Job Title

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

Department

Client Specialist Services-BG-UK

Overview of Department

Client Department Operations

Purpose of Role

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

Your knowledge and experience

Essential:

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

Closing Date

February 12, 2026

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.

If you are currently working at Baillie Gifford as an employee or contractor please apply to this job from the firm's Workday internal career site.

Baillie Gifford is an independent, private partnership, which allows us to focus entirely on our clients and their investments. It helps our stability, motivation and culture and enables us to take a long-term view on all that we do, including staff development, client relationships and investing.

And just like with our investments, we’re good at spotting potential in our employees. Join us and we’ll actively support you to explore the possibilities of your career and interests. We’ll give you on-going training and development, all to ensure you have valuable opportunities to grow your unique talents and pursue your goals. We’re also incredibly committed to the wellbeing of our employees.

This is just a taste of our culture. One that was created by the partners who own and will work with you every day in the firm. People who are always on hand to hear your ideas and suggestions of how to make Baillie Gifford an even better place to be. So, if this sounds like somewhere you could realise your full potential, then our next investment could be you.

If you have any questions or issues regarding your application, please contact us at HR@bailliegifford.com.

For more detail on careers at Baillie Gifford visit our careers site at: https://www.bailliegifford.com/en/uk/careers

This page hosts our regular vacancies - to view our graduate and internship vacancies follow this link.

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