Horsham, England, United Kingdom
NOT your average Software Engineer. I bring a unique perspective shaped by a career that bridges engineering, mathematics, music, and leadership. Curious how? Keep reading ↘︎ I’ve taken an unconventional path, from signing with Island Records as a musician to leading technical transformations for global companies to chairing the board of a quite wonderful Community Primary School. This diverse background gives me a rare combination of creativity, analytical precision, and strategic insight—qualities I use to solve complex challenges with scalable, impactful solutions. Current focus areas include: ⚡ Exploring Rust for high-performance, reliable system design. ⚡ Building scalable Presto/Trino solutions with custom UDFs for advanced query capabilities. ⚡ Leveraging “AI” and LLMs to tackle fuzzy data mapping and lexical agreement challenges. ⚡ Developing multi-tech database backends with Redis caching for lightweight APIs. My work consistently bridges the gap between technical teams and decision-makers, delivering results that save time, money, and effort. Whether optimising workflows, reverse engineering legacy systems, or mentoring teams, I thrive on challenges that require both ingenuity and rigour. Let’s connect.
I am the Founder & Principal Consultant at Proper Clever Ltd, a consultancy specialising in solving complex technical challenges for businesses. At Proper Clever, we focus on optimisation, reverse engineering, and delivering bespoke solutions that save time, money, and effort. I bring a rare combination of technical excellence and creative problem-solving, drawing on expertise in programming, AI technologies, and strategic consultancy. Whether it’s unearthing hidden efficiencies, building scalable systems, or transforming workflows, my approach is always guided by what works best for you. What sets me apart is my ability to bridge the gap between technical teams and decision-makers, helping businesses see the bigger picture while tackling the details with precision. This perspective stems from a career built on the crossovers between maths, music, and engineering—disciplines that demand both ingenuity and rigour. Proper Clever is a partner for businesses seeking smarter, tailored solutions to their toughest problems. If you’re looking for clarity, creativity, and results-driven expertise, let’s connect.
Rudgwick Primary School is a thriving primary school located in West Sussex. As Chair of Governors, I lead a dedicated board of volunteers committed to providing exceptional educational opportunities and fostering an inclusive, nurturing environment for our students. Role and Responsibilities: I am honoured to serve as the Chair of Governors at RPS, elected by the board. With comprehensive training and board-level experience, my primary responsibilities include: 1. Leadership and Governance: - Lead and guide the board, ensuring efficient operations. - Set the school's strategic direction in collaboration with stakeholders. 2. Board-Level Experience: - Elected Chair with a deep understanding of governance and statutory responsibilities. - Oversee board meetings, ensuring legal compliance. 3. Strategic Planning: - Develop, implement, and monitor the school's strategic plan. - Review and improve school performance continually. 4. Educational Excellence: - Maintain high teaching and learning standards in cooperation with school leadership. - Drive innovation and curriculum development. 5. Accountability and Compliance: - Ensure statutory obligations are met, including safeguarding and finance. - Update policies to meet evolving educational needs. 6. Stakeholder Engagement: - Foster strong relationships with parents, staff, and the community. - Advocate for the school with external bodies. 7. Personal and Professional Development: - Invest in ongoing professional development. - Encourage fellow governors' growth. 8. Community Leadership: - Promote a culture of respect, diversity, and inclusion. - Advocate for the school at community events. As Chair of Governors, I'm committed to shaping the educational journey of our students, supporting staff, and ensuring our primary school excels in providing an outstanding education. Feel free to connect with me to discuss collaboration opportunities or learn more about primary school governance in England.
Co-opted Governor on the school’s board of Governors. Setting and maintaining the strategic direction of the school. Ensuring high standards of education and safeguarding for children through monitoring and holding the Operational team to account.
• Cloud Optimisation | Legacy System Modernisation: Led system migration from PostgreSQL to Presto across UK, Spain, and LATAM (25+ analysts, 5 development operations engineers (DevOps)), achieving 85% data storage cost reduction, boosting query speeds up to 13,500%, enabling faster decision-making at scale. • Technical Documentation: Authored and maintained comprehensive documentation, including during reverse engineering of legacy data pipelines, significantly reducing onboarding time for new team members by 20% and ensuring long-term system integrity. • Custom Tooling | Geospatial Solutions: Developed bespoke Java functions for PrestoDB enabling advanced geospatial analysis and tailored solutions for diverse client needs. Adapted platform capabilities to support complex use cases in international markets, driving performance improvements and reducing query failure rates by 90%. • Key Technical Contributions for High-Value Contracts: Delivered high-impact insights to senior executives, directly contributing to securing a £2 billion advertising contract for Exterion Media (Global) with Transport for London. Showcased how innovative solutions achieved client goals, driving substantial business value. • Team Leadership: Led efforts to increase cross-functional collaboration by 30%, ensuring timely completion of all key projects. • Mentorship | Training: Designed and conducted training programmes on distributed systems, data interrogation, and visualisation for 200+ participants, achieving a 95% satisfaction rate. Directly mentored juniors and fostered a culture of continuous learning.
• Interim Product Ownership: Led technical direction and product ownership for off-footprint initiatives, managing development efforts beyond core business operations. Maintained complex operational relationships across multiple international teams, spanning Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Operated two successful handover cycles, ensuring smooth transitions and project continuity.
• Product Development and Cloud Migration: Redefined SaaS visualisation tools, improving user concurrency by 400%, driving a notable boost in customer engagement and satisfaction. Reduced onboarding time by 86%, leading to a tenfold increase in user base. • Project Management: Architected complex software solutions across retail and people-movement industries, using Agile methodologies to ensure 100% on-time delivery and adherence to budget, driving efficiency across projects. • Client Engagement: Acted as the primary technical liaison with clients, aligning software development with business needs, stakeholder management, and contributing to the successful negotiation of contracts exceeding £6M.
• Designed, delivered retail analytics solutions for major clients, including Walmart, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons, improving availability insights and decision-making. • Developed and implemented custom data visualisation tools and daily reporting systems, enabling C-level stakeholders to access actionable insights on availability and shopper behaviour. • Created web-based applications for high-profile CPG clients including Kraft (Mondelez), Diageo, and PepsiCo, streamlining promo planning and data-driven decision-making processes. • Pitched, won, and delivered tablet-based applications for Big Four retail clients, leading to enhanced operational efficiency and measurable business impact.
Web Development (HTML5, jQuery/JavaScript, CSS, C#, SQL); UI Development; App Development; Graphic Design.