Greater Reading Area
Throughout my career I have found myself to be a valued and inspirational member of each team I’ve worked in. I lead from the front, am highly technical, reliable, good humoured and adaptable. I have extensive experience working with Microsoft and their on-premise and Azure products to produce and host software. I am fast to research new technology, an excellent problem solver and a mentor who guides people through challenging situations and to innovative solutions. My management style is a blend of visionary and coaching, with a culture of camaraderie and creativity. I have high emotional intelligence but also take a data driven approach to analysing situations, identifying risks and dealing with issues. I am practised at public speaking and my written work is excellent, providing effective and engaging communication for a wide variety of technical and non-technical audiences. I have an interest in learning and education, and enjoy training individuals and teams. My roles have required a blend of leadership, management and technology, working in senior leadership teams, directly with CEO / CTO roles and closely with customers and technology partners.
I managed a team of Product Managers and Developers, leading from the front and embedding a culture of camaraderie, creativity and pace to deliver the product roadmap using Microsoft technology and an Agile methodology. Mine was a passionate and leading voice for technical ambition and progress within and outside the company, constantly communicating and enforcing the strategy for Product Management and Development. I was responsible for technical product development and provided a key escalation point for several teams, including Infrastructure Operations, Professional Services and Customer Support. This called upon my expertise in Microsoft Azure and on-premise solutions, analytical troubleshooting, collaborative working, objective alignment and decision arbitration. Other key aspects of the role included: - Member of senior leadership team - Employee management, mentoring and recruitment - Development and governance of Product Management and R&D strategy, process and standards - Lead in technical architecture and solution design for non-functional requirements - Data analytics and reporting for C- and Board Level stakeholders - Budget setting and management - Managing strategic technical partner relationships - Public speaking, thought leadership and support for Product Marketing
I managed a team of Product Managers and implemented an Agile based process of producing software using Microsoft Azure DevOps that replaced an in-house system. The role had a blend of technical and commercial responsibilities that bridged Development and Sales teams. It frequently involved working directly with customers around product development and implementation and also to inform and gather feedback on strategic direction. Other key aspects of the role included: - Member of senior leadership team - Employee management, mentoring and recruitment - Development of Product Management process and standards - Ownership of product roadmap - Lead in design and implementation for strategic projects - C- Level reporting - Product spokesperson and support for Product Marketing
I was responsible for developing items from the product roadmap and worked directly with early adopter customers and implementation teams to deploy and support new releases. Other key aspects of the role included: - Working with and inspiring developers and testers to deliver innovative features that create value - Process mapping and technical design, including data structure, data flow and user interface - Support for pre- and post- sales activities including consulting on requirements, product demonstrations and implementation support - Advanced technical support and troubleshooting - Creation and delivery of training material
As a Technical Product Manager I was responsible for delivering enterprise class software to optimise software licensing, ensure effective use of servers and reduce IT power consumption. I orchestrated a team of Developer and QA Engineers following an Agile development process. Key aspects of the role included: - Delivering quality releases on time and to a budget - Creating and managing requirements before and during development - Troubleshooting and problem solving - Data and performance analysis - Bug triage - Early adopter deployment and case study creation - Training for staff, partners and customers
I set up and led an Innovations team to capture, nurture and develop ideas into new products and features. This team grew to include Product Managers and I took on this role with responsibility for delivering and being a spokesman for successful and innovative software solutions. The role included: - Development of technical roadmaps - Creation of product messaging and thought leading content - Managing partnerships with Microsoft, VMware, Cisco and others - Presentations to analysts including Gartner, IDC and Forrester - Public speaking
I delivered large, complex and highly available IT infrastructures using the latest Microsoft technologies and build automation for the following projects: - UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre infrastructure - BBC Jam online education portal - UK Government Gateway and New Tax Credits websites - Lloyds TSB automated server build The role involved working closely with Microsoft Program, Development, Test and Labs teams and also the above organisations on all aspects of infrastructure including architecture, deployment, troubleshooting, performance, high availability and training.