Sam Wrighton
Operational leader and business development specialist with seven years of progressive experience across research, strategy, and C-suite management. Currently COO of an international development organisation, leading operations, logistics, compliance, HR, and business development functions. Experienced working in government and security-sensitive environments.
Background
About me
I have built my career at the intersection of research, strategy, and operational delivery. After completing an ESRC-funded DPhil in International Relations at the University of Oxford (St Cross College), I moved into the private sector, progressing through research, business development, and senior leadership roles across three organisations in seven years.
My academic work focused on migration, geopolitics, and inter-state relations. My professional work has taken me into operational leadership and business development, where I focus on building and scaling infrastructure in resource-constrained environments. I have particular experience in restructuring teams and workflows to achieve more with less, including the practical integration of AI tools into day-to-day operations. I have worked in government and security-sensitive contexts throughout my career.
I am interested in how organisations can build resilient operational foundations during periods of rapid change.
Expertise
What I bring
Operational Scaling
Building operational infrastructure for growing organisations. Consolidating leadership functions, designing repeatable systems, and making small teams perform like much larger ones.
Business Development
End-to-end bid management, public procurement, and framework agreements. Win rates of 40% on tenders and government frameworks at two previous employers, and contracts won from UN agencies, FCDO, the World Bank, EU institutions, and international NGOs.
AI-Enabled Operations
Practical integration of AI tools into operational workflows. Building bespoke internal software through AI-assisted development, eliminating manual processes, and reducing costs without reducing quality.
Compliance & Quality
ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification with zero non-conformances. Building documentation frameworks, quality assurance processes, and compliance systems from scratch.
International Expansion
Established European subsidiaries for two organisations, managing legal incorporation, financial systems, and organisational structure across jurisdictions.
Team Leadership
Managing teams of up to 24 people across research, business development, and operations. Recruitment, performance management, and building organisational culture in resource-constrained environments.
Publications
Research and analysis
Trust in international relations, public diplomacy and soft power
A review of the literature and data, written as lead author and published by the British Council in its Policy Insight series.
The Annexation of Populations: A New State Strategy?
Doctoral thesis on migration, geopolitics and inter-state relations, drawing on 52 semi-structured elite interviews, including with senior defence and security stakeholders in Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltic states and the Netherlands.
Authoritarian regime stabilization through legitimation, popular co-optation, and exclusion: Russian pasportizatsiya strategies in Crimea
Peer-reviewed journal article on how Russia’s passport-issuing strategies in Crimea served to stabilise its rule through legitimation, popular co-optation and exclusion.
Beyond work
A bit more about me
Away from work, I am a keen cook, cricketer and sailor, and I spend my winters skiing whenever I can. I follow England Cricket and England rugby home and away. Sport has taught me more about leadership, resilience, and team dynamics than any management book.
Travel has shaped how I think about organisations, systems, and the ways different cultures solve the same operational problems in completely different ways.
Contact
Get in touch
Always glad to talk about operational leadership, business development, and how organisations can build stronger internal systems.
Your message goes directly to my inbox. I aim to respond within 48 hours.