Mario
Cappellano
I turn reactive, unstable technology operations into functions the business can rely on. I've done it twice from scratch — and measured it in uptime, incidents, and dollars.
14+ years in IT, 8+ in senior leadership, 20+ across casinos, bookmakers, and wagering technology. Currently accountable for five teams, 40+ people, and a $20M+ annual budget.
Head of Operations (Technology)
Leading technology operations across five teams — SRE, Enterprise Systems, Desktop Support, Retail Engineering, and Networking. Accountable for platform stability, operational governance, and a $20M+ budget covering ~80% of RWWA's total IT spend.
- Restructured the department from 7 teams to 5, managing a 30% headcount reduction while sustaining service levels
- Delivered $1M+ in annual savings through licence right-sizing, procurement, and vendor renegotiation
- Primary technology owner for OAG, cyber security, and financial audit responses
- Deployed M365 Copilot to all people leaders — contract to adoption, end to end
SRE Manager
Built RWWA's SRE function from the ground up, replacing a legacy Ops team. Responsible for the operational stability of TABtouch — apps, web, and internal services — leading a team of 9 across Perth and Melbourne.
- Cut weekly on-call callouts from 15 to an average of 4
- Introduced Major Incident Reviews — 35+ conducted, 190+ remediation actions tracked
- Consolidated observability onto Dynatrace — $350K annual saving
IT Support Manager · Major Incident Manager
Managed the IT service desk and Application Support with up to 13 direct reports across three states, while building BetEasy's Major Incident Management function from nothing.
- Reduced major incidents from 80+ per year to 21 — uptime from 99.92% to 99.99%
- Key lead in the William Hill migration — 1.2M+ clients, Australia's largest betting platform data migration at the time
- Built internal tooling (NotifyMe, racingHelper) that outlived the company — racingHelper was included in RWWA's platform acquisition
Casino & Gaming Operations
Operational, supervisory, and early management roles across Gaming, Cage, and VIP — foundations in high-pressure, high-volume, regulated environments.
Education & Certifications
- MBA — AIM Business School In progress · 2027
- Graduate Diploma of Management High Distinction
- Graduate Certificate Distinction · 2025
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner to 2029
- AIM Mini MBA & Leadership short courses 2023–26
How I operate
I call a spade a spade. I invest in people — hiring them, backing them, developing them into leaders. And I'm at my best when things go wrong: give me a good crisis and I'll stand up, take ownership, and get it sorted.
Then I'll fix the process so it doesn't happen again. 7+ years leading distributed teams remotely.
The fastest way to reach me is the domain you're already on.
Email is best — I respond quickly. LinkedIn works too.