About me
I enjoy writing, playing, recording and performing music solo and with other fellow musicians and am currently
working to improve my skills in the area of music, learning the mandolin and mandola and to read music.
I enjoy gardening, traveling, reading, walking, socialising, getting to know people and languages. For 2024 I
have taken a career break to travel through France, Spain and Portugal, visiting friends and cultural
attractions. I enjoy learning about cultural and religious history.
I have been the co-host of the Agile Oxford monthly Meetup and annual conference since 2018 and the founder of
HacktionLab, a UK network of tech-activists for which I have produced the BarnCamp annual conference event. I am a fairly frequent presenter and conference speaker. I have experience in the production of public events and
have devised and produced a number of events over the years. I am also a co-director of XtreamLab, a small
hosting provider providing hosting and low-fi Internet services for small businesses, not-for-profit
organisations, and individuals.
Professional Experience
Elsevier Ltd, Oxford
Manager Software Engineering Business Insights & Analytics
December 2022 - June 2024
- Design of architecture and delivery of distributed cloud-based software for GDPR compliance, implemented in
Go, AWS, and MSSQL
- Introduction and assessment of use of AI tools for software development for best practice and pitfalls
- Managing a department of ~30 individuals within Business Insights & Analytics division of Elsevier working
across multiple countries, including the UK, the Netherlands, India, the US, and China
- Coaching and mentoring of direct reports and other colleagues across the organisation with a specific focus
on supporting the development of women working in technology roles
- Supporting delivery of standardised data warehouse and data mart solutions built on Snowflake, Collibra,
Airflow, Glue and Tableau
- Working across teams, departments and organisations to remove dependencies and deliver new products and
updates to expectation
- Managing outsourcing to agencies based in the UK, Europe and India
- Working with the corporate architecture and security teams to ensure our solutions met appropriate
standards, and were resilient and secure
Elsevier Ltd, Oxford
Software Engineering Lead (SSRN and Submission Systems)
April 2017 - December 2022
- Architect for distributed, event-driven AWS cloud solutions built using a variety of classic and serverless
services using Go and Python programming languages. Projects included web-based applications to aid authors,
editors and reviewer as part of companies core publishing process, and also to detect and draw editors’
attention to specific articles relevant to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Close partnership with product and user experience counterparts to develop and test ideas and deliver and
measure experiments
- Successful in-housing of existing legacy application, managing the relationship with the incumbent
development team
- Overseeing software delivery in Go, Java, Python, JavaScript, and ColdFusion
- Bootstrapping of five distinct software engineering teams in rapidly changing environment
- Attending quarterly planning meetings for setting of OKRs and metrics
SSRN - Elsevier
Trust Power Ltd, Oxford
Agile Coach (Contract)
April 2016 - December 2017
- Coaching existing high-performing team on Agile software development
- Polyglot software development in Python, PHP, Java, Node.js, and Drupal
The Performance Window Group, Oxford
Head of IT
May 2011 - April 2016
- Supporting the TimberWindows, Mumford & Wood, Dale and Clearwood brands
- Setting, managing and reporting on departmental budgets
- Board-level contribution to critical business decision-making and product idea design, testing and
implementation
- Definition and implementation of IT desktop and services policies
- Implementation of an Agile transformation programme
- Overseeing software delivery in Perl, Javascript, AngularJS, SQL
- Setting software engineering standards, actively participated in code reviews, development, and mentored
defining development approach
People & Planet Ltd, Oxford
IT Officer
January 2009 - July 2010
- Coaching existing high-performing team on Agile software development
- Polyglot software development in Python, PHP, Java, Node.js, and Drupal
Psand Ltd, London, Barcelona, Coimbra and Bristol
Co-founder and CEO
January 1996 - December 2008
- Web services company specialising in websites for franchises and dealerships founded to promote free
software, primarily Linux
- Clients included BMW, Alfa Romeo, ActionAid, Universal Records, British Diabetes Association, Imperial War
Museum, Pinnacle Publishing, and HiPP Organic
- Software development in ColdFusion, Perl, Python, PHP, and Java based on Linux
- Software architecture and design
- Client relationship and account management
More on my tenure at Psand
BNP Paribas, London
Windows/NT Integration Analyst (Contract)
October 1997 - April 1998
- Definition of an application-packaging methodology and standard for large-scale deployment
of Windows/NT across organisation
-
Planning and delivery of a training program for engineers in the aforementioned standard
- Working in London and Paris across multiple teams in multiple languages
NatWest Insurance Services, Bristol
Windows/NT Desktop Support Specialist (Contract)
September 1996 - December 1996
- Day-to-day second-line support of Windows/NT desktop computers across 1,000-user organisation
Johnson Fry Property, Bath
Desktop Support Technician
February 1995 - August 1996
- General IT support for Windows and Novell systems
- Inception of desktop standardisation project
- Planning and execution of Windows 95 roll-out across the organisation
Unisys Ltd, Milton Keynes
BTOS/CTOS Support Technician
July 1991 - July 1992
- Day-to-day support of BTOS/CTOS operating system, applications, and hardware as part of industrial placement
during degree course
