Colleague spotlight: say hi to Craig Jones
With experience spanning product, commercial and operational roles, Craig Jones brings a broad perspective to every project he works on.
In this colleague spotlight, Craig shares his journey into consultancy, what he enjoys about working with different people and organisations, his career ambitions, and the advice he’d give to those starting out in the industry.
I work as a Product Consultant, and the honest answer is that the role changes shape depending on who needs what from me. Across my time at Leighton, I've supported a range of customers and have been able to give something back to the business internally.
I started out working with IAG Loyalty, helping their non-air partners integrate into the Avios platform. A lot of that was hands-on with the partners and their engineering teams, getting them successfully connected, but a big part of it was looking at how we could reduce the time integrations took. That meant examining how we engaged with partners and the internal processes sitting behind those projects.
I'm often on-site, representing the customer from a technical point of view. In some engagements I've essentially acted as a Technical Account Manager, sitting between the customer, their technology teams and the wider business, translating between them. I've also done a fair bit of onboarding and transition work, bringing permanent staff into projects and making sure they had the context they needed before picking things up.
Since then, I've worked with Hays Recruitment, Greggs and more recently with a household travel brand, where I'm working as a ProductDelivery Lead helping to bring a new mobile app to market.
Alongside the client work I stay involved internally too, supporting interviews, recruitment and onboarding, and looking for ways to be useful wherever I can.
Just over a year. What initially attracted me was the chance to be a consultant, which I'd never done in this way before.
I liked the idea of moving across different projects and roles rather than being boxed into one thing. Most of my career has been in product, but I've picked up commercial and operational experience along the way, and consultancy felt like the natural place to bring all of that together.
The other draw was that I could contribute to Leighton itself, not just its customers. It felt like somewhere I could keep growing while genuinely having an impact across the business.
I fell into it, if I'm honest, which I think a lot of product people will recognise.
I sometimes describe myself as a jack of all trades, but I'd push back on the "master of none" bit. I'm still genuinely good at these disciplines. I'm just not the specialist, and that's the point. Because I already carry broad context, the specialists I work with don't have to stop and explain the basics to me. I can cut through the noise and see what actually matters, which means we work together far better and move a lot quicker.
My sales background helps more than people expect. A career in product is really a career in selling. You're selling ideas to the board, propositions to customers, plans to colleagues and the value of a product to the whole business. Being able to communicate an idea with the right context, in languages people understand, so they can make a good decision, is everything. That mix of communication, empathy and broad experience is what drew me in.
I find it hard to point at one thing, and I don't think I'd want to. What I'm most proud of is the collection of feedback I've gathered over the years.
Hearing directly from an end user that something I helped build made a difference to them never gets old. Those moments remind you that the work I do impacts real people. I'm equally proud of what colleagues, customers and stakeholders have said about how I work with them.
The IAG Loyalty work sticks with me in particular. It was deeply satisfying to know the improvements I helped make would keep having an impact long after I'd moved on from the team. I'm not there anymore, but the work still is, and there's something quietly rewarding about that. Success, for me, isn't one big trophy moment. It's the cumulative difference you make across the people and projects you touch.
The people. I love working with different people and getting inside their perspectives.
Because of the nature of consultancy, I'm always with new teams, stakeholders and organisations, so I'm always learning. Every customer has their own challenges, ways of working and priorities, and I like that no two days look quite the same.
I also really enjoy bringing people together around a shared understanding of what we're trying to achieve. Watching those different perspectives meet and turn into something real is one of the best parts of the job.
Communication and empathy, above everything.
You're constantly working with people who have different backgrounds, responsibilities and priorities, and you have to genuinely understand where someone is coming from before you can be useful to them. You also have to flex how you communicate. The way I'd explain something to an engineer is completely different from how I'd put it to a senior business stakeholder.
Ultimately, it's about making people feel heard and able to contribute, while making sure everyone has enough context to make good decisions.
The care for its colleagues is real.
