The latest installment in our ‘Meet the expert’ series.
Charu Mackenzie doesn’t do slow. Or stuck. Or “that’s how we’ve always done it.”
As Head of Customer Organization Operational Delivery at TRG Screen, Charu is leading a business-wide transformation. Her focus? Improving how the company delivers across every part of the customer experience.
She’s playing a key role in reimagining how services are delivered. How expertise is scaled. And how our teams are set up to consistently deliver industry-leading service and results for clients.
It’s a big remit, but one that plays to her strengths. With 25 years in financial services program management, operations and transformation Charu brings serious experience. But what really sets her apart is the energy and drive she brings to getting things done and helping people believe in what’s possible.
It’s a new role, so I get asked this a lot! I work behind the scenes looking across the entire customer organization – professional services, managed services, client success, project delivery – to ask: how do we make this smoother, faster, more joined up so that we can deliver a consistent, high-quality experience for our customers?
We’re standardizing the way we work, expanding the skills in our teams, rolling out new tools and processes that support growth, and focusing on the shift in mindset from ‘delivering software and services’ to ‘delivering outcomes and value for our customers.’
We have multiple transformation streams running across the business. It’s full-on, but when it starts to click, you can feel the shift. People can shift to a more proactive mode and start contributing bigger ideas and driving innovation in tangible ways. They enjoy being part of a company that is growing and innovating. That’s when you know it’s working.
It was the right challenge at the right time. I’d done the big corporate thing – 2,000-person teams, multi-year programs, lots of governance. It was valuable work, and I learned a lot about rigor, structure, scale, and the power that cultural change can make for teams and leaders in moving from good to great. But I was ready to work with a bit more freedom and creativity.
What really pulled me in was the shift in focus. This role is about growth and doing things differently, not just more efficiently. I found the shift from shareholder value to customer value very exciting.
And there’s a real openness here. To ideas, to change, to testing the art of the possible. If something’s viable and directionally right, we have the talent and the trust from executive leadership to make it happen. That level of belief and freedom is rare and hugely motivating.
The pace! Things move fast here, and I mean fast.
In bigger organizations, you can spend months just trying to get a conversation started. I’ve seen things delivered in six weeks that would’ve taken nine months elsewhere.
That’s not to say change is always easy. There’s unlearning to do, and not everyone’s used to this way of working. But the key thing is, the team wants to deliver the best and grow. We’re building momentum, and helping the team to explore ways we can move forward.
A lot of it’s operational, but it’s never just about process. It’s an evolution of skills, tools, data, mindset – how everything fits together. We are embedding data and technology at the heart of what we do, and using it to create insights which ultimately improve the customer experience.
We’re leveraging technology and AI to increase efficiency and accuracy, surface insights faster and give teams more time for high-value work. This, in turn, creates the space for people to focus on what they’re great at – solving problems and supporting clients.
Coming in from trading-focused software I’ve had to learn quickly, but it’s also given me fresh eyes. And what’s obvious straight away is how much opportunity there is for our customers.
Many teams are short on time – their experts are tied up on administrative tasks rather than on the strategic analysis where they can create greater value. They’re juggling cumbersome manual process and complexity. Quick wins come from getting back to clean data, and making sure the systems you’ve invested in are actually working hard for you to derive the insights needed to help you optimize usage.
That’s where managed services can make a huge difference. It’s just not about efficiency, it’s about creating breathing room so internal teams can focus on more strategic work – rather than just keeping the lights on.
Energy and belief. I know this sounds very cliché, but I really do believe ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when we have structure, support and the opportunity. My job is to bring positive energy, a clear direction, and a bit of persistence to help them see what’s possible and drive it through.
Culture doesn’t change overnight, but when you get those early wins and people start to feel the difference, it snowballs. That’s when transformation stops being a project and starts being real.
I started out as an offshore engineer in the North Sea. I worked on drill vessels and rigs, often as the only woman onboard. It was intense, but it taught me a lot about resilience and staying calm in complex environments. And that process-driven, solution-focused engineering mindset still shapes how I work today.
I’m a qualified personal trainer, and I work with friends and family on long-term health and fitness goals – mostly focused on staying strong, mobile and active later in life. And honestly, they inspire me constantly.
I’ve been lucky enough to help people prepare for amazing adventures, such as helping retirement and post-retirement age clients train for things like heli-skiing, multi-day marathons and swim-run events between islands. They’re all in, and it definitely keeps me motivated to show up with the same energy and drive.
I’m also into martial arts, which surprises a few people! It’s a been a long-term passion and always reminds me that progress comes from consistency and tenacity – whatever the goal.
Stay tuned for more expert insights in our Meet the Expert series, where we showcase the incredible talent behind TRG Screen and their contributions to the financial services industry.