West Midlands, England, United Kingdom
A seasoned and forward-thinking Systems Architect with over two decades of experience, I specialise in architecting and delivering scalable, cutting-edge cloud solutions. My passion lies in tackling new challenges and leveraging emerging technologies to drive business innovation. I have a proven track record of designing and implementing robust, event-driven architectures and microservices on both AWS and Azure. My expertise extends to the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence, where I am focused on the practical application of Large Language Models (LLMs) and the development of Agentic AI systems to solve complex business problems. I am adept at integrating AI capabilities into scalable cloud infrastructures to unlock new efficiencies and create intelligent, data-driven applications. A significant area of my proficiency is in leading the agile transformation of engineering teams. I champion the adoption of Agile methodologies, CI/CD, and DevSecOps practices to foster a culture of continuous improvement and accelerate the delivery of value. By implementing robust automation and Infrastructure as Code (IaC), I empower teams to achieve repeatable, high-quality outcomes. Throughout my career, I have thrived in diverse environments, from dynamic start-ups to large, multinational corporations, consistently delivering solutions that align with strategic objectives. Core Competencies: - Cloud Platforms: AWS & Azure - AI & Machine Learning: Agentic AI, Large Language Models (LLMs) - Agile & DevOps: Agile Methodologies, DevSecOps, CI/CD, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) - Architecture & Design: Microservices, Event-Driven Architectures, REST APIs, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), SOLID Principles, Design Patterns - Containerization: Kubernetes, Docker - Programming & Databases: .Net, Python, Relational & NoSQL Databases, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Provide technical leadership and mentorship to the development team, empowering them to build, enhance, and maintain complex applications while fostering an environment of continuous learning and adoption of new technologies. Architectural Design & Strategy: Lead and participate in critical design and architecture discussions, translating business and client requirements into viable, scalable technical solutions by selecting appropriate frameworks and technologies. Engineering Standards & Best Practices: Establish and enforce software engineering standards, ensuring all solutions adhered to security, performance, and quality best practices to guarantee a stable and productive development environment. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with user experience (UX), product delivery, and program management teams to ensure architectural alignment and successful project delivery across a variety of client projects and business domains. Client Engagement & Communication: Act as a key technical liaison for clients, communicating architectural decisions, aligning on technical solutions, and creating and maintaining comprehensive design documentation to ensure stakeholder buy-in and clarity.
Platform Architecture & Cloud Implementation: Drove the architectural design and implementation of a new, cloud-native platform on Microsoft Azure in collaboration with internal teams and external partners. Technical Strategy & Documentation: Authored and governed the solution architecture, ensuring all technical solutions aligned with strategic business objectives and best practices. API & Data Access Modernisation: Spearheaded the API strategy by designing and building RESTful APIs and implementing GraphQL, creating a flexible and efficient data access layer for web and mobile applications. DevOps & Automation Leadership: Championed the adoption of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform, automating environment provisioning to significantly reduce deployment risk and delivery timelines. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Served as the key technical bridge between product, engineering, and business stakeholders, translating complex requirements into robust and scalable technical solutions. Team Leadership & Mentorship: Provided technical leadership and mentorship, cultivating a high-performing engineering culture focused on innovation and technical excellence. Security & Compliance Oversight: Ensured all architectural designs were compliant with UK property sector regulations, embedding industry best practices for security and data privacy. Innovation & Emerging Technology: Pioneered the exploration of Large Language Models (LLMs) by developing proof-of-concept projects to validate viability and build the business case for new, innovative customer-facing features.
- Lead technically the team and enable the development team to build, enhance, and maintain applications, as well as to work with new technologies. - Introduce and develop software engineering standards and best practices. - Work on a variety of projects, for different clients, in different subject matter domains. - Participate in design and architecture discussions. - Collaborate with user experience, content strategy, product delivery, and non-technical program management teams. - Ensure that solutions are following security and performance best practices. - Create & maintain design and other documentation required by the clients. - Communicate with customer’s team members and align technical solutions. - Understand requirements and make viable technical solutions choosing appropriate frameworks. - Guarantee a stable and productive development environment. - Mentorship.
As a part of a cross-functional Digital team: Leadership • run the engineering teams, including software, quality and other technical functions • line management of technical experts • coaching and mentoring the engineering community • shape and evolve teams to deliver transformative change Technical • guide the evolution of the existing architecture • Devise and manage the execution of the technical roadmap • Initiate projects to develop or evolve strategic components • Manage technical debt • Research transformational tech we can adopt for eg machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, crowdsourcing Transformation • Build teams that will accelerate the ability to scale • Establish and continuously evolve the maturity of processes, team culture, and a way of working. • Recruit the next level of leaders. • Partner with tech consultancies and delivery companies to help accelerate change Product • build new products and platforms • Guide the evolution of the current platforms • Help identify new product opportunities and build solutions to back them up and teams that would deliver them
As a member of the Product Delivery Leadership Team, I lead a team of Software Engineers in the transition from legacy applications to a modern service-based architecture leveraging microservices. In collaboration with solution architects and software engineers, I aim to establish and facilitate the adoption of software engineering best practices, such as TDD, BDD and automation. Some of my responsibilities include: - Lead and manage the community of Software Engineers within the Product Delivery Team - Establish ways of working, and foster a culture where engineers are continuously learning and are focused on striving for quality and excellence - Be a point of escalation for any technical issues - Collaborate with other Delivery Heads (e.g. Head of Quality Assurance, Head of Business Analysis) to deliver products in a cross-functional matrixed structure - Responsible for the management, recruitment and ongoing development of the team, including conducting regular talent talks, performance management and skills coaching. - Encouraging an open, collaborative and nurturing culture within the team and extending this to our partners and key stakeholders.