There's a genuinely supportive culture here, and people are actively encouraged to constructively challenge. It isn't just something written on a wall; you see it in how people treat each other day to day. That creates a place where people feel comfortable asking for help, sharing their opinions and being themselves.
I've been lucky enough to work across some exciting projects, so it's hard to isolate one moment.
What I've valued most is being recognised for what I've contributed. The messages from colleagues and customers, and hearing that I've left a lasting impression on a project, have always meant a lot to me.
I'd like to be part of an executive leadership team, not just working alongside them.
I’ve worked with some of the most effective leadership teams in my career with a multitude of focuses both from a business and shareholder perspective. I want to work alongside executive colleagues helping make key strategic decisions, drawing on my own experience rather than inheriting the judgement of others whose experience might pull them in a different direction. And there's a personal thread to it too. It’s important tome to be an example for my children, and to help build something they could possibly continue in my absence. That matters to me more than the title does.
I have a Harley Davidson, and I'm hoping to get a few more rides in before the end of summer.
I run, and there's nothing that benefits me more than an hour on my feet. The physical side is part of it, but it's the mental clarity I enjoy most. The last 30 minutes are the best, once I'm properly into my stride, and that's when some of my best ideas tend to surface.
There's a reason running and the bike matter to me as much as they do. My job is all about orchestrating and relying on others to drive success together. Running and riding are the opposite. They're mine, and I'm in sole control of the outcome. Having both keeps me balanced.
I think of it a bit like being the conductor's understudy.
As a consultant you're not accountable in the same way the conductor is, but you're there the moment you're needed. As an understudy you still have to understand everything that's happening and be ready to step in. In consultancy you'll often influence and shape the direction of a project without ever holding the casting vote on what's finally decided.
That's one of the parts I find most interesting. You need enough knowledge and context to see the whole picture, while knowing when to step forward and when to let others lead.
Say yes to every opportunity put in front of you.
Put yourself forward even when you're not certain you're ready. You don't have to feel one hundred percent prepared to take the next step. Often, it's doing the unfamiliar thing that helps you grow.
What you have to say has value, so don't be afraid to use the voice you've been given.
With experience spanning product, commercial and operational roles, Craig Jones brings a broad perspective to every project he works on.
In this colleague spotlight, Craig shares his journey into consultancy, what he enjoys about working with different people and organisations, his career ambitions, and the advice he’d give to those starting out in the industry.
I work as a Product Consultant, and the honest answer is that the role changes shape depending on who needs what from me. Across my time at Leighton, I've supported a range of customers and have been able to give something back to the business internally.
I started out working with IAG Loyalty, helping their non-air partners integrate into the Avios platform. A lot of that was hands-on with the partners and their engineering teams, getting them successfully connected, but a big part of it was looking at how we could reduce the time integrations took. That meant examining how we engaged with partners and the internal processes sitting behind those projects.
I'm often on-site, representing the customer from a technical point of view. In some engagements I've essentially acted as a Technical Account Manager, sitting between the customer, their technology teams and the wider business, translating between them. I've also done a fair bit of onboarding and transition work, bringing permanent staff into projects and making sure they had the context they needed before picking things up.
Since then, I've worked with Hays Recruitment, Greggs and more recently with a household travel brand, where I'm working as a ProductDelivery Lead helping to bring a new mobile app to market.
Alongside the client work I stay involved internally too, supporting interviews, recruitment and onboarding, and looking for ways to be useful wherever I can.
Just over a year. What initially attracted me was the chance to be a consultant, which I'd never done in this way before.
I liked the idea of moving across different projects and roles rather than being boxed into one thing. Most of my career has been in product, but I've picked up commercial and operational experience along the way, and consultancy felt like the natural place to bring all of that together.
The other draw was that I could contribute to Leighton itself, not just its customers. It felt like somewhere I could keep growing while genuinely having an impact across the business.
I fell into it, if I'm honest, which I think a lot of product people will recognise.
