Rob Dobson — Senior Digital Leader

What I do

Strategy. CRO. AI. All joined up.

I work across the full digital mix — from C-suite strategy to writing production code — which means I can see problems others miss and fix them faster. I don't produce recommendations that need another agency to implement. I do the work.

Strategic Digital Leadership

Diagnosing digital challenges and turning them into clear, actionable strategies that get genuine buy-in at board level.

Conversion Rate Optimisation

Measurable, high-impact CRO — with a published book and speaking engagements at D2C industry events to back it up.

Applied AI

Using LLMs, generative platforms, and automation across strategy, content, and development — practically, not theoretically.

UX & Digital Product

From information architecture to production code. Comfortable at every level of the stack.

Stakeholder Management

Translating the technical into the commercial — no jargon, no slide decks nobody reads.

Agency & Vendor Management

Evaluating, briefing, and managing external partners to keep things aligned, on budget, and performing.

Results

The work speaks for itself.

01 Delivered a 225% conversion rate increase for Uncle.co.uk across a five-year engagement — redesigning, rebuilding, and optimising until every building in their portfolio sold out.
02 Led design and development of smile.co.uk — the world's first fully functional internet bank — whose UX structure was subsequently adopted as the blueprint for the Co-op Bank site.
03 Consistently achieved 30%+ CRO improvements across multiple clients, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research and a wide range of optimisation tools.
04 Won The Heist Gold Award 2024 for digital work with Morley College.
05 Wrote a sell-out book on Conversion Rate Optimisation and became an invited speaker at D2C industry events including Bread & Jam.

Career

Where I've been.

Northern Comfort

Founder

Founded and grew a digital agency to a team of eight, working with multinational clients including Uncle.co.uk, De Gruyter, Birkhäuser, CEU, Morley College, and L&Q, as well as agencies DigitasLBi and The Chase. Clients across the UK, US, Germany, and Europe.

2011 – Present

Manchester Airport Group

Head of Intranet

Redeveloped and relaunched the MAG intranet from the ground up, securing buy-in up to C-Suite level and driving significant increases in usage and time-on-site.

2009 – 2011

Co-operative Group / smile.co.uk

Head of Design & Development

Led design and development of the world's first fully functional internet bank. Designed the complete UX across all banking screens and devices. Worked directly with the CEO and Directors throughout.

1999 – 2009

27 years of digital that actually works.

Strategy. CRO. AI. All joined up.

The work speaks for itself.

Where I've been.

Let's talk about what you need.