Curriculum Vitae John Smith
John Smith
15 Pasters Court, 1b Trinity Avenue, Enfield, EN1 1HW, England
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8363 7665 Mobile: 07762 601149
e-mail:
Personal site: http://www.john-smith.me Twitter: JohnMMIX
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-smith/14/377/6a7
Linux/Unix software developer experienced in the media, internet and finance industries. Have designed, built and supported high-profile, business critical systems using many different technologies. Familiar with both start-up/SMB and corporate environments – over a decade at Fortune 500 companies (News Corp, Google).
Skills, Abilities and Areas of Expertise
I.T. - technical
Operating Systems
Have built systems running on many flavours of Linux and Unix; also on cloud environments such as Google App Engine and Amazon EC2. Have also worked on Windows, MacOS X and iOS systems, but would not consider myself an expert on these by any means.
Programming Languages and Libraries/Environments
Core expertise: Python (inc. Django), C/C++, Perl, SQL, JavaScript (inc. jQuery and Backbone amongst others), Unix shell scripting
Have also used: Java (J2EE, JSP, applet), PostScript, Tcl/Tk, C#, Objective-C/Cocoa Touch
Databases
PostgreSQL, Oracle (8i through 10g, also HTML DB aka Application Express), MySQL, MS SQL Server (inc. Analysis Services), Firebird, Ingres
Client Applications and Development Tools
Emacs, Eclipse, TOAD, ProClarity, InDesign, Photoshop, MS Office, Visual Studio, Xcode, Purify, gdb, git, Subversion, RCS, Bugzilla, CodeBase
Server Applications
Apache, Varnish, Tomcat, JBoss, Veritas Cluster Server, Samba, Puppet
Other technologies
XML (including SOAP), HTML/CSS/DOM, OAuth, JSON, Google APIs, SVG, PDF; multi-threaded applications; distributed and clustered systems (client/server, load-sharing, HA, etc); image manipulation, FIX
I.T. - interpersonal and non-technical
· Rapid application development, prototyping, and iterative processes.
· Disaster recovery (aka business continuity) strategies.
· Managing of financial systems for external audit requirements (e.g. SOX 404).
· Producing documentation and giving training (both intra- and inter-departmental).
· Management and development of the full system lifecycle, from analysis and design through to go-live, BAU and ongoing support and development.
· Change management and control.
· GUI design and development, for both web and standalone application environments.
Other
· Experienced and comfortable with dealing with external customers and vendors.
· Able to work in high-pressure environments, to extremely tight deadlines.
· Japanese language: Intermittent study over a decade; currently extremely rusty.
Personal Details
Nationality: British
Qualifications: BSc (Hons) 2.2 in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham
3 GCE A-Levels (Maths, Computer Science, German); 7 GCE O-Levels
Work History
2013 – present: BATS Trading Ltd http://www.batstrading.co.uk
Web developer at BATS Chi-X Europe, the biggest equities exchange in Europe, working on both the public site and internal web-based tools. Main technologies are Python/Django and JavaScript/Ext.js running on Apache/SuSE Linux. I am also involved in the Python batch processing systems and occasionally the core trading systems in C++. (Permanent role)
2011, 2012: Potato Ltd/Google Inc http://www.potatolondon.com
Lead developer on “Our Mobile Planet” project for Google (http://www.ourmobileplanet.com), built using Python, App Engine, JavaScript/jQuery, CSS3. Role also involved project management and direct liaison with customer’s staff and other vendors/suppliers over three continents. Also part of the development teams – sometimes as lead, sometimes as a minor contributor – on several other intranet/backend projects, for clients such as Google and M&S, using additional technologies such as Django and Backbone. (Contract role)
2011: European Directories http://www.europeandirectories.com
Short-term, non-development position, evaluating and advising on vendor proposals. (Contract role)
2009 – 2010: Potato Ltd/Google Inc http://www.google.co.uk
Developer working on-site in Google’s London office, via Potato agency. (Contract role)
Initially part of a three man team developing “Getting British Business Online” (http://www.gbbo.co.uk). I was later was team lead on “Consumer Commerce Barometer” (http://www.consumerbarometer.com), and also worked on systems for internal Google use. Technologies used were Python, App Engine, Django, JavaScript/jQuery, Amazon EC2.
2008 – 2009: Newsprinters Ltd http://www.newsprinters.co.uk
General responsibilities for all IT aspects of reel handling system. (Two 6-month contracts)
I was brought in to ease the transition between the commissioning and full operation at three new print sites. This required a wide variety of “soft” IT skills, from project managing vendors and suppliers, to defining, documenting and training internal processes. I also designed and built reporting and monitoring systems to cover shortcomings in products from external vendors. Technologies used included Windows, Linux, Perl, Python, Firebird database, PostScript.
2004 – 2008: News International Newspapers http://www.newsint.co.uk
Senior Analyst Programmer (Permanent role)
Operating in a different team from my previous stint, notable projects included:
· Designing and developing a web-based system for tracking customer responses across the business. Underlying technologies were Solaris, JSP, Tomcat, Oracle and HTML DB.
· Business Continuity system to produce editorial content from an external Disaster Recovery site.
· Developing a system to track newsprint deliveries of value £100m per annum, with rigorous audit requirements. Technologies included Java, Oracle, XML, SOAP and Solaris.
I also consulted on a £650m project for new print sites, in areas such as vendor analysis and go-live.
2003 - 2004: Merchant Pagan http://www.merchantpagan.co.uk
Consulting for a small I.T. services company, with a focus on open-source solutions.
2001 - 2003: Career break
Funded by a Y2K bonus payment, I took the opportunity to travel the world.
1996 - 2001: News International Newspapers http://www.newsint.co.uk
Initially employed as a Programmer, promoted several times, rising to Consultant. (Permanent role)
Part of the team responsible for developing and maintaining many of the systems for newspaper production. Many technologies utilized, e.g. Solaris, C, PostScript, Tcl/Tk, Unix scripting, MacOS, and Oracle.
1995 - 1996: PA Data Design http://www.pressassociation.com
Developed systems for newspaper and teletext services; technologies were Unix, C, Perl, MacOS and Informix.
1993 - 1995: Esprit Automation http://www.esprit-automation.co.uk
Developed, trained, documented and supported DOS-based applications in C.
E-mail: Latest version of this CV is at http://www.john-smith.me/CV