Employment History
2019 - Present - BT/EE DevOps Specialist - Platform Services
Took a new role in a DEVOPS team to learn some new skills
Projects Undertaken :
-
The team provides PAAS solutions for the wider BT group. That is: if a dev team needs something (say a K8's cluster) we will create a re-useable IAC solution.
Teams can then use our PAAS solutions to create any number of examples of the infrastructure they need (dev, staging, live etc.)
These PAAS solutions range from single instances of Jenkins or ELK say, all the way up to entire applications within their own VPC's.
-
We also provide more esoteric solutions. For example during covid I designed and implemented a 'chatops' solution allowing remote workers to gain access (modify security groups)
to their applications by entering a comment in a SLACK chat channel.
Reason for leaving :
Better opportunities?
2016 - Sept 2019 - BT/EE Principal Software Engineer
BT buy EE
Projects Undertaken :
-
Containerised our applications and began running in K8's (AWS EKS)
Began moving from traditional client/server to more of a "web2" style applications, breaking up the application into
microservices and client side code.
Reason for leaving :
DevOps seems to be the new thing. An opening came up in a DevOps team.
2010 - Sept 2016 - EE Team Leader / Principal Software Engineer
France Telecom exited the UK. Orange UK and T-Mobile merged forming "Everything Everywhere" (EE)
Projects Undertaken :
-
We continued to evolve our suite of applications (primarilly self care web and mobile applications)
Moved from old On-Prem hosting into AWS cloud. Changed scaling and clustering techniquest to suit, made better automation.
Still essentially a Java Ecosystem. That is, the application and all it's horizontal scaling, caching and load balancing was managed by Java itself using
AWS just for cheap compute.
Reason for leaving :
TUPE
2001 - Sept 2010 Freeserve / Wanadoo / Orange (Leeds) - Software Developer
I joined Freeserve in when there were around 30 staff.
The company was bought and sold several times over the next decade. Lots of new 'quaint' back end systems and rebranding.
Projects Undertaken :
-
Design and Implementation of a 'multiplatform' REST integration layer which exposed Orange data directly to authenticated customers over the open internet (for use with mobile applications etc.)
The application was modularised using Weblogic shared modules and could run as osgi bundles.
Primarilly this application was used to implement features for the IPHONE but the REST api's could be called by any client in the same way (hence it's being termed 'multiplatform')
This application was developed and maintained using cutting edge agile tools and methodologies and massively increased the ability of Orange to expose new features to customers with speed.
The application development environment was 'virtualised' allowing for quick onboarding of new team members even if they were offshore.
-
Design and Implementation of the Orange mobile Self-Care platform, allowing customers to retrieve passwords, view statements, change their billing methods/details, and other utilities
A struts/spring based application utilising an EJB2 middleware layer via RMI and WebServices.
- Design and Implementation for migration of legacy (ColdFusion and Spectra) self-care systems to J2EE n-tier platforms
- List of work carried out in 8 years too long to list.
Reason for leaving :
TUPE
2000 - Sept 2001 FLG21 (Leeds) - Software Developer
Software House and Consultancy. General IT work, mainly web programming. PR Consultancy.
+
Projects Undertaken :
Reason for leaving :
Company sold, made redundant.
2000 - Short Period of Self Employment
Self Employment. Order tracking tools, client side shopping cart, e-commerce shop selling workwear, IT consultancy.
+
Reason for leaving :
Got the experience necessary to get a job.
Oct 1997 - Supervisory and Industrial Control Systems Ltd (Bradford) - Engineer
Engineering Process Control 'systems house' and Consultancy. Water treatment, Aluminium production, food and beverages.
+
Projects Undertaken :
- Undertook Upgrade of MMI/SCADA systems and software (including design and implementation of software) on location in Dubai.
- Undertook almost entire project to create a PLC5/PanelView system for water Pumping station.
- PLC5/PanelView system for Fume Treatment Plant (including PICS plant simulation)
- Designed and implemented a Modbus Telemetry system for pumping station.
- Re-engineering of Dexterity-Ingress system into Adroit-MSSQL system for Y2K Compliance. On site, Imperial Tobacco Nottingham.
- Creation of PICS Plant Simulation of Sausage production plant, borehole abstraction plant and fume treatment plant.
- Wrote ActiveX Components for access to HDA compliant Database system using DCOM (Visual Basic).
- Excel VBA Tools for Data Conversion/Manipulation.
- Development of a demonstration system (for SIPC to show to customers) using Siemens PCS 7.
- Sections of major work for Scottish Courage using Rockwell Process Pak
- Much on site PLC code debugging and plant commissioning in various locations in the UK
- General Database/SQL Work.
- General Systems Design and documentation
- General Y2K work.
- Technical Document Writing
- Became champion in push for 'Tick-IT' approval and ISO 9001 certification, created ISO9000 quality manual
Reason for leaving :
The Internet, wow!
Feb 1997 - Oct 1997 Dickinson Control Systems Ltd. (Manchester) - Engineer
Engineering Process Control 'systems house' and Consultancy. Food and Beverages, Water Treatment, Baggage Handling.
+
Projects Undertaken :
- Designed, Developed, on site commissioned an InTouch SCADA system supervising a batch cotton bleaching process.
- Designed and Developed a FIX SCADA system supervising a margarine production process.
- Designed and Developed a PLC5-PanelView system controlling and monitoring a water treatment works.
- Created Excel VBA Tools suite for complex user data manipulation.
- Created an SQL link to 3rd party remote database from InTouch SCADA Package.
- Lots of Technical Document writing
Reason for leaving :
Commute became too difficult, also got better job offer.
July 1996 - Jan 1997 Motron Dynamics Ltd. (Barnsley) - Engineer
Engineering Robotics, Automation, pneumatic control, Embedded and turnkey systems design and development
+
Projects Undertaken :
- Adapted off the shelf axis control systems to work with pneumatic motors
- Designed built and demonstrated a multi-axis pick and place robot using off the shelf motion control systems.
- Designed built and commissioned an automated machine (Mitsubishi FX0 PLC) to package zip drive shutters into trays as they left the multi-stage press
- Designed and had manufactured a multilayer PCB signal conditioning device
- Designed, built, Installed and semi-commissioned a pick and place robot to create carpet sample 'deck boards'
- Fault fixed a pick and place robot used to palletize tins of paint at Cuprinol.
- Wrote embedded C software code for several turnkey pick and place robots.
Reason for leaving :
Company went out of business
1986-1991 Pre-University
The first part of my working life was spent in the manufacturing industry as a Welder/Fitter/Machinist etc.