Steve's Working Life

● Brought in to improve the timeliness and quality of projects for the global Digital Consulting business unit within Data Analytics. I implemented Azure DevOps, relevant Agile ceremonies, Confluence for information sharing and process management, a 4-part stage gate process to improve delivery assurance, and a formal support process. Rolled out globally with a very positive impact on customer projects in terms of delivery and customer satisfaction.

● Manage a team of Project Leads, BA’s and Developers delivering Azure solutions, Power Apps and Power BI projects. I focus on delivery assurance, plans, risks and balancing resources to match changing project priorities, recruiting as necessary, as well as running some projects myself.

● Created a reporting and governance structure, and coached a team of project managers to improve customer experience whilst driving to a plan, to deliver greater value in a shorter time.

• Management of the implementation of a Machine Learning platform that allows business users to translate documents between 22 language pairs. Managed the vendor and business stakeholders across the global business. I captured and wrote the user stories, authored the test strategy and plan, managed risk, managed the test activity, and drove the project plan and budget. Designed the support model, and produced all Knowledge Base articles. Provided training for power users.
• Managed the set-up and initiation of an $8M Global Accounts Payable Automation project connecting SAP with Invoicetrack (from Springtime) with EY as a partner. Constructed the Project Initiation Document and drove through sign-offs with VP’s and Directors. Created the plan and aligned with all tech teams and stakeholders, ran the project kick-off set-up the Azure DevOps boards, all governance meetings and ran initial Steering Committees. Managed the initial phases through to satisfactory completion.
• The Global IT Director I reported to said “You’ve come in, hit the ground running and started delivering. I really like your structured approach, and that I can leave you to get on with the job.”

• Successful completion of multiple Agile software projects for a wide variety of international clients as Scrum Master. Including AWS Platform builds, data ingestion and Data Lakes, IoT and Machine Learning including Natural Language Processing.
• Responsible for all project activity from pre-sales, kick-off, planning, building the after-sales client relationship, risk management, change management, building and motivating the development team, choosing and implementing tools, as well as managing the transition to support.
• Provided mentoring to other Project Managers on best practice, delivery methodology and stakeholder management. Identified and drove a number of performance improvement initiatives.
• Quote from the Head of Delivery & Operations; “You have the emotional intelligence to deal with complex customers, and deliver within parameters, even when seemingly impossible. Brilliant!"

• Led three company-critical internal R&D transformation projects of a total budget of £5M involving global ‘C’ level stakeholders and a digital innovation team, delivering RPA (Robotic Process Automation), AI machine learning and predictive analytics. Managed stakeholders from FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automotive) in Italy and the US.
• Managed GDPR enhancement project of a global application for BMW, liaising with internal development teams and two external software solution providers.
• Project managed a complex data visualisation project for Toyota, travelling to Dallas TX to establish strategy, approach, communication channels and rapport with the customer.
• Introduced a comprehensive set of Quality Gates that now govern the projects from work inception to delivery.

I founded the multi-award winning small software company, Junari Ltd in 2006. The name Junari is a Japanese phrase meaning “chosen path” and is indicative of the honour, responsibility and sense of direction that the company commits to. I was awarded the title “Colchester Businessman of the Year” in 2013. I very much enjoy working with businesses, especially charities, to solve business problems, cut costs and drive growth in revenue and services.

I signed-up Junari as an ORB member around 2011 as I believe that business should always be conducted ethically and that business really benefits from looking after our responsibilities to the planet, and to our most valuable resource, people. I became a director in ORB during 2016 and hope to take it further than it has reached already.

• Managed a highly novel product range that enabled prepayment customers to securely top-up electricity at home. Managed blue-chip relationships with utility customers and the end-to-end development of a £5M programme. Led a 20-man product dev team (including three PM’s) in all aspects from customer proposals, requirements capture, feasibility, solution design, materials design, firmware, manufacturing processes, and approvals (CE, WEEE, RoHs etc) and PCI-DSS.

I was part of a project that spun out of BT as part of a Brightstar Incubator program run by BT. We took the application suite that BT used to automatically schedule work for 25,000 field engineers to other companies such as ntl, E.On and Centrica. I was responsible for Quality and later all customisations and technical services ensuring that the product fit into a customers environment with the minimum of difficulty and stress, mostly!

I joined BT as an apprentice in the City of London in 1982, which took me two years to get onto. This was an awesome way to learn about a company and the world of work with all its warts and achievements. I wish the apprenticeships today were more like this was for me. I moved to Cambridge as a Technical Officer and then moved to the labs at Martlesham to start my software career as a tester and then eighteen months later as a Test Team Leader. I joined the artificial intelligence project that scheduled work to field technicians and was later spun out into Brightstar (see above).