People Profile: Tony Ward

Tony Ward joined 7-Eleven in 2013 as a contractor, moving to a permanent role in 2017. He began as an IT Program Manager across many projects before joining the Customer Digital Transformation Program. That role has transitioned under 7-Eleven’s new agile structure into being a member of the Tech Delivery Lead Flow to Work Squad.

Before joining #TeamSevs, Mr Ward worked in programs and projects for more than 15 years with organisations including Coles, Myer and REST.

For Mr Ward, one of the measures of success is delivering quality business outcomes.

“Being able to deliver projects on time and on budget is key but ensuring that the projects you contribute to drive value for the business is extremely important,” Mr Ward said.

Having worked across some of the most significant technical projects in the business, Mr Ward says the work is challenging, and the team culture makes a real difference.

“Every program or project that I have worked on at 7-Eleven has its complexities and challenges that need to be overcome,” he said.

“From the first program that I worked on, the Infrastructure Transformation Program, to the Stores System Upgrade program, and now the Customer Digital Transformation program, every project is somewhat unique, so life is never dull!

“I think taking on any project that needs to get back on the path to success is always a challenge.

“When I was asked to be heavily involved in the Stores System Upgrade project to get that project over the line and deliver was something I am very proud of.

“This program was completed back in 2017, and successful delivery meant that we upgraded existing store systems (software and selected hardware) with a more modern technology platform. The completion of this program was a great benefit to stores.

“Implementing the Infrastructure Transformation Program, which was the first program that I managed when I joined 7-Eleven back in 2014, meant that we upgraded core applications, replaced aging infrastructure and migrated data centers.

“This has been further enhanced recently by migrating all environments to the Azure Cloud environment.

“Working on the business' digital transformation has been fantastic to be part of. Everything we do is customer-focused, and I enjoy working with the Digital team and partners.” 

An outcome focused outlook and a firm eye on the needs of the customer is what positions the squad and the broader 7-Eleven Technology Tribe right at the heart of enabling the business’ 2030 ambition.

“I think the way the whole organisation has supported the ambition to get to one billion customer moments by the year 2030 has been phenomenal,” Mr Ward said.

“One of the key elements is to embrace the 'One Team' ethos across 7-Eleven and supplier partners.

“We’re all focused on delivering the outcome, and the collaborative approach is crucial for the success of our team.”

“We are now 18+ months into our digital journey, and while we have delivered many exciting things (my 7-Eleven app, Loyalty, new Websites), there is so much more to deliver.

“There are several initiatives that we are in the process of rolling out. Mobile Check Out is a key initiative, but there are many others in the pipeline as well.”

“Being able to support the business to provide frictionless experiences to suit customer needs across both the physical and digital retail environments will keep the team pretty busy.”

For success at 7-Eleven, Mr Ward says flexibility and focus are central.

“I think you need to be driven and be able to adopt the new agile ways of working that are now part of 7-Eleven," he said.

"I think being adaptable, continually striving to be better, grow and learn, and a willingness to embrace change are attributes that enable success.

“From an overall 7-Eleven perspective, I think there are so many exciting things happening within the organisation that to be part of it and strive towards those one billion customer moments is something that gets me out of bed in the morning.”