Curriculum Vitae 

BSc (Hons) Astrophysics, FRAS, Grad.Inst.P  

Systems Administrator and Developer – providing software and systems solutions to a variety of businesses with a strong technical element and practical outlook.  

Key Skills and Achievements 

• Successful design, setup and deployment of over 45 PC’s spread across 20 sites with full budgetary control of £100,000
• Involved in successful delivery and management of a complete IT Infrastructure support service for Crown Prosecution Service
• Extensive experience of configuring and administering Windows 2000/2003 Server, XP, Active Directory, Terminal Services, Exchange and Cisco networking
• Extensive experience of Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, Veritas Backup Exec, Crystal Reports
• Part Windows 2003 MCSE qualified and experience of Citrix servers
• Development & delivery of control module for satellite control system
• Development skills in FORTRAN, SQL, C and VB
• Excellent project planning and workload management skills
• Self starter with strong communication and leadership skills
• Takes ownership of problems and doggedly pursues resolutions
• Solid people skills, enthusiastic and a pro-active problem solver

Various Contract Roles, November 2006 to Present 

Have worked for local companies including [snip] and [snip] on system building, system administration and networking, both wired and wireless. Have gained experience in use of InfoPath and SharePoint. 

[snip], September 2005 to October 2006

[snip] is a property services company serving the East Midlands. It has 20 offices providing a full range of services to both owners and renters of properties. 

 IT Systems Manger 

In this role I led a small team rolling out new PC’s, printers, wireless   networking and broadband across 20 different sites. The PC’s were imaged with XP and ran standard office applications such as MS Office 2003 and Adobe Photoshop.

I was responsible for the sourcing and purchase of all hardware and software and had a budget of £100,000. 

[snip], July 2002 to August 2005 

[snip] is an IT company providing outsourced services to several strategic partners. [snip] outsourced the provision of a complete IT service and support to [snip] for the Crown Prosecution Service worth more than £15m. As a Logica systems manager it was my task to help to smooth the transition of the contract to [snip]. I was soon offered a permanent post with [snip] directly.

 Systems Administrator, [snip]  

Working with the [snip] and [snip], I was an original member of the [snip] Infrastructure team.

On a day to day basis I was responsible for providing third line support to the [snip] users, the imaging of new PC’s, laptops and replacement hard drives, the setup of all network printers, and the setup, administration and repair of more than 250 application servers and 50 domain servers. I also provided support for the network infrastructure including cabling, patch panels and switches.

The [snip] system consists of over 300 remote servers and several thousand PC’s, laptops, thin clients, and printers connected over a WAN provided by Energis, all servicing over 8000 [snip] employees. The OS is Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Professional with Exchange Server 5.5, administered using Active Directory services, with a suite of software tailored to the needs of the [snip] and a Citrix