I sometimes describe myself as a jack of all trades, but I'd push back on the "master of none" bit. I'm still genuinely good at these disciplines. I'm just not the specialist, and that's the point. Because I already carry broad context, the specialists I work with don't have to stop and explain the basics to me. I can cut through the noise and see what actually matters, which means we work together far better and move a lot quicker.
My sales background helps more than people expect. A career in product is really a career in selling. You're selling ideas to the board, propositions to customers, plans to colleagues and the value of a product to the whole business. Being able to communicate an idea with the right context, in languages people understand, so they can make a good decision, is everything. That mix of communication, empathy and broad experience is what drew me in.
I find it hard to point at one thing, and I don't think I'd want to. What I'm most proud of is the collection of feedback I've gathered over the years.
Hearing directly from an end user that something I helped build made a difference to them never gets old. Those moments remind you that the work I do impacts real people. I'm equally proud of what colleagues, customers and stakeholders have said about how I work with them.
The IAG Loyalty work sticks with me in particular. It was deeply satisfying to know the improvements I helped make would keep having an impact long after I'd moved on from the team. I'm not there anymore, but the work still is, and there's something quietly rewarding about that. Success, for me, isn't one big trophy moment. It's the cumulative difference you make across the people and projects you touch.
The people. I love working with different people and getting inside their perspectives.
Because of the nature of consultancy, I'm always with new teams, stakeholders and organisations, so I'm always learning. Every customer has their own challenges, ways of working and priorities, and I like that no two days look quite the same.
I also really enjoy bringing people together around a shared understanding of what we're trying to achieve. Watching those different perspectives meet and turn into something real is one of the best parts of the job.
Communication and empathy, above everything.
You're constantly working with people who have different backgrounds, responsibilities and priorities, and you have to genuinely understand where someone is coming from before you can be useful to them. You also have to flex how you communicate. The way I'd explain something to an engineer is completely different from how I'd put it to a senior business stakeholder.
Ultimately, it's about making people feel heard and able to contribute, while making sure everyone has enough context to make good decisions.
The care for its colleagues is real.
There's a genuinely supportive culture here, and people are actively encouraged to constructively challenge. It isn't just something written on a wall; you see it in how people treat each other day to day. That creates a place where people feel comfortable asking for help, sharing their opinions and being themselves.
I've been lucky enough to work across some exciting projects, so it's hard to isolate one moment.
What I've valued most is being recognised for what I've contributed. The messages from colleagues and customers, and hearing that I've left a lasting impression on a project, have always meant a lot to me.
I'd like to be part of an executive leadership team, not just working alongside them.
I’ve worked with some of the most effective leadership teams in my career with a multitude of focuses both from a business and shareholder perspective. I want to work alongside executive colleagues helping make key strategic decisions, drawing on my own experience rather than inheriting the judgement of others whose experience might pull them in a different direction. And there's a personal thread to it too. It’s important tome to be an example for my children, and to help build something they could possibly continue in my absence. That matters to me more than the title does.
I have a Harley Davidson, and I'm hoping to get a few more rides in before the end of summer.
I run, and there's nothing that benefits me more than an hour on my feet. The physical side is part of it, but it's the mental clarity I enjoy most. The last 30 minutes are the best, once I'm properly into my stride, and that's when some of my best ideas tend to surface.
There's a reason running and the bike matter to me as much as they do. My job is all about orchestrating and relying on others to drive success together. Running and riding are the opposite. They're mine, and I'm in sole control of the outcome. Having both keeps me balanced.
I think of it a bit like being the conductor's understudy.
As a consultant you're not accountable in the same way the conductor is, but you're there the moment you're needed. As an understudy you still have to understand everything that's happening and be ready to step in. In consultancy you'll often influence and shape the direction of a project without ever holding the casting vote on what's finally decided.
That's one of the parts I find most interesting. You need enough knowledge and context to see the whole picture, while knowing when to step forward and when to let others lead.
Say yes to every opportunity put in front of you.
Put yourself forward even when you're not certain you're ready. You don't have to feel one hundred percent prepared to take the next step. Often, it's doing the unfamiliar thing that helps you grow.
What you have to say has value, so don't be afraid to use the voice you've been given.
