Experience

TypeOut

• United Kingdom
• Writing and Editing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Operations Director

  • May 2010 - Present

  At TypeOut I run all of the operational aspects of the business. This means I wear many hats and have to work on multiple projects simultaneously. IT Initially I created and designed the website which is our virtual shop front - this has gone through many versions and keeps changing with the advance in technology and trends. I wrote and project managed our secure online database which is the engine of the business - from this database we know all about every job that we have ever worked on and are currently working on - it's essential to us. All technical support issues go through to me, whether it's our typists', clients' or our management team. I also have to ensure that the audio quality that we receive is good enough for our typing team so spend time with Audacity. Finance I set up and run our finance which started from a simple spreadsheet to a sophisticated online system meaning that we can keep tabs on all of the in and outs. This includes quoting, invoicing bank rec, chasing overdue payments, VAT and other HMRC work as well as liaising with accountants. Service Delivery Management I am responsible for the day to day client liaison ensuring that we do the best we can to meet our clients' expectations. This can be from initial contact to quoting to ongoing customer relationships. Recruitment I'm responsible for the initial contact with our typing team so if you need a job I'm the one to contact!! I also ensure that all typists are competent, compliant and have signed all agreements etc. I also pay everyone!! Marketing This is another essential role that I perform, from website design to search engine optimisation (SEO) and all other aspects of ensuring that we keep the business coming in. Show less



Fujitsu

• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 700 & Above Employee

• Integration team technical support

  • Mar 2009 - Apr 2011

  I then moved to the integration team where again a good all round technical knowledge was required as well as strong teamwork skills. Security clearance was required for this role. My main duties were to support the integration team by ensuring that the deployment tool was functioning correctly. The following tasks were performed:Supporting a bespoke Radia (HP Openview) environment in a 3 tiered server infrastructure.Ensuring server and desktop builds would deploy in an automated environment.Integrating applications to both Windows servers and desktops.Extensive testing of builds and application functionality.Reporting defects to developers and business users.Assisting developers with defect resolutions. Show less

• Test team lead

  • Jan 2006 - Feb 2009

  Fujitsu employed me to be a hands on technical team lead / tester for the MoD. Technical abilities and strong teamwork skills were essential for this role. The role required security clearance to SC level. I was responsible for a team of 6 of which our main duties were to test and report defects on applications for the packaging department. This was a full product lifecycle environment and the following activities were performed:.Deploying and testing desktop (UAD) and server builds which included deployment and post deployment testing.Testing desktop and server applications and builds in both physical and virtual environments (using VMWare).Test application deployment mechanism - Radia (HP Openview).Design, create, update and maintain all testing scripts.Ensure security application (Sanctuary) performs correctly and that relevant deployed files were not blocked during deployment and running of tested application.Update and maintain reporting tools adhering to consortium standards (Starteam).Liaise with packaging teams and other technical teams throughout the testing process.Reporting to senior management on progress.Assisting the packaging team with defect resolutions. Show less



Ws Atkins Plc

• United Kingdom
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Application discovery, rationalisation & testing

  • Oct 2004 - Dec 2005

  WS Atkins / Camwood employed me to lead the application team to deliver applications prior to a Windows XP roll out. The following tasks were performed: Liaising with the business to gather application requirements. (1500 Applications) Testing applications on a vanilla build PC to check if software ran in a Windows XP environment. Manage the submitting application process to ensure relevant details and source code had been delivered to the packaging team. Working closely with application packagers to ensure the packaged software functions correctly prior to user acceptance testing. UAT to ensure that client guidelines had been adhered to. Working in a 3rd party environment therefore ensuring standards from all sides were being adhered to. Keeping senior project managers on all sides up to date with the technical progress of the team via daily and weekly reports. Prioritising and resolving ad-hoc requests for application issues. Responsible for delivering tested applications within a strict time frame prior to roll out. Show less



Capita

• Canada
• Financial Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Testing, roll out & support

  • Jan 2004 - Sep 2004

  I was at Capita to assist in supporting their network and desktop environment and the rolling out of Windows XP. I performed the following tasks: Assist in creating a Win 2003 server test environment Checking and upgrading where necessary any hardware (desktops and laptops) Performing a full software audit to prepare for the roll out. Working with packaging teams to ensure the correct applications were packaged. Creating a desktop image. Testing all applications in the new environment. Roll-Out desktop and deploy new packages using Altiris. Post deployment support including training users (UAT). Day to day desktop support (Windows XP environment). Troubleshooting MS Office including mobile devices. Show less



