Employment History

Development Initiatives Poverty Research Ltd, Head of Global IT & Data

May 2020 – December 2022

·       As the head of IT for a global data research organisation, I was responsible for the entire IT estate, including strategic planning and provision of support.

·       Achieved cyber essentials accreditation and progressed cyber security training for all staff.

·       Transformed the IT estate into a modern, resilient, reliable and secure infrastructure.

·       Coordination of the provision of IT systems to offices in the UK, East Africa, North America and various remote hub offices.

Awdry, Bailey & Douglas Solicitors, Head of IT

April 2015 – May 2020

·       Manager of a team of support engineers and developers within a multi-site law firm.

·       Budget and strategic planning responsibility for all aspects of IT and telecoms within the firm.

·       Achieved Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation

·       Reduced annual budget by 30% whilst still improving data and telephony infrastructure.

·       Introduced managed print service and virtualised server technology to firm.

·       Replaced ageing ISDN based telephone system with cloud hosted VOIP, reducing costs significantly and providing advanced functionality.

·       Consolidated SOS “Connect” and Lexis Nexis “Solcase” case management systems into VisualFiles.

·       GDPR, Data Protection and Cyber Security subject matter expert for firm.

Thermae Bath Spa – IT Manager

October 2012 – Feb 2015

·       IT Manager responsible for all IT requirements of a luxury spa, employing 170 staff and catering for over 250k visitors per year.

·       Designed a logical structure within Active Directory to accurately reflect the business infrastructure.

·       Virtualised entire server infrastructure (VMware) migrating existing physical servers, creating new virtual machines to optimise performance and resilience.

·       Citrix (Xenapp 6.5) and VMware server topology with thin client and desktop configuration and maintenance.

·       Build, configuration and management of VMware and Citrix Xenapp servers.

·       Project manager for proprietary Spa Management and EPOS software development, go-live and support.

·

Georgia Pacific – IT Manager GB&I

May 2007 – October 2012

Hands on management and support of the IT and telecoms infrastructure for paper manufacturing facilities
based in Sheffield, Dublin and Dukinfield, managing 7 support staff and third party support.

Implemented out of hours IT application and infrastructure support to reflect 24/7 operation of the site.
Responsible for on-site servers Win 2008, Citrix and Manufacturing server and associated LAN / WAN.
Designed IT infrastructure for expansion of warehouse including warehouse management systems, wireless networking and vehicle movement logging.
Hardy’s Recovery – Pwllheli – Recovery Truck Driver

April 2007 to September 2009

Based in a rural location, responsible for the safe loading and delivery of vehicles nationwide.

·       Accident recovery on call

·       Scheduled deliveries

·       Breakdown recoveries

·       Tacho exempt

Northgate / SX3 – 3rd Line Support Engineer (Contract).

June 2005 – April 2007

·       Provided telephone and field based support for Sheffield City Council and Primary Care Trust following ITIL methodologies in a procedure driven environment.

·       Windows 95, 98, 2k, 2k3 and XP support

·       Provided advanced user training and support for MS Office applications

Earthtech Engineering – IT Consultant (Contract).

June 2004 – March 2005 (9 months, 3 contract renewals)

Provided project management and support for migration from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange
2nd and 3rd line support for end users (Approx. 240 on site and 300 remote)
Server administration – Server 2000 & 2003 (18 servers)
Remote access configuration and support using Ipass and Cisco VPN
Hartwell Motors PLC – IT Consultant (Contract).

January 2003 – February 2004 (13 months, 4 contract renewals)

Implemented and managed structured IT service desk for over 3000 end users on 42 remote sites
Created a process driven environment and developed policies and procedure documentation.
Management of 2 remote site engineers and 8 helpdesk analysts
Managed project to migrate email from web mail to exchange server 2000.
Legacy Marketing Group – PC Support Specialist II

September 1999 – November 2002 (Resigned prior to moving back to the UK)

Senior support position with large financial services company, responsible for development and support of desktop systems.
Technical coordination and production of promotional events and multimedia A/V projects for up to 300 attendees.
Veritas backup exec administrator, responsible for backups, restores and server maintenance.
ABB Daimler Chrysler – Application Support Manager

February 1998 – September 1999 (Resigned prior to moving to the USA)

Managed Baan ERP rollout to rail stock manufacturing facility
Recruited, developed and managed support team of 2 analysts and 8 engineers
Responsible for budget planning, network security policies and contract negotiations with 3rd party suppliers and contractors
RS Components – Systems and Marketing Coordinator

September 1994 – February 1998

Gathered client information to strategically target the group’s largest customers
Created marketing initiatives for National Accounts team
Developed proprietary customer records database, produced user manuals and training material.
Ministry of Defence – Electronic & Mechanical Apprentice

June 1990 – September 1994

·       Diagnosis, repair and testing of electrical, electronic and mechanical military equipment.

·       Final year specializing in Rapier missile systems

Education
Melton Mowbray College of Further Education

September 1990 – June 1994

HND Electronic Engineering
EITB (Engineering Industry Training Board) Electronic Engineering
Leicester Grammar School

September 1984 – June 1989

·       9 GCSE’s grades A-C

Professional Membership
Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing
Associate member of the Institute for Supervision and Management