With experience spanning product, commercial and operational roles, Craig Jones brings a broad perspective to every project he works on.
In this colleague spotlight, Craig shares his journey into consultancy, what he enjoys about working with different people and organisations, his career ambitions, and the advice he’d give to those starting out in the industry.
I work as a Product Consultant, and the honest answer is that the role changes shape depending on who needs what from me. Across my time at Leighton, I've supported a range of customers and have been able to give something back to the business internally.
I started out working with IAG Loyalty, helping their non-air partners integrate into the Avios platform. A lot of that was hands-on with the partners and their engineering teams, getting them successfully connected, but a big part of it was looking at how we could reduce the time integrations took. That meant examining how we engaged with partners and the internal processes sitting behind those projects.
I'm often on-site, representing the customer from a technical point of view. In some engagements I've essentially acted as a Technical Account Manager, sitting between the customer, their technology teams and the wider business, translating between them. I've also done a fair bit of onboarding and transition work, bringing permanent staff into projects and making sure they had the context they needed before picking things up.
Since then, I've worked with Hays Recruitment, Greggs and more recently with a household travel brand, where I'm working as a ProductDelivery Lead helping to bring a new mobile app to market.
Alongside the client work I stay involved internally too, supporting interviews, recruitment and onboarding, and looking for ways to be useful wherever I can.
Just over a year. What initially attracted me was the chance to be a consultant, which I'd never done in this way before.
I liked the idea of moving across different projects and roles rather than being boxed into one thing. Most of my career has been in product, but I've picked up commercial and operational experience along the way, and consultancy felt like the natural place to bring all of that together.
The other draw was that I could contribute to Leighton itself, not just its customers. It felt like somewhere I could keep growing while genuinely having an impact across the business.
I fell into it, if I'm honest, which I think a lot of product people will recognise.
I sometimes describe myself as a jack of all trades, but I'd push back on the "master of none" bit. I'm still genuinely good at these disciplines. I'm just not the specialist, and that's the point. Because I already carry broad context, the specialists I work with don't have to stop and explain the basics to me. I can cut through the noise and see what actually matters, which means we work together far better and move a lot quicker.
My sales background helps more than people expect. A career in product is really a career in selling. You're selling ideas to the board, propositions to customers, plans to colleagues and the value of a product to the whole business. Being able to communicate an idea with the right context, in languages people understand, so they can make a good decision, is everything. That mix of communication, empathy and broad experience is what drew me in.
I find it hard to point at one thing, and I don't think I'd want to. What I'm most proud of is the collection of feedback I've gathered over the years.
Hearing directly from an end user that something I helped build made a difference to them never gets old. Those moments remind you that the work I do impacts real people. I'm equally proud of what colleagues, customers and stakeholders have said about how I work with them.
The IAG Loyalty work sticks with me in particular. It was deeply satisfying to know the improvements I helped make would keep having an impact long after I'd moved on from the team. I'm not there anymore, but the work still is, and there's something quietly rewarding about that. Success, for me, isn't one big trophy moment. It's the cumulative difference you make across the people and projects you touch.
The people. I love working with different people and getting inside their perspectives.
Because of the nature of consultancy, I'm always with new teams, stakeholders and organisations, so I'm always learning. Every customer has their own challenges, ways of working and priorities, and I like that no two days look quite the same.
I also really enjoy bringing people together around a shared understanding of what we're trying to achieve. Watching those different perspectives meet and turn into something real is one of the best parts of the job.
Communication and empathy, above everything.
You're constantly working with people who have different backgrounds, responsibilities and priorities, and you have to genuinely understand where someone is coming from before you can be useful to them. You also have to flex how you communicate. The way I'd explain something to an engineer is completely different from how I'd put it to a senior business stakeholder.
Ultimately, it's about making people feel heard and able to contribute, while making sure everyone has enough context to make good decisions.
The care for its colleagues is real.
There's a genuinely supportive culture here, and people are actively encouraged to constructively challenge. It isn't just something written on a wall; you see it in how people treat each other day to day. That creates a place where people feel comfortable asking for help, sharing their opinions and being themselves.