BBC

• Italy
• Technology, Information and Internet
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Discovery and application rationalisation team lead - nations & regions

  • Aug 2001 - Dec 2003

  At the BBC I was employed to the following tasks: Liaise with the business and department heads to review their present desktop environment and agree on post roll out desktop environment in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales including relocating where necessary. Liaising with engineers to gather and review the applications from the business and collate this into relevant information. (3000 Applications) Deciding on and submitting applications to the BBC’s application steering group for business approval and then onto the integration team for MSI packaging Manage UAT (user acceptance testing) on both Windows 2000 and XP desktop and ensuring that applications are up to the standards that all departments expect. Ensure that the application server has replicated to the relevant BBC site(s) and that all applications have a live status prior to desktop upgrade Supervise, assist and liaise with desktop engineers by ensuring that all applications are deployed to the new updated desktop and are functioning correctly. Co-ordinate aftercare, training and sign off and ensure that the business can continue as they did before Train and assist in organising application investigators throughout the UK ensuring that standards and procedures are adhered to. Show less



The Boston Consulting Group

• India
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Migration technical lead

  • Nov 1999 - Jul 2001

  I was asked to return to BCG to test and roll out the year 2000 patches for both servers and workstations. From January onwards the following general network support duties were performed: Maintain existing, build and configure new NT 4.0 servers (PDC & DC), maintain and support Exchange 5.5 (email) , build and maintain IIS servers (web servers) for the UK intranet site. Schedule, test and maintain backups and manage off site tape storage. Configure, implement and support RAS and LAN rover for consultants to dial in and authenticate to London servers. Manage Ethernet cabling and patching over two floors. Maintain software licences and hardware for the servers. Upgrade telephonies by liaising between Telco companies and senior management. I was also part of the team creating a testing environment for the Win 2000 server and workstation roll out. Business as usual support duties were also required. Show less



FremantleMedia UK (formerly talkbackTHAMES)

• Technical support & migration support

  • Jun 1999 - Nov 1999

  Initially this was a support role using NT 4.0 technologies for the London office - mainly supporting senior executives and live news rooms in a fast paced environment. I then joined the team rolling out NT workstation and server builds to offices throughout London, Paris and Madrid. My responsibilities included creating clean builds, installing and configuring software & hardware and creating images per department using Ghost. Post roll out duties included finalising and configuring the new build and a detailed hand over to the client. Migrating accounts from Lotus Notes to MS Exchange required additional server skills to create and configure the new mailboxes. Show less



Global Asset Management

• Financial Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Migration, roll out & technical support

  • Dec 1998 - May 1999

  This was a migration / roll out job requiring analysis of the local Windows environment, ensuring that all applications, databases and connectivity would work correctly after the migration. Once backups had been taken, Altiris and SMS were used as deployment tools. Post roll out activities included checking all applications etc worked correctly, customer hand over as well as technical support where required. This was a banking environment requiring customer facing skills in a high pressure environment. Show less

• Technical support specialist

  • Dec 1997 - Nov 1998

  Initially employed as a first line technical support role after BCG had just migrated from MACs to PCs. Day to day duties included hardware and software support in a Windows 95 environment, Office 97 and Oce printer support (including print queues).This was a customer facing role in a professional environment, requiring fast thinking and learning on the job with a "can do" attitude. The role quickly progressed and I became technical support specialist with responsibilities including; Novell server support, tape backups, video conferencing (setting up & support), networks (cabling & patching), routers and RAS. Supporting senior partners was also an essential part of this role. Show less



Dorling Kindersley Publishing

• Product testing & technical support

  • Jan 1996 - Nov 1997

  Initially employed as a technical product tester. This in involved manually installing & testing Dorling Kindersley products in a Windows 3.1 & Windows 95 environment. Tests results were reported to the development team via an Access database system and retested once bugs had been resolved. Also responsible for amending the testing scripts and procedures. Then promoted to join the product technical support team where my main responsibilities were talking clients through technical issues over the phone. Most support calls involved resolving highly technical Windows 95 problems with non technical users. Also performed general day to day maintenance of the knowledge base database so that other team members could search for and resolve support calls efficiently. Show less