Journey

The Role

One of three in the Senior Leadership team, responsible for all technology at Cubitts, the British eyewear brand known for its craftsmanship and made-to-measure offering.

Key Initiatives

Digital Transformation: Led the migration from a legacy system to green-field web applications and microservices on AWS, using TypeScript and Python throughout.

Face-Scanning App: Launched a ground-breaking face-scanning application to power an innovative “perfect fit” made-to-measure service, bringing precision fitting to customers at scale.

Automation & Tooling: Built internal automation workflows to streamline operational processes across the business.

The Challenge

MPCH operated a complex, multi-component financial platform with high security and risk requirements. The engineering, cryptography, infrastructure and security teams were operating in silos with misaligned delivery timelines.

What I Did

Architecture & Delivery: Directed architecture and delivery for internal and external APIs, web, and mobile app development across a high-risk fintech environment.

Cross-functional Alignment: Led collaboration across the entire company to align product engineering, cryptography, infrastructure and security around a shared, improved delivery timeline.

Security Compliance: Owned the SDLC and technical roadmap for SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications, as well as remediating findings from security audits.

The Opportunity

YardLink was an early-stage construction marketplace relying on external agencies for technology. I joined to bring engineering in-house and build a product-led culture.

Key Achievements

Team Growth: Led the transition to an in-house technology team, enhancing agility and reducing dependency on external agencies.

Strategic Pivot: Collaboratively planned and executed a commercial pivot to a more profitable SME customer segment, which enabled a successful Series A raise.

Data & BI: Championed data-driven decision making and built an automated BI data insights pipeline to inform operational efficiency.

Fundraising: Pitched and raised the Series A alongside the CEO and COO. Also pitched and won an InnovateUK £100k grant, then executed the initiative.

Roadmap: Developed and maintained a 2-year product and technology roadmap with the CEO and Product Lead, including a system-to-system automation strategy.

The Context

Tata Steel Digital Ventures was building digital products for the steel industry. The team needed updated delivery methodologies and a culture of continuous improvement.

What I Delivered

Agile Transformation: Updated team and delivery methodologies, embedding agile practices and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and quality throughout the engineering organisation.

Platform Consolidation: Consolidated 2 existing platforms into 1, creating meaningful efficiency gains and cost savings for the business.

Key Work

Platform: Built the web platform from the ground up. The commercial model and operational side of the business were developed through two years of iteration with the tech platform.

Team: Hired and mentored a multifaceted department of engineering, QA, product and UX design, significantly improving project delivery speed and reducing volatility.

Product Innovation: Drove critical technology initiatives across the company’s product-market fit and scale-up phases:

• A viral competition marketing platform
• An innovative ticketing engine
• The logistics system that powered hundreds of intimate concerts globally

Fundraising: Technical lead through multiple fundraising rounds from pre-seed to Series B. Also filed R&D tax credit claims totalling over £350k.

The Roles

CTO, Global Street Art (Jan 2012 – Feb 2014): Built a web platform serving 30,000 artists, working closely with the CEO to orient the business for growth and secure further funding.

Platform Manager, Apps for Good (Dec 2010 – Dec 2011): Led the development of the web platform for a nationally acclaimed afterschool programme for tech education.

Project Manager (Contract), Somethin’ Else (Oct – Dec 2010): Managed the final delivery and launch of Papa Sangre, an award-winning, commercially successful iOS game.

The Foundation

Various Roles, BBC (Apr 2006 – May 2010): Started as a Software Engineer and evolved into a Tech Lead, directing technical strategies and leading development projects across one of the world’s most recognised media organisations.

Software Engineer (Contract), O2 (May 2010 – Oct 2010): Contributed to the validation and development of digital products for the SME market.

The Beginning

Kicked off my career as a Freelance Web Developer (2003–2006), providing web development services while pursuing academic studies at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The AI degree has proved relevant throughout my career, particularly as LLMs and AI tooling have become central to modern product engineering.

Education

• BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence - Manchester Metropolitan University, 2004-2006
• HND Software Engineering - Manchester Metropolitan University, 2002-2004