Technology · Systems · Product · Creative Direction

PETRA VINCENT

From strategy to shipped.

Plenty of good strategy never becomes anything. I work out what to build with your team, then build it and hand it over. Products, platforms, automation, brand systems. One owner the whole way through, with a bench when the work needs one.

0-TO-1 PRODUCT BUILD · UX ARCHITECTURE · WORKFLOW AUTOMATION · AI ADOPTION · CRM & SYSTEMS INTEGRATION · ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE · CREATIVE DIRECTION

ProductSystemsAutomationCreative DirectionInfrastructureAIUX

Selected work

Same diagnosis, different scale.

Project index

Selected projects.

Individual builds, sites, interactives and design work. The case studies explain how I think. This is how much there is.

About

I get brought inwhen something hasoutgrown the wayit’s being run.

A community of 11,000 people on Slack. A festival selling sponsorship out of an inbox. An app that couldn’t get through App Store review. A salon taking bookings by phone.

None of them were failing. Each was growing faster than its systems could carry, and that looks about the same whether you’ve got four people or forty thousand.

I’ve worked at both ends. I led DevOps at McKinsey and managed product development at PwC, with earlier work at Intel and Novartis. I also mentor small business owners through SCORE, which keeps me honest about what works when there’s no budget for the ideal answer.

  1. 4-person company

    • Founder-led
    • Booking
    • CRM
    • Automation
    • Website
  2. Growing organization

    • Team hand-offs
    • Ops tooling
    • Integrations
    • Reporting
    • Web platform
  3. 40,000+ person company

    • Global enterprise
    • Publishing infrastructure
    • DevOps
    • Product systems
    • Enterprise platforms
  4. Same problem

    Different scale

I’m a full-stack developer and a UX expert. Most organizations buy strategy, design and engineering separately, and the handoffs between them are where intent gets lost and work gets rebuilt. I hold all three. Sometimes I’m doing the work, sometimes I’m directing a team through it.

Today I’m CTO at Sistas in Sales and co-founder and CTO of Handshake & Code. I work through PPV Group Inc., a certified M/WBE in New York and New Jersey, with a bench of designers, developers and producers I bring in as the work needs them. I’ve hired and led a team of twelve to take a stalled product to launch, and led global media and engineering teams at McKinsey.

Range

  • Technology
  • Product
  • Systems
  • Creative
  • Automation
  • Enterprise
  • AI

I document everything and hand it over. The measure of a good engagement is that you can run it without me.

Solutions

What I usually get called in for.

For organizations that need technology leadership before they need a full-time CTO.

You've got a product and nobody whose job it is to own the technical direction. Decisions get made by whoever's free that week. Nothing's written down, and that bill comes due quietly. I step in as your technology lead: architecture, roadmap, tooling and vendor calls, security posture, and hiring and running the people building it.

ProofBrought in on a stalled networking app with no governance, roadmap or documentation. Hired and led twelve designers and developers, and drove it through the App Store approval the company had repeatedly failed to get.

Capabilities

  • Architecture
  • Roadmap
  • Vendor & tooling decisions
  • Security posture
  • Hiring & team management

For organizations where "it works" isn't enough.

Network configuration, security architecture, DevOps practice, and the documentation that makes it auditable. Security designed in rather than added after. This is where I came from, and it's also why I'll tell you when you don't need it.

ProofSpoke for Microsoft at Tech Buffalo on nonprofit infrastructure: how organizations without enterprise budgets can still get enterprise-grade systems.

Capabilities

  • Network configuration
  • Security architecture
  • DevOps practice
  • Documentation
  • Change management

For teams with a product that hasn't shipped, or shipped and stalled.

Mobile and web products from architecture through launch, including release process, App Store submission and documentation your team can work from. Design and engineering stay under one owner, so the interface and the code get decided together. Sometimes that's me building it. Sometimes it's a team I've put together and am directing.

ProofReact Native app rebuilt end to end: new visual identity, new interface, security guardrails, release pipeline. Shipped to the App Store.

Capabilities

  • Mobile & web product
  • Release process
  • App Store submission
  • Design and development

For organizations whose website is costing them work.

Information architecture, customer journey design, and sites that actually convert. WordPress, React, Webflow, or no-code where that's the honest answer. Booking, payments, POS integration, member portals, job boards. Built so your team can edit it after I'm gone.

ProofRebuilt a transportation company's site around two entirely different buyers, families and institutional procurement, then wired the new architecture into an automated system running from first visit through consultation, quote, contract and invoice.

Capabilities

  • Information architecture
  • Customer journey design
  • Booking & payments
  • Member portals
  • Job boards

For teams doing manual work that software should be doing.

Tool and process audits, CRM architecture, workflow automation, and getting your platforms talking to each other. The goal is a smaller team doing more, not a longer list of subscriptions.

ProofMigrated a six-site organization off enterprise CRM pricing with zero downtime, cutting their monthly platform cost by 86% and leaving a repeatable change management process behind.

Capabilities

  • Tool & process audits
  • CRM architecture
  • Workflow automation
  • Cross-platform integration

For brands whose materials don't match their positioning.

Visual systems, campaign assets, decks and event collateral, built as templates your team can reuse instead of coming back to me for every piece. I've got print vendor relationships that bring production costs down, and I use them.

ProofCreative director on a national book launch: visual system, an animated brand character with a nine-scene narrative arc, event decks, and tour environments across five cities.

Capabilities

  • Visual systems
  • Campaign asset sets
  • Decks & event collateral
  • Reusable templates

For teams who've been told to use AI and haven't been shown how.

Most AI training is a demo. This is adoption. We look at what your team actually does each week, work out which parts a model is genuinely good at, and build the habit of reaching for it. A recurring series, a single workshop, or one-to-one sessions.

ProofBuilt and ran an AI upskilling series for Sistas in Sales on a "one tool, one technique, one action" format designed for people with no spare hours, and delivered an AI agent workshop at Black Women Talk Tech. Also built the AI-assisted production workflow behind a national book launch, including a reusable character prompt system that kept a generated brand character consistent across social, webinar decks and live event screens.

Capabilities

  • Recurring upskilling series
  • Workshops
  • One-to-one sessions
  • AI-assisted production workflow

For founders and owners who need a technical read, not a build.

Often the expensive decision isn't the build. It's the one made six weeks earlier by someone who'd never seen the quote. Bring me in for that part: a vendor proposal read by someone with no stake in it, build versus buy, a stack decision you'll live with for years, or a look at something you've inherited and don't quite trust. One session, or a retainer if you'd rather have someone to call first.

ProofI've selected, migrated and cut tooling across more than a dozen engagements.

Capabilities

  • Vendor & proposal review
  • Build versus buy
  • Stack decisions
  • Inherited technology review

For work that's too big for one person and too important for an agency.

Some engagements need a team. I scope it, assemble the right people, set the standard they work to, and stay accountable for what ships. That's the role I had hiring twelve to take a stalled product to launch, leading global media and engineering teams at McKinsey, and running delivery across four approval teams at PwC. You get one person answerable for the outcome, not an account manager between you and whoever's actually building.

ProofHired and led ten developers and two designers on a stalled product, took it through App Store approval the company had repeatedly failed to get, and handed over documentation and a roadmap the team could run without me.

Capabilities

  • Programme scoping
  • Team assembly
  • Delivery standards
  • Accountable owner
  • Documentation & handover

Recognition

Spoke atCannes Lions

Awards, stages, and the work behind them.

Tech Buffalo, for MicrosoftFoxTech UKBlack Women's RoundtableBlack Women Talk TechMidwestConSistas in SalesTeachable

Industry
awards

Gold, platinum and silver across editorial, animation and technology categories.

  • dotCOMM GoldPodcasts, Series, TechnologyTake on Tomorrow: Special Series
  • dotCOMM PlatinumWebsite Element, Animation, Technology
  • MarCom PlatinumPublications/Magazine, Corporate
  • MarCom PlatinumCreativity/Writing, News Article
  • MarCom PlatinumCreativity/Design, Animation
  • ASBPE GoldNational, Original Research Article
  • ASBPE GoldRegional, Original Research Article
  • w3 Awards SilverMarketing Features, Best Motion Design & Visual Effects
Leadership
McKinsey Black Network Pod Lead, McKinsey & Company
Mentoring
SCORE mentor to small business owners, founders and career transitioners, Queens NY
Certification
PPV Group Inc. is a certified Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise in New York and New Jersey.

Contact

Not sure which of these you need?

Most engagements start as one and turn out to be two. Tell me what's not working and I'll tell you what it actually is.

Optional, and it helps me tell you fast whether I'm the right fit.

By sending this, you agree I can contact you about your enquiry. I don't run a newsletter and I won't add you to one.

hello@petravincent.com

Or and bring the messy version.

Business details

Serving
New York · New JerseyRemote across the United States
Hours
Open 24 hoursEnquiries answered any hour; calls by appointment.
Services
Fractional CTO, UX and web development, Systems integrationAll services
Find us
Google Business Profile →Certified M/WBE, New York and New Jersey