WHO WE ARE

Silverback Strategic Solutions is led by Andrew Strachan, an experienced Operations Executive Leader.

Andrew brings a blend of strategic leadership and delivery expertise developed across senior roles including:

  • Deputy Chief Operating Officer 

  • Chief Digital Information Officer

  • MAT Director of Digital Strategy

  • Assistant Headteacher

  • Head of IT & Computing

Prior to entering education, Andrew worked in global, solution-focused project management within the concert touring and live music industry, delivering complex international programmes in high-pressure, delivery-critical environments — experience that continues to inform a pragmatic, outcomes-led approach to operational leadership in education.

Strategic & Operational Experience:

Andrew has led and delivered across a wide range of MAT operational priorities, including:

  • Development of Trust Strategic Development Plans

  • Delivery of large-scale and complex Estates programmes

  • Delivery of Trust-wide IT infrastructure transformation

  • Central Team operational restructures

  • Implementation of MAT-wide operating models

  • Governance-facing operational assurance

  • Executive leadership across IT, Estates, Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Data Analytics and Marketing central functions

He has significant experience in providing independent operational quality assurance to executive leadership and Trust Boards - supporting governance with clear visibility of operational effectiveness, risk, compliance, and improvement priorities.

Approach:

Silverback Strategic Solutions is built around a simple principle:

Operational strategy must be deliverable to be valuable.

Andrew works with executive leaders to:

  • Diagnose operational challenges quickly

  • Design proportionate, context-aware solutions

  • Provide clear reporting to governance

  • Support implementation where required

Ensuring that Trust operational strategy is not only well designed, but actively improves organisational capacity, clarity, and resilience.

A Word from our Director:

As an experienced Executive MAT leader and Chartered Manager, I specialise in designing and operationalising strategic operating models that enable trusts to scale with clarity, control and confidence. Grounded in Operational Excellence (OpEx) principles, I develop the systems, structures and processes that turn strategy into disciplined execution across central and shared services.

My work goes beyond design. I build and implement robust quality assurance frameworks that actively test and strengthen your non-academic operating model — from finance and HR to estates, IT and risk. With a strong focus on data-driven planning, I support trusts in making smart, future-focused infrastructure and capital investment decisions, particularly across Estates and IT, ensuring resources are aligned to educational priorities and long-term sustainability.

I help executive teams move from reactive problem-solving to deliberate, scalable operational performance.