Available for contract
SENIOR PROJECT & PROGRAM MANAGER

AARON DARKE PROJECT MANAGER BASED
IN USA | MEXICO

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01 / About
The profile
Program & Project Manager

Hi, my name is Aaron Darke.

Senior Project & Program Manager with 25+ years driving high-stakes initiatives at the intersection of technology and brand strategy. I turn complex business goals into structured, scalable realities — from post-merger integrations unifying global business units to AI-driven automation optimizing operational workflows.

A rare blend of technical depth in app and web development and strategic oversight in digital marketing and brand architecture — so every project delivers measurable business value, not just deliverables.

→ The Profile
Name
Aaron Darke
Nationality
Australian
Work eligibility
AUS · NZ · USA · MEX
Phone (US)
+1 530 4490 5448
Phone (MX)
+52 624 317 9344
Email
aarondarke@me.com
Experience
25+ years
Employment
Available
02 / By the numbers
A quarter-century of receipts

Long enough to have seen the pattern.
Recent enough to ship in the current stack.

25+ yrs
Delivering programs across tech, brand, and operations
17 yrs
Independent contractor & director since 2009
$120M+
Annual portfolio revenue managed · 4 automotive brands
4 countries
Work-eligible · USA · Mexico · Australia · New Zealand

Career shaped at Clear Channel Entertainment, LexisNexis, Century Yuasa Batteries, and Foster's Group — then independent for the last 17 years on national rollouts, large-scale digital applications, and post-merger integrations.

03 / Expertise
Five lanes I run in

My expertise areas.

01

Executive
Management

High-level strategic leadership with a proven track record of scaling ventures across international borders. Multi-national founder and VP experience driving sustainable organizational growth.

  • Business Founder (AUS / USA / MEX)
  • Division Vice President Experience
  • Founder, Darke Marketing (Australia)
02

Project
Management

Streamlining complex workflows from conception to completion. Focused on removing inefficiencies and aligning multidisciplinary teams to deliver high-impact results across brand, digital, and live event sectors.

  • Brand Projects
  • Digital Projects
  • Strategic Projects
  • Event Projects
  • Creative Projects
03

Brand
Projects

Building robust brand identities and market presence through disciplined design systems and strategic positioning. Expert guidance for brands entering new markets or launching transformative new identities.

  • New Market Launch
  • New Brand Launch
  • Brand Strategy
04

Digital
Projects

Managing sophisticated digital ecosystems that prioritize user experience and technical scalability. Specializing in high-performance applications, custom integrations, and cutting-edge AI automation.

  • Large Scale Applications
  • AI & Automation
  • System Integrations
  • Website Development
05

Post-Merger
Integration

Navigating the technical and operational complexities of business transitions. Seamless continuity by consolidating assets, codebases, and the management of legal assimilation following a merger or acquisition.

  • Rebrand Projects
  • Legal Consolidation
  • Financial Consolidation
  • Digital & Technical Integration
04 / Selected Work
2000 → Now

Projects that shipped.

A snapshot from 25 years across SaaS, brand, post-merger integration, and event activation. Happy to walk through any of these — or the ones not listed — on a call.

Digital Application

Develop & Launch National Digital Promotions Platform

Client: Foster's Group

End-to-end project lifecycle for a web-based sales & marketing application — discovery, design, build, delivery. On time, on budget, into the hands of the national sales org.

Corporate Rebrand

Butterworths Legal & LexisNexis

Client: LexisNexis

Corporate rebrand and consolidation program — unifying legacy Butterworths under the LexisNexis identity across marketing, product, and customer-facing assets.

New Market Launch

Launch LexisNexis Australasia

Client: LexisNexis

Coordinated regional go-to-market for the Australasian rollout — comms strategy, channel enablement, and launch operations across AU & NZ.

Corporate Rebrand

Century Batteries & GS Yuasa

Client: Century Yuasa

Strategic project roadmap across 4 automotive brands generating $120M+ in annual revenue. Multi-channel campaigns, retail rollout, agency orchestration.

New Market Launch

GS Yuasa & Yuasa Battery Launch Australasia

Client: Century Yuasa

Regional product launch program — packaging, channel comms, retail activation, and cross-brand positioning across the Australasian battery market.

Post-Acquisition Integration

APV · Vehicle Solutions

Client: Australian Performance Vehicles

Post-acquisition integration program — technical consolidation, brand unification, and operational hand-off following the corporate transaction.

05 / How I Work
No drama · No theatre · Just delivery

The job is making sure the thing
actually gets done.

Most projects don't fail at the technical layer. They fail in the gap between what was promised, what was understood, and what was actually built. That gap is the work.

01

Frame the
outcome

Before any plan, we agree on what success looks like in a sentence a stakeholder could read aloud. Scope, success criteria, non-goals — written down, signed off.

Deliverables: one-page project charter, success metrics, decision-rights map, risk register, communication cadence.

02

Map the
path

Workstreams, dependencies, and a delivery rhythm matched to the team — not a methodology dogma. Agile when iterative, waterfall when sequential, hybrid when both.

Deliverables: milestone plan, RACI, sprint or phase structure, vendor & resourcing plan, tooling setup in your stack.

03

Drive
delivery

Daily and weekly cadence, clean status comms, decisions escalated early. I'm the person who notices the slippage in week 2 — not the one flagging it in week 9.

Deliverables: weekly status, blocker resolution, scope-change protocol, executive briefings, demo cadence, launch readiness.

04

Hand off
cleanly

A contract PM should leave the team more capable than they found it. Documented playbooks, warm transitions, and a retro the team will actually read.

Deliverables: runbook, handover doc, retrospective, recommendations for what to build, fix, or kill next.

06 / Credentials
Continuously sharpened

Formally trained.
Currently certified.

25 years of pattern recognition, paired with refreshed credentials and current tooling. The trade has changed; the discipline hasn't.

Certifications
Google
Foundations of Project Management

Planning, execution, and risk across traditional and hybrid methods.

Google
Agile Project Management

Scrum, Kanban, and hybrid agile delivery for cross-functional teams.

Google
Google AI Essentials

Practical AI in modern workflows — from drafting to automation.

Google
Google Analytics Certified

Measurement frameworks, GA4 events, attribution and reporting.

Google
Google Ad Search Certified

Paid-search strategy, account structure, performance optimization.

Specialism
AI Automation

Workflow automation across PM, ops, content, and CRM pipelines.

1996 — 1999
Bachelor of Business
Major: Industrial Relations  ·  Major: Marketing
University of Newcastle  |  Australia
Tooling fluency
Jira Asana Linear Notion Monday ClickUp Slack Loom Figma Miro Google Workspace Adobe Creative Cloud WordPress Webflow GA4 HubSpot Claude / GPT n8n / Zapier
Industries shipped in
SaaS & web apps CPG & FMCG Automotive Legal & information services Sports & entertainment Hospitality Beverage & spirits Real estate
07 / Get in Touch
Currently taking Q3 / Q4 contracts

Let's/talk.

Bring the project. I'll bring the structure, the cadence, and the calm. Best place to start is a short note about what you're trying to ship and by when.

Based
USA | Mexico
Engagement
Project · Retainer · Fractional PMO
© Aaron Darke · All rights reserved
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