Chief Operating Officer
Water On Demand
James is a strategic and dynamic operations executive with a proven record of driving large-scale transformations across diverse industries, who now brings his experience and innovative acumen to Water On Demand.
In his early career he led global businesses in the USA, Canada, the Philippines, and Ireland providing a hands-on foundation in leadership and adaptability. In the upward arc of his success James transitioned to enterprise organizations, including Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and Northwestern Mutual, to build expertise in operating at scale, mastering best practices, building experience in a broad scope of business areas, and aligning global operations.
He went on to leverage those insights and spearheaded the successful turnaround of Blackbird Vineyards, a high-end luxury wine business in Napa Valley, California, rebuilding massive revenue, reforging strong partnerships while implementing operational and financial excellence.
James holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics and Advanced Biology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Business Degree from The Segal School of Business, Canada.
He has sat on the boards of the American Heart Association, Deloitte’s Customer Success Council, and currently sits as an advisory member of the Venture Capital Fund SemperVirens, where he helps advise on investments in startup HR Technology companies.
In his free time he is an amateur blacksmith.
James lives in Huntington Beach, California with his wife and young son.