Erin McClean is Head of Strategic Accounts at Synyega, an independent consultancy specialising in IT Asset Management (ITAM), FinOps and GreenOps.
She has worked for Synyega since 2022 and joined the company’s senior leadership team in 2025.
Prior to joining Synyega, Erin worked for PwC UK, accumulating a wealth of experience in leading licence audits, negotiating favourable vendor agreements, and implementing robust Software Asset Management frameworks. She is ITIL 4 certified and specialises in maximising the value of clients’ software investments while maintaining strict adherence to licensing and regulatory requirements.
Erin’s work has been recognised by external organisations and she was named ‘ITAM Consultant of the Year’ at the 2025 ITAM Excellence Awards for revamping client processes and procedures, while she was Highly Commended in the ‘Returner of the Year’ category at the 2025 Women in Tech Excellence Awards.
How did you land your current role? Was it planned?
My career path wasn’t planned at all! My background is in the legal field having completed a dual degree in Law (specialising in contractual, commercial and cyber law) and Commerce (specialising in contractual law) in South Africa before immigrating to the UK with my family.
After this I joined PwC UK and was responsible for completing GDPR reviews, looking at data privacy impact assessment and how software is offshored. Over time, the role evolved to encompass contractual reviews, including software contracts and then, later on, software audits.
I was part of PwC’s software audit team for four years, where I eventually ended up leading EMEA and APAC software license audits for a Linux-based operating system. I was also part of the global IT asset management team which oversaw PwC’s software usage across all of its different territories.
From there, I joined Synyega as a licensing specialist. Since joining the company in 2022, I’ve been a consultant, lead consultant and then, most recently, promoted to Head of Strategic Accounts.
It’s been a wild adventure over the last eight years! It wasn’t planned at all, but somehow all my skills came into play and lead me to a career that I love that perfectly intersects both the legal and the tech spheres.
What are the key roles in your field of work, and why did you choose your current expertise?
IT Asset Management covers the entire lifecycle of IT assets incorporating software, hardware and cloud. Within this there are numerous roles covering strategy, analytics/reporting, licensing, compliance, lifecycle management, tooling and advisory.
My role focuses purely on software asset management. I could have gone in a different direction when I was in my first job at PwC UK but I chose to specialise in software. I love that my job enables me to draw on my legal and contractual experience. I’m a tech geek at heart so the fact that my role covers law, contracts and tech, is ideal for me!
Did you (or do you) have a role model in tech or business in general?
I wouldn’t say there was one person that I model myself after, rather that I have taken inspiration from lots of different people that I interact with on a day-to-day basis.
I draw a lot from how different colleagues and clients approach things – the methodology they use and how they process problems. If something resonates with me, I try to weave that into my behaviour more. My manager, Holly Mascard, is one such person that I have learnt a lot from. I like how she deals with escalations and how she is strong when required but is also really laid back in her approach.
What are you most proud of in your career, so far?
In 2025 I returned to work after being on maternity leave. I had experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions after having my little boy as everything had changed in my life – I had a new dependent and I wasn’t the same person anymore. But I came back to work with a fresh perspective, which resulted in my team overhauling a series of existing client processes that led to some great results – including saving £6m for one client! Later that year, and as a result of implementing all these changes, I was named “ITAM consultant of the year” by the ITAM Review and “Returner of the Year” at the Women in Tech Awards. It’s not easy being a working mum, so to get that external recognition was a huge honour for me.
What does an average work day look like for you?
Since starting this new leadership role in December 2025, every day has been different. I oversee one of Synyega’s major managed services contracts and its entire portfolio of 500 software publishers, so I often start my day by checking in with the client’s senior level stakeholders, before touching base with my team and working together to actively create deliverables. I’m a person that very much believes in working as part of a team, rather than managing from above, so I like to be as involved in the day-to-day as much as possible.
I oversee six separate streams of work across the client’s managed service which include compliance assessments; vulnerability reporting; a tooling service; ITAM maturity assessments; and data centre migration strategy. We have also recently picked up a piece of FinOps work that makes up the final workstream – so my work is incredibly varied.
What this means in practice is that some days I’ll do ad hoc consultancy on maturing an ITAM practice, other days I’ll offer support on a cultural shift within an organisation, or finance reporting where I help a client to figure out their total cost of ownership. There’s no two days that look the same for me – it really is a rotating puzzle!
Are there any specific skills or traits that you notice companies look for when you’re searching for roles in your field?
The main thing I look for in candidates is an ability to research. We carry out a technical assessment as part of our recruitment process where we ask applicants to research a specific license that they may not have come across before. The ability for people to research and structure the outcome is what separates out the great candidates from the rest of the pack.
Has anyone ever tried to stop you from learning and developing in your professional life, or have you found the tech sector supportive?
I feel I’ve been very fortunate in my career to always have supportive people around me when it comes to my learning and development. My experience with the wider technology sector has also been largely positive, but I have come across people that have been more dismissive of my experience due to my age (I’m in my early 30s) – but I think you’ll always come across characters like that in every walk of life. You won’t win everyone over, so just focus on your own path and progressing forward.
Have you ever faced insecurities and anxieties during your career, and how did you overcome them?
I feel very fortunate to have progressed into leadership at a relatively young age. But sometimes I do question if I’m in the wrong room as the people around me feel more intelligent than me! The way I overcome that is by looking for coaching and mentorship opportunities to get support in areas where I feel I need it, so I can always advance my understanding and knowledge of my sector.
It was also hard coming back into the workplace after having a child. You question whether you can still do the job well, if your relationships at work will be just as strong and if you can balance responsibilities at home and at work. But, as women, we mustn’t doubt ourselves. If we are struggling, we should ask for more help. I’ve learnt that if you don’t ask, you don’t get – so it’s always worth speaking up.
Entering the world of work can be daunting. Do you have any words of advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed?
If you’re not from a traditional tech background it can be overwhelming joining the industry – particularly as people are particularly keen to throw around complex tech terminology. Find people you can trust and ask them if you’re unsure about anything. I have been fortunate enough to have some wonderfully supportive people as I’ve gone through my career. At PwC UK, Emma Dellow-Perry helped me understand how to structure things. When I moved into audits, I had a senior manager called Stephen Lowham who really took me under his wing. He would sit with me and make sure I really understood everything by drawing diagrams on Post-it notes of how containers work in the cloud, or how server farms work. If you find helpful people like that – you can’t not excel!
If, however, you’re not lucky enough to have a support system like that, equip yourself with knowledge. There are so many free resources around to take advantage of. YouTube is a great tool, not to mention AI. Use the tools available to you to advance your knowledge and understanding.
Most importantly though, remember to breathe! Perspective is important in this sector. There is nothing that 24 hours will break, so remember that if you’re feeling overwhelmed take a step back, take a deep breath and take a moment to think things through.
What advice would you give other women wanting to reach their career goals in technology?
Equip yourself with the right knowledge and put yourself in the right rooms. When you are on a call or if you are in a meeting – remember that the person speaking the loudest isn’t necessarily the person that knows the most. Trust in yourself and your knowledge and build a supportive network around you – it will help you in more ways than you think.
