Kris Purdy (UK)

  • Head of Digital Experience at University of Glasgow

  • Started his career as a full-stack developer and has worked in both agency and in-house roles

  • Was in expat in the Netherlands for a few years working in various digital roles, including for ECCO Shoes

Meet Kris at:

Higher Education Connect 26

Presentation: TBD
Location: Edinburgh
Date: October 6 - 7

Boye Aarhus 26 conference

Track: Digital Strategy
Presentation: The Culture Before the Framework
Dates: 4 November

About Kris Purdy

Kris Purdy is a seasoned digital expert with more than thirteen years of experience building, operating, and accelerating digital ventures across agency, retail, and higher education settings.

Kris started their career as a full stack developer, contributing heavily to an open source programming language, before moving into more client-facing work at a London-based agency that combined consulting, project management, and client management. This laid the foundation for a career centred on turning organisations "inside out" — listening to and building for the future rather than resting on past success.

From there, Kris took on senior digital and e-commerce roles at ECCO Shoes and ECCO EMEA, followed by a freelance stint as E-commerce & Delivery Consultant for DENHAM the Jeanmaker, and a role as Digital Lead at Cumberland Building Society. Along the way, Kris has worked across a wide range of platforms — including Commerce Cloud, Salesforce, Magento, Sitecore, Marketing Cloud, and Mailchimp — while remaining fundamentally technology-agnostic, believing that knowing which tool to implement, and when, is where real expertise lies.

Since 2022, Kris has served as Head of Digital Experience at the University of Glasgow, where they lead on uncovering and enhancing the university's digital landscape, driving initiatives that improve user engagement while aligning with the institution's broader strategic objectives. Kris works without a defined hierarchy, believing people do their best work when they're motivated and genuinely engaged in their day-to-day — bringing both analytical rigour and creativity to problem-solving, without ever losing sight of the human element.

University of Glasgow

Founded in 1451, the University of Glasgow is one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world and a founding member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, it is a broad-based, research-intensive institution offering undergraduate and postgraduate study across subjects spanning the arts, sciences, medicine, engineering, social sciences, and law.

With a student community drawn from more than 140 countries, the University of Glasgow combines a centuries-old academic tradition with a strong focus on innovation — including in its digital services and student experience — as it works to deliver world-class research and education on a global stage.