Smart Spotlight: Rich Ward on Life at Smart
By Smart Communications
At Smart Communications, our people are the driving force behind every innovation—and our Smart Spotlight series celebrates the individuals shaping the future of customer conversations.
In this edition, we’re featuring Richard Ward, Head of Product Management, whose vision and leadership continue to elevate how we deliver value to our customers.
Since joining Smart, Richard has been instrumental in guiding our product strategy, ensuring every innovation aligns with real customer needs and market opportunities. His focus on simplicity, scalability, and smart orchestration has helped bring our platform vision to life—bridging technology and business outcomes in powerful ways.
Get to know Richard as he shares his perspective on product innovation, what fuels his passion for problem-solving, and how he’s helping shape the next era of intelligent customer engagement.
1. What is your role at Smart and how long have you been with the company?
I’m Head of Product Management and I've been here since 2018.
2. What did you do for work prior to joining Smart, and why did you make the switch?
Prior to Smart Communications, I was at a UK Bank managing their communication risk. They had so many different systems, manual and confusing processes, that they needed a team of people to fight those fires. Sound like a familiar problem? Eventually, this led them to look for a proper CCM solution and hence began my journey to Smart.
Fun fact: I had a brief hiatus playing professional futsal in Italy before I was sacked, then I went back to the bank to contract on implementing a rival CCM solution, then got sacked again, then landed here! So, I feel I've got good experience with multiple CCM solutions; in- house, competitor, as well as on the implementation side, which really helps me in my role today.
3. What's kept you at Smart?
I love the culture, the support, and the people here. We are great at putting a problem on the table and solving it together, and I really enjoy that part of the role. The problems we solve are always varied and changing.
4. What skills are needed to be successful in your role/on your team?
In Product, we need to keep a helicopter view of where the company needs to invest to meet our corporate strategy. That's a mixture of fighting fires with immediate customer demand while ensuring we know where 'North' is and can push on those strategic objectives.
We need to work with many departments, as both an enabler, as well as paying attention to market/customer demands. As we strategically acquire new companies, the challenge is how we can continue to integrate new products and solutions. I really enjoy working with our team, as I am required to say that, and also because they always make it fun.
5. What's your favorite aspect of your job?
My favourite part of the role is planning what we're working on in the roadmap. Especially when we get to press the big green button on kicking off some new cool work, such as the recent AI features, or a big shiny new feature which we've been talking about for a while. A big highlight is when I get to speak with customers and hear how something we built is solving their problems in the real world.
6. What are you doing when you're not working?
After 9 months of market research, I recently made an acquisition of my own, and young Ollie has been a wonderful addition to our household. My family also moved house 7 days after the birth of said second born, so unpacking and tidying/unpacking constantly is now my second full-time occupation.
My hobbies and passions are futsal and travelling, particularly when I get to use my Catalan and Spanish when I see my friends in Barcelona. I'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan which (if you don't know about football) isn't a very good thing.
I recently returned to England futsal after 6 years. The program was cancelled for 5 years, then I ruptured my Achilles tendon three weeks outside of the first games back, so this was a significant mountain I feel I scaled.
Apart from a great win over Switzerland, we messed up a bit in the group and didn't qualify. Yet, I did manage to score in each game despite being the oldest player in our team.