I've been lucky enough to work across some exciting projects, so it's hard to isolate one moment.
What I've valued most is being recognised for what I've contributed. The messages from colleagues and customers, and hearing that I've left a lasting impression on a project, have always meant a lot to me.
I'd like to be part of an executive leadership team, not just working alongside them.
I’ve worked with some of the most effective leadership teams in my career with a multitude of focuses both from a business and shareholder perspective. I want to work alongside executive colleagues helping make key strategic decisions, drawing on my own experience rather than inheriting the judgement of others whose experience might pull them in a different direction. And there's a personal thread to it too. It’s important tome to be an example for my children, and to help build something they could possibly continue in my absence. That matters to me more than the title does.
I have a Harley Davidson, and I'm hoping to get a few more rides in before the end of summer.
I run, and there's nothing that benefits me more than an hour on my feet. The physical side is part of it, but it's the mental clarity I enjoy most. The last 30 minutes are the best, once I'm properly into my stride, and that's when some of my best ideas tend to surface.
There's a reason running and the bike matter to me as much as they do. My job is all about orchestrating and relying on others to drive success together. Running and riding are the opposite. They're mine, and I'm in sole control of the outcome. Having both keeps me balanced.
I think of it a bit like being the conductor's understudy.
As a consultant you're not accountable in the same way the conductor is, but you're there the moment you're needed. As an understudy you still have to understand everything that's happening and be ready to step in. In consultancy you'll often influence and shape the direction of a project without ever holding the casting vote on what's finally decided.
That's one of the parts I find most interesting. You need enough knowledge and context to see the whole picture, while knowing when to step forward and when to let others lead.
Say yes to every opportunity put in front of you.
Put yourself forward even when you're not certain you're ready. You don't have to feel one hundred percent prepared to take the next step. Often, it's doing the unfamiliar thing that helps you grow.
What you have to say has value, so don't be afraid to use the voice you've been given.
With experience spanning product, commercial and operational roles, Craig Jones brings a broad perspective to every project he works on.
In this colleague spotlight, Craig shares his journey into consultancy, what he enjoys about working with different people and organisations, his career ambitions, and the advice he’d give to those starting out in the industry.
I work as a Product Consultant, and the honest answer is that the role changes shape depending on who needs what from me. Across my time at Leighton, I've supported a range of customers and have been able to give something back to the business internally.
I started out working with IAG Loyalty, helping their non-air partners integrate into the Avios platform. A lot of that was hands-on with the partners and their engineering teams, getting them successfully connected, but a big part of it was looking at how we could reduce the time integrations took. That meant examining how we engaged with partners and the internal processes sitting behind those projects.
I'm often on-site, representing the customer from a technical point of view. In some engagements I've essentially acted as a Technical Account Manager, sitting between the customer, their technology teams and the wider business, translating between them. I've also done a fair bit of onboarding and transition work, bringing permanent staff into projects and making sure they had the context they needed before picking things up.
Since then, I've worked with Hays Recruitment, Greggs and more recently with a household travel brand, where I'm working as a ProductDelivery Lead helping to bring a new mobile app to market.
Alongside the client work I stay involved internally too, supporting interviews, recruitment and onboarding, and looking for ways to be useful wherever I can.
Just over a year. What initially attracted me was the chance to be a consultant, which I'd never done in this way before.
I liked the idea of moving across different projects and roles rather than being boxed into one thing. Most of my career has been in product, but I've picked up commercial and operational experience along the way, and consultancy felt like the natural place to bring all of that together.
The other draw was that I could contribute to Leighton itself, not just its customers. It felt like somewhere I could keep growing while genuinely having an impact across the business.
I fell into it, if I'm honest, which I think a lot of product people will recognise.
I sometimes describe myself as a jack of all trades, but I'd push back on the "master of none" bit. I'm still genuinely good at these disciplines. I'm just not the specialist, and that's the point. Because I already carry broad context, the specialists I work with don't have to stop and explain the basics to me. I can cut through the noise and see what actually matters, which means we work together far better and move a lot quicker.
