I am an experienced software developer that embraces pair programming along with the chance to work with new languages and tools. I’ve worked primarily in the retail and entertainment sector, with a passion for clean, well organised code using Test Driven Development (TDD) or Behaviour Driven Development (BDD).
I get a huge kick out of coaching whilst delivering worthwhile, intelligent and high quality projects and products. I’m motivated by the people I work with, the challenges of complex projects and the working within interesting environments. My passion for people, product, quality, pragmatism, transparency and creativity gets me excited about getting into work each day.
Employment History
Armakuni
Senior Consulting Engineer November 2021 – Present
Sainsbury’s PLC
Principal Software Engineer July 2017 – October 2021
Software Engineer February 2015 – July 2017
I work with teams developing RESTful JSON microservices in Go and PHP for the SmartShop application which uses Postgres and MySQL to persist data.
SmartShop is a new mobile shopping proposition that allows customers to scan their shopping, then transfer their basket to a physical till to pay skipping queues. Sainsbury’s are the first retailer to build their own application for this experience rather than outsourcing it.
My role is key in supporting the product being scalable. To support this I implement well documented Microservices using API Blueprint with Dredd, to ensure that the contract is met once implementation is complete.I use PHPUnit, PHPSpec or Behat to design and test the code during implementation.
I work across multiple agile teams work using a mixture of Scrum and Kanban. As part of the agile working methods I have run many of the ceremonies including Standups and Retrospectives.
Whilst working on the Sainsbury’s 2015 Christmas food pre-ordering website, we delivered the website on time within a very short time frame. The team used unit test, behavioural test and full end to end customer journey tests to ensure the site saw no major issue once it went live.
Development Community
Within Sainsbury’s I was a member of the Great Place to Work Group and the Development Community group.
I joined these two group as I want to help make Sainsbury’s a great place to work. My focus has now shifted to the Software Developer Apprenticeship Program, as in my opinion making Development better in Sainsbury’s, will make it an exciting and inviting place to work.
I have been involved with the planning of the Level 4 software apprenticeship programme.
Working with a training provider to design the two year program. Including a 6 week boot camp, three three month rotations and two six month electives.
To support this new process I worked with members of the HR team to recruit and train mentors, to guide the apprentices. This required collaboration to design a recruitment process which enabled fair assessment of candidates. I felt it was also important to draw out future talent which had not written software before.
I am a member of the development teams services guild, a group of developers who work to create standards and guidelines to ensure all APIs at Sainsbury’s have a uniform interface.
Outside of work, I support the organisers of PHP London Meetup, for example helping find locations.
Anobii / Sainsbury’s Entertainment
Software developer April 2013 – February 2015
My role at aNobii involved developing new and improving existing functionality in the company’s RESTful JSON API which used Postgres to persist data. The API was consumed by the customer facing website, the admin website and the mobile reader apps.
Along with implementing features for the API I have also been involved with implementing the functionality on the customer facing and admin websites. Both sites made use of the Slim Micro Framework and the code was tested using PHPUnit.
Along with the programming side of my role I was also Scrum Master within a team of six developers.
CBS Interactive
Web Developer May 2011 – April 2013
My role involved maintaining the existing code base and developing new features for the company’s technology news websites:
- ZDNet
- CNet
- Tech Republic
Real TSP / Open Bracket
Senior Software Developer 2009 to May 2011
Software Developer 2008 – 2009
Graduate Developer November 2006 – 2008
I worked for Open Brackets developing a Software as a Service ecommerce platform and Web Collect an online organisation management system for clubs and societies.
All sites complied with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) and had 3D Secure integration.
Other Interests
Conference / Meetup speaking
I about a year ago I started trying to give a talk a conferences and meetups.
I have given my talk about how imposter syndrome affects developers at London, Brighton, Berkshire (Reading), PHP East Midlands (Leicester), PHP South West (Bristol), PHP Hampshire (Portsmouth), Warwickshire (Coventry) PHP Meetups and PHP North West Conference.
I am currently working on talks about Doctrine Inheritance Mapping, Hexagonal Architecture and Pair Programming.
Scouting
Since the age of 7 I have been a Scout and have worked up through all sections of the Scout Association. I now volunteer as an Explorer Scout Leader. In 2008 I completed my Queen’s Scout Award, the highest award a Scout can achieve. It takes a lot of hard work and self motivation to gain the Queen’s Scout Award.
Education
Internet Computing BSc University of Wales, Aberystwyth
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