Chadderton, England, United Kingdom
Experienced Head of IT with a strong track record of leading technology strategy, driving digital transformation, and building high-performing teams that deliver measurable business results. Over the course of my career, I’ve overseen complex IT operations, modernised infrastructure, turned around under performing functions and implemented scalable solutions that support organisational growth and operational excellence. I’m passionate about aligning technology with outcome oriented business goals. Known for a collaborative leadership style, I enjoy developing talent, strengthening cross-department partnerships, and turning challenges into opportunities for innovation.
Lead a multi disciplined team of engineers (25 in total) with a focus on providing the best IT/Technology experience possible to our colleagues while aligning technology to business goals. This includes responsibility for end user compute, office technology such as audio-visual, networking, storage, Cloud platforms (Azure), Business application/services, education/training/adoption, It support operations and Cyber Security.
Lead the Infrastructure and the Enterprise IT teams at Autotrader. Responsibilities include management for 40+ engineers covering networking, storage, compute, developer delivery platform including Google cloud platform, Amazon web services and Microsoft Azure, Windows, MacOS, Endpoints, Microsoft 365 suite, Databases, Cyber Security and private cloud platforms. Key projects my teams have delivered include: Migration to Mongo Atlas from various on prem data stores Migration away from VDI for our contact center colleagues giving them greater flexibility in the way they chose to work. Migration of digital application during a transition to managed Kubernetes in GCP and future of Auto Trader delivery platform. Automated Windows 10 servicing with SCCM 2016 to ensure PCI compliance status is retained Re-platformed our Ireland digital infrastructure from Windows 2003/SQL 2005 to Windows 2012 R2/SQL 2014. Modernised our platform delivery capability with the introduction of containerisation in GCP, moving from private cloud hosted in 2 datacenters and powered by virtual machines. These are just some of the solutions my teams worked on throughout this period.
Worked as part of an IT service delivery team to primarily provide the design and implementation of new technologies or solutions. The role also included IT/Technical 3rd line support/SME to local and remote users across 25+ sites around the UK, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands and South Africa. It was a very demanding role and requires an ability to learn quickly, respond to change and use agile methodology to ensure alignment with a ever evolving technology landscape. Auto Trader has a policy of being early adopters in latest technology so this ability to learn quickly on the job is key to the successful delivery of the technologies that have enabled Autotrader.co.uk to become one of the Europe’s busiest websites and the home to most UK car buying journeys. Day to day responsibilities include: Solution design – Selection of technologies that would fulfil business requirements and subsequent design of those systems. Systems administration – Monitoring/fault prevention and regular system maintenance. Development of junior staff – training / educating where skill sets need development. Also where new technologies were implemented handover training sessions were essential for continued adoption and support. Project management – System implementation using KanBan/Agile methodology. 3rd Line/SME technical support – Support to over 1400 users across 10+ UK sites and 5 other sites in South Africa, Italy, Netherlands and Ireland.
Working as part of an IT support team providing IT/Technical support to local and remote users. The role was demanding and required a broad range of knowledge plus the ability to learn quickly. It was highly enjoyable and it provided opportunities to be involved in the latest technologies. Day to day responsibilities included: Server Support – Hardware maintenance, operating systems upgrades, communication suites, large range of third-party applications, script-based software installs & updates. Systems Administration – Monitoring and fault prevention. Network support & development – Fault finding, maintenance, upgrade network hardware & comms equipment. Web development - Intranet design/development, support and maintenance. Project Management – System design and implementation. IT Planning - Devise a systems roadmap and include financial planning for IT infrastructure Mentoring - Assist junior IT staff in knowledge development and provide general guidance to help guide there career development