My sales background helps more than people expect. A career in product is really a career in selling. You're selling ideas to the board, propositions to customers, plans to colleagues and the value of a product to the whole business. Being able to communicate an idea with the right context, in languages people understand, so they can make a good decision, is everything. That mix of communication, empathy and broad experience is what drew me in.
I find it hard to point at one thing, and I don't think I'd want to. What I'm most proud of is the collection of feedback I've gathered over the years.
Hearing directly from an end user that something I helped build made a difference to them never gets old. Those moments remind you that the work I do impacts real people. I'm equally proud of what colleagues, customers and stakeholders have said about how I work with them.
The IAG Loyalty work sticks with me in particular. It was deeply satisfying to know the improvements I helped make would keep having an impact long after I'd moved on from the team. I'm not there anymore, but the work still is, and there's something quietly rewarding about that. Success, for me, isn't one big trophy moment. It's the cumulative difference you make across the people and projects you touch.
The people. I love working with different people and getting inside their perspectives.
Because of the nature of consultancy, I'm always with new teams, stakeholders and organisations, so I'm always learning. Every customer has their own challenges, ways of working and priorities, and I like that no two days look quite the same.
I also really enjoy bringing people together around a shared understanding of what we're trying to achieve. Watching those different perspectives meet and turn into something real is one of the best parts of the job.
Communication and empathy, above everything.
You're constantly working with people who have different backgrounds, responsibilities and priorities, and you have to genuinely understand where someone is coming from before you can be useful to them. You also have to flex how you communicate. The way I'd explain something to an engineer is completely different from how I'd put it to a senior business stakeholder.
Ultimately, it's about making people feel heard and able to contribute, while making sure everyone has enough context to make good decisions.
The care for its colleagues is real.
There's a genuinely supportive culture here, and people are actively encouraged to constructively challenge. It isn't just something written on a wall; you see it in how people treat each other day to day. That creates a place where people feel comfortable asking for help, sharing their opinions and being themselves.
I've been lucky enough to work across some exciting projects, so it's hard to isolate one moment.
What I've valued most is being recognised for what I've contributed. The messages from colleagues and customers, and hearing that I've left a lasting impression on a project, have always meant a lot to me.
I'd like to be part of an executive leadership team, not just working alongside them.
I’ve worked with some of the most effective leadership teams in my career with a multitude of focuses both from a business and shareholder perspective. I want to work alongside executive colleagues helping make key strategic decisions, drawing on my own experience rather than inheriting the judgement of others whose experience might pull them in a different direction. And there's a personal thread to it too. It’s important tome to be an example for my children, and to help build something they could possibly continue in my absence. That matters to me more than the title does.
I have a Harley Davidson, and I'm hoping to get a few more rides in before the end of summer.
I run, and there's nothing that benefits me more than an hour on my feet. The physical side is part of it, but it's the mental clarity I enjoy most. The last 30 minutes are the best, once I'm properly into my stride, and that's when some of my best ideas tend to surface.
There's a reason running and the bike matter to me as much as they do. My job is all about orchestrating and relying on others to drive success together. Running and riding are the opposite. They're mine, and I'm in sole control of the outcome. Having both keeps me balanced.
I think of it a bit like being the conductor's understudy.
As a consultant you're not accountable in the same way the conductor is, but you're there the moment you're needed. As an understudy you still have to understand everything that's happening and be ready to step in. In consultancy you'll often influence and shape the direction of a project without ever holding the casting vote on what's finally decided.
That's one of the parts I find most interesting. You need enough knowledge and context to see the whole picture, while knowing when to step forward and when to let others lead.
Say yes to every opportunity put in front of you.
Put yourself forward even when you're not certain you're ready. You don't have to feel one hundred percent prepared to take the next step. Often, it's doing the unfamiliar thing that helps you grow.
What you have to say has value, so don't be afraid to use the voice you've been given.
.png)