sector. Over the next six years, he helped clients across a range of sectors including the NHS and major government departments, to modernise; innovate and think about the world of tech talent in a different way.

Having built a highly successful capability and reputation, Adrian is now Director for Green Park’s DDT&C Practice and helping Civil Society & Government organisations bring fresh and transformational perspectives to their leadership teams, including helping boards recruit for DDat NED roles. Candidates he has sourced and coached through often complex recruitment processes in their earlier careers, are now leading critical transformation – doing much more than ‘running IT’. Behind his success is heartfelt determination to make public services the very best they can be and for the tech and digital profession who help deliver them, to receive the recognition they deserve. A believer in the bigger, societal picture and the power of opportunity to deliver lasting social value Adrian has inspired countless private sector candidates to make the leap to the public sector and continues to do so at Green Park.

“We help candidates and clients by knowing how to promote the full value of DDaT careers in the public sector, focusing on the unique opportunity they represent to leave a legacy of lasting social value, and how that can be best delivered by exceptional leadership talent”.

If there’s one thing Adrian has learned, it’s that good leaders never should fit a pre-conceived mould. In his work, he has had the privilege to meet, and work with, some incredible talent, including neurodiverse professionals, who are sometimes excluded by poorly designed recruitment processes. With skilled tech leaders in more demand than ever, Adrian believes that a more holistic, collaborative approach is needed; one that sees difference as an asset, rather than a barrier to success. With his passion for fresh thinking and promoting the value of ‘Candidate Centred Design’ in recruitment processes, Adrian is helping Green Park deliver its clients greater diversity of thought and change the way organisations think about talent.

“We should all, in our own small way, be working together to make the world a better and more equitable place, and I believe Green Park do that. I love working for a search firm that stands for more than just recruitment. Our business is full of modest people achieving exceptional things. I’m glad to be part of a team that takes pride in its purpose.”

Take the next step: find out more about Green Park’s Digital, Data, Technology & Cyber Practice.