Alex Townsend

Head of Data  ·  Data platforms  ·  Engineering teams

I run data teams and build the platforms they depend on.

I'm Head of Data at PEP Health, reporting to the CTO. Over the last eighteen months I've rebuilt the company's whole AWS data platform and taken its running cost from $26k to $7k a month. We did it through a security incident that forced the old platform offline before the new one was ready, and a round of cost-cutting that took my team from six people to two.

Before PEP I built or rebuilt platforms in energy, education, retail and the public sector. Eight years in total, and I taught myself everything I started with.

Most of the job, as I see it, is getting ahead of what the business is going to need so it has no excuse to fall short, and making sure the pressure stops with me rather than landing on my team.

What I'm looking for → Track record CV

Open to Head of Data and data leadership roles, permanent or contract.

Head of Data
PEP Health, reporting to the CTO
$26k → $7k
Monthly platform cost after the rebuild
Six engineers
Data and web, line-managed
Four platforms
Built or rebuilt, every one cheaper to run
What I think
Work out how the company behaves before you give it a process.I've watched three companies adopt OKRs to get more done before anyone had looked at what was slowing them down. More →
Pick the tool after you understand the problem.Most of the platforms I've inherited were bent around a tool someone wanted to use. AI and Databricks are this year's favourites. More →
AI is a good tool for particular jobs.We built most of a warehouse with it. We got to a working version quickly and have spent months since proving what it got right. More →
Pressure should stop with whoever leads the team.A team working scared makes worse decisions, and makes them faster. More →
A platform the business can't run without me isn't finished.Infrastructure as code, tests, documentation and a team that understands it, from the first week.
Track record
PEP Health · Healthcare
Platform rebuilt through an incident and a restructure
$26k → $7k / month
Leading people
Data and web engineers, hiring, restructuring, training
Team of six
Engie · Energy
Orchestration re-architecture
$50k a year saved
Civica · Public sector
300+ client databases in one warehouse
70% cheaper
Recent writing
We built most of our warehouse with AI. I'm not sure it was faster. AI Work out how the company behaves before you give it a process. Organisations The pressure stops with me. Leadership Developing engineers who don't need managing. Leadership How data teams earn trust, and how they lose it. Leadership
All writing →

About

Self-taught, from Rotherham, still hands-on. I play solo acoustic gigs around South Yorkshire and get up the Peaks when my two daughters let me.

More →

Now

The new platform is live and the old one is gone. Now I'm proving the new warehouse is right and pushing for a proper data budget.

What I'm working on →