2022 – present day Director of Engineering @ Epos Now
As Director of Engineering, I rely on all my experience, from software development, to architecture, to cloud solutions, to management including:
Managing a department within engineering, I’ve inherited existing teams and formed a new one. I take accountability for failure and lead by example, resulting in a strong bond with the engineers and high performance.
Delivering domain services and micro-services written in Go (Golang), gorgeous UI web applications written in React and PHP websites.
Producing AWS solutions architecture plans, following the five pillars of the well architected framework (operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimisation).
Architecting domain service flows, api endpoint specifications for complex enterprise applications.
Collaborating on the business’ product roadmap, guiding from a technical and user perspective.
Tech Used:
Code: ReactJS, JavaScript/TypeScript, Golang, .NetCore.
Servers / DevOps: K8s, gitlab-ci
Cloud Solutions Architecture: AWS, EKS, S3, CloudFront, Ec2, ELB, Kafka, RDS with PostgreSQL etc.
Roles/Hats: Manager, Leader, Mentor, Technical Architect, Consultant, Developer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect
2020 – 2022 Technical Architect @ Sage
As part of the Architecture team, I lead the technical planning and development of our cloud based apps, focussing on the front-end app development but also services in micro-service and domain-service patterns.
My primary goal was to drive the standards of UI development, improve the processes and workflows within the ReactJS development teams. I also planned out how the more complex / critical areas of the UI/UX should work.
A core focus was around Single Page Application development, using Micro Front Ends. I was responsible for planning how our projects will be delivered, across multiple MFEs, parcels and shared packages.
In September 2021, we released a highly complex reporting engine, prototyped and lead by myself, which can be re-used across any Sage application, entirely metadata and config driven.
Previously, I re-engineered our translations processes, using Phrase to provide seamless workflow from design, to content and translations to development, hopefully saving huge amounts of time and mitigating delays in the translations process. Highlights include integrations with Figma for the designs and Github for code.
I also developed training workshops and documentation, around development and testing best practice, which have been used by development squads in the UK, US, France, Spain and South Africa. This includes teaching my workshops “Thinking in React” and “Testing Foundations for Modern UI Development“, which I’ve developed over years across my personal and work career.
Tech Used:
Code: ReactJS, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS, .NetCore.
Servers / DevOps: Various.
Cloud Solutions Architecture: AWS, S3, CloudFront, Ec2, ELB, SQS, SNS, RDS, Aurora etc.
Roles/Hats: Technical Consultant, Mentor, Technical Architect, Developer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect
2019-2020 Head of Technology @ Ashfield Healthcare
In January 2019, I took on the role of Head of Technology for Ashfield Healthcare, leading a team of technologists within a multi-national healthcare communications agency, working with the top global pharmaceutical companies on a daily basis.
My focus here, was to drive innovation across the whole of Ashfield and to bring added value to client campaigns. With my technical architect hat, I supported all technology projects, on top of the general line-management, project management and web / app development duties.
Tech Used:
Code: ReactJS, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS, .Net. PHP..
Cloud Solutions Architecture: AWS, ElasticBeanstalk, S3, CloudFront, Ec2, RDS.
Roles/Hats: Manager, Technical Consultant, Mentor, Technical Architect, Pitch Lead, Manager, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect
2015-2019 Head of Development @ e3creative
I spent 4 years at e3creative, growing and mentoring a team from 5 developers up to a mixed-skill, multi-award winning team of nearly 30. Cultivating junior developers into seniors and acting as a catalyst across the business.
Very hands on, I lead various projects from conception to post-launch maintenance, for Sony PlayStation, Ascot Racecourse, O2, Sage, Skittles, FlowTechnology, Manchester Pride, The Lowry and many more. This included the planning phases, server architecture, technical planning and diagrams, development, testing and project management hats, across the range.
I also supported Ascot and Enta as a technical consultant, when discussing online payments, security and best practice, on projects outside of e3creative, due to my experience with the payment gateways and ticketing systems.
Tech Used:
Code: PHP, Symfony, Laravel, JavaScript/TypeScript.
Servers / DevOps: K8s, gitlab-ci
Server Solutions Architecture: AWS, EKS, S3, CloudFront, Ec2, RDS. Physical / hybrid cloud hosting solutions.
Roles/Hats: Manager, Leader, Mentor, Technical Architect, Consultant, Developer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect
Before 2015
Pre-2015, I worked for various agencies and in house software firms, producing ecommerce platforms, complex b2b apps, interactive event/conference apps, enterprise text messaging systems and more. More details on request as I wanted to keep this site recent and hopefully more relevant.