Ruth Dillon-Mansfield (née Ng) mountain illustration

About Me

Ruth Dillon-Mansfield (née Ng) mountain illustration reflection

What I do

Growth Marketing

Strategy meets execution. I design focussed growth experiments and roll up my sleeves to bring them to life. I'm happiest helping businesses scale sustainably.

Content Marketing

I craft content strategies designed to convert, and turn them into magnetic, cross-media narratives.

Performance Marketing

I blend data with creativity to spark long-lasting relationships that start with a click.

Leadership

CMI qualified. I grow and lead high-performing teams with humanity and compassion.

Development

Automation? Websites? I code confidently across the full stack in JavaScript.

Design

Not a pro, but a strong eye for design and practical skills make me a useful person to have around.

I love helping small, ethical businesses grow.

In one way or another, I've always found my place helping others succeed in tech. I've worked in the tech industry since finishing full-time education, and I believe it should be enjoyed, and contributed to, by all kinds of people.

Personal Life

I love climbing (all gradients welcome – I regularly frequent the local Mancunian bouldering gyms, and can often be found hiking around the beautiful North Walian mountains where I grew up, or my second home, Dartmoor). Otherwise, you might find me reading non-fiction, playing the harp (well, mostly tuning it, really), making and occasionally selling macrame (I have a tiny Etsy shop), or watching the F1.

Professional Life

Growth Strategy

Driving Growth

Nov 2022 – Present

Right now, I'm helping VC-backed B2B AI SaaS startup Stepsize take their new product to market. We're building Stepsize AI, a platform that supercharges collaboration by giving product engineering teams automatic updates about what matters most.

I'm looking at inbound and outbound growth strategies. Everything from product to PPC is on my radar, but since content is our best-converting channel, this role is heavy on content strategy and SEO.

I'm a techie at heart, so I'm right at home helping VC-backed B2B AI SaaS startup Stepsize take their new product to market.

We're building Stepsize AI, an AI tool that helps engineering teams collaborate.

I'm looking at inbound and outbound growth strategies. This role is heavy on content strategy and SEO.

Head of Growth

Driving Growth

Dec 2021 – Nov 2022

VC-backed FinTech start-up Knoma help people find and fund the course they need to get ahead in their careers, supported by ethical 0% finance. Think ethical Klarna for education.

As the first marketing hire, I hired a small team, set up a wide range of marketing infrastructure and set in motion a full-stack B2B and B2C growth strategy.

VC-backed FinTech start-up Knoma help people find and fund the course they need to get ahead in their careers, supported by ethical 0% finance.

As the first marketing hire, I hired a small team, set up a wide range of marketing infrastructure and delivered a full-stack B2B and B2C growth strategy.

Head of Growth

Leading Growth and Sales

Feb 2017 – Dec 2021

Chief Operating Officer

Jan 2021 – Dec 2021 (11 months)

Head of Growth

Jul 2017 – Jan 2021 (43 months)

Growth Engineer

May 2017 – Jul 2017 (3 months)

Trainee Software Engineer

Feb 2017 – May 2017 (3 months)

Going from a start-up with six people to a listed PLC with 60+ was quite the journey.

I joined as the first marketing hire, and built a multi-functional growth team including creative, marketing and sales activities. My bread and butter was the B2B and B2C growth strategy and operations.

During my time there, we went from 50 to 1000+ students graduated and won the British Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Year Award 2018. I also earned a spot on the top 50 Northern Power Women in recognition of my role in substantially improving diversity, equity and inclusion at Northcoders and the wider tech community by almost every metric.

Going from a start-up with six people to a listed PLC with 60+ was quite the journey.

I joined as the first marketing hire. My bread and butter was the B2B and B2C growth strategy and operations.

During my time there, we went from 50 to 1000+ students graduated and won the British Chamber of Commerce's Business of the Year Award 2018. I also earned a spot on the top 50 Northern Power Women.

International Executive Search Consultant

Headhunting in the tech industry

Sep 2015 – Jan 2017

Finlay James are world-class headhunters for senior sales, marketing and technical recruitment for businesses in the tech space.

I headhunted senior to C-Level execs across over 20 countries and four continents using a marketing-led social selling approach. I got to have a great nosy into the software space while doing it. Maybe I loved that too much, because I left to get into tech.

Finlay James are world-class headhunters for senior sales, marketing and technical recruitment for businesses in the tech space.

I headhunted senior to C-Level execs across over four continents. I got to have a great nosy into the software space while doing it. Maybe I loved that too much, because I left to get into tech.

Education

CMI Level 5 Diploma

Management & Leadership

2019 – 2020

80 week Diploma for managers and leaders, accredited by the CMI and delivered by the Sussex Business School.

Modules included: Marketing Strategy, Management & Leadership, Delivering Operational Plans, Coaching & Mentoring, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Managing Finance, Hiring & Retention, Personal and Professional Development

80 week Diploma for managers and leaders, accredited by the CMI and delivered by the Sussex Business School.

BA (Hons) Philosophy

First Class Honours

Nottingham Advantage Award

The original Plan B was to write a PhD thesis defending and motivating an idea in ontology called Existence Monism – I began this work with my undergraduate dissertation, Problems with Priority and the Benefits of Existence Monism. This plan may have to be deferred a few decades, but I'd love to do it!

I still regularly write about philosophy here.