Claire Williams
Chief People and Operating Officer, Ciphr
Claire Williams, Ciphr’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer – and the company’s only female board member – has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout 2024 and into 2025. Her impact spans organisational transformation, cultural change, and performance enablement, redefining what strategic people leadership looks like in the tech sector.
Under Claire’s leadership, Ciphr became the first UK tech company to achieve CIPD People Development Partner status – a milestone that reflects her commitment to professional development and talent excellence. She introduced the Amplifying Performance framework, increasing performance-focused manager-employee interactions from 40% to 95%, and rolled out the V2MOM objectives model, aligning 96% of employees to the company strategy.
Claire also led the successful relocation of Ciphr’s head office – a catalyst for cultural reset and the launch of a transformation programme. The new hybrid workplace fosters flexibility, collaboration, and aligns with Ciphr’s values.
Internally, Claire restructured the People team to embed a business partnering model, boosting efficiency, succession planning, and strategic impact. She also redefined Ciphr’s customer operations under her remit as COO, improving service delivery, internal collaboration, and commercial growth.
Her cultural change initiatives, including a refreshed EVP and internal comms strategy, lifted Ciphr’s eNPS from -50 to +46. Externally, she mentors future HR leaders and shares her journey with over 6,500 followers on her "Life of a CPO" platform.
Claire’s influence reaches across HR, operations, and governance – making a measurable and lasting impact on engagement, performance, and growth.