Independent Security Cleared IT Consultant to the public and private sectors (Gaming, E-commerce, Retail, Government)
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Independent Security Cleared IT Consultant to the public and private sectors (Gaming, E-commerce, Retail, Government)
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Experienced Software development manager / senior project manager with a background in innovation, creativity and problem solving. See specialties below.
Currently on the lookout for great opportunities that can allow me to make the most of my creativity, problem solving and business skills. 11 years experience as company director. Interested in work in Scotland, telecommuting from the US or interesting contracts UK wide. Very interested in startups/ Web2.0/ search (formerly researcher for Techcrunch UK). Managing Structured Programmes (MSP) qualification.
In 1990, invented a browser for consumers (Wikipedia: web browser)
In 1992, wrote UK's first guide to getting online
In 1994, wrote the first on-line guide to Scotland
In 1994, First in Britain's first degree in Object Technology (M.Sc)
First prize winner in UK competition to improve the retail sector (2005)
Chartered Engineer and Chartered IT Professional.
Certified PRINCE2 Practitioner
Security Clearance (SC) level
MSP Foundation certificate
(Computer Games industry)
January 2009 — April 2009 (4 months)
Project managing the redesign of major poker website (fulltiltpoker.com). This is the stickiest website in the world according to Nielsen online.
(Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; Government Administration industry)
September 2008 — December 2008 (4 months)
Web Project manager based at BERR, Westminster, London managed a project for a major UK government web portal and infrastructure selection and migration, using PRINCE2 and OGC standards
(Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; Government Administration industry)
February 2008 — May 2008 (4 months)
Project Manager, based in Whitehall. Successfully managed and implemented a Web 2.0 portal for the CIO council (Cabinet Office) on the Transformational Government programme. This was a secure portal for use by CTO/CIOs within the civil service as well as leading representatives from industry bodies (e.g. IAP, Intellect)
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
March 2007 — December 2007 (10 months)
Project Manager at Elite Training on multiple projects delivering software solutions to the public sector in Ireland. Security cleared.
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Internet industry)
October 2006 — July 2007 (10 months)
Crowdspirit aims to revolutionise the supply chain by crowdsourcing manufacturing and making it easier for customers to get the products they want to market faster.
Listed in the Techcrunch40
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Internet industry)
January 2007 — February 2007 (2 months)
Project manager for Tesco.com to redevelop the company's grocery website, the most successful grocery site in the world.
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)
February 2000 — November 2006 (6 years 10 months)
Roles I have had include:
E-commerce technical lead. Promoted to development manager. Led the team to deliver e-commerce for the Scottish Tourist Board. Chief technical contact for due diligence during transfer to the private sector.
Joint development lead for team of 12 across many major high profile deployments.
Managed recruitment, hiring and dismissing employees, clarification and estimates for internal and 3rd party work.
Support Team lead. In charge of technical testing, setup and configuration of development and test environments and change control. Promoted to test manager. Led the company's UAT and technical testing activities for 5 years across many small and major releases. Received thanks from the CEO for the deployment of the company's biggest functional upgrade.
From 2002-2006 this project was a joint venture PPP with ATOS Origin,
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
April 1997 — February 2000 (2 years 11 months)
This organisation specialised in consultancy and training for Object Technology. To support this they developed a product for more accurately estimating the time, effort, resources and development schedule for Object Oriented software projects. I was the chief user interface designer on this project and also developed the interfaces to third party products. We were a Rational partner and I worked closely with Rational in developing an interface to their modelling tool. I saw this product through many releases and developments. Although a highly innovative product and extremely useful, the company was forced into liquidation by the investors approximately 18 months after I had left for career reasons. Anyone still interested in the product should now contact tassc-solutions.com who took over the liquidated assets.
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Performing Arts industry)
October 1995 — April 1999 (3 years 7 months)
Relaunched the Edinburgh Mod in 1997, the main competition for the promotion of Gaelic language, culture, literature and music for adults and children. In rewriting the 100 year old rule book on how Mods were run, we gave the Edinburgh Mod a much greater emphasis on performing in the traditional Gaelic style. Organised fundraising events including hiring artists, press releases, TV publicity.
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
October 1992 — October 1998 (6 years 1 month)
Director of the Gaelic learners association, the main charity for the promotion and support of Scottish Gaelic adult learners around the world.
(Public Company; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)
February 1996 — April 1997 (1 year 3 months)
This small company was based within NatWest Markets in Edinburgh, the investment banking arm of one of Britain's largest banks. We provided inhouse development and support to Natwest markets for Oracle applications running on Solaris. Separately we developed applications for other financial houses such as the Association of Investment Trust Companies including a database to manage their IFA contacts.
(Educational Institution; 501-1000 employees; Higher Education industry)
February 1993 — April 1994 (1 year 3 months)
Mature student studying for Masters degree. As part of this degree I undertook research work at the University of Washington, Seattle. As part of my thesis, I implemented a platform independent front end to a multimedia e-mail client. This introduced MIME e-mail to the University. The thesis also specialised in the enhancement of Object Oriented methods and software usability and won me the class medal. Following the M.Sc. the University hired me on a temporary basis to teach other M.Sc. students. My thesis was subsequently published in the US by the SIGS group and 10 years later was still being asked for and used as a reference work by other students.
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; HPQ; Computer Networking industry)
September 1987 — December 1992 (5 years 4 months)
Managed the technical certification of Digital's biggest customers worldwide and the approval for Digital to support their X.25 networks. Mostly major banks, country networks, large telecoms companies etc. Wrote part of the DECnet software - the backbone for the world's largest networking company. Migrated from there to EDI - Electronic Data Interchange, forerunner of E-commerce.
(Non-Profit; Leisure, Travel & Tourism industry)
August 1991 — December 1992 (1 year 5 months)
Founded newsletter for Scots in London. Set up distribution, publication and sponsorship. Received support from some of the biggest bands in Scotland and from the Scottish media. Promoted events, societies, news, clubs, campaigns, etc. Handed over coordination end Dec 92 upon my return to Scotland were I was involved with a similar publication in the Edinburgh area.
M.Sc. , Object Technology , February 1993 — February 1994
Won class medal and distinction and had a great time.
B.Sc. (Hons) , Computer Science , October 1983 — June 1987
Distinction in Artificial Intelligence
M.Sc. Distinction and Class Medal Napier University 1994 (Object Technology).
First prize, national retail competition for technology ideas.
2nd Prize "Young Programmer of the Year" (UK competition)
Runner up "Who wants to be an entrepreneur (Scotland wide competition for entrepreneurs)
Top 10 Finalist Internet Works Magazine competition, top 10 e-commerce ideas in the UK
Received certificate of Employee involvement from the founder and President of Digital Equipment Corporation.
Berkshire Enterprise Agency award for Internet based job matching service (1989).
Former Mensa member.
Listed in "E-mail addresses of the rich and famous" (1994)
Chartered Engineer and Chartered IT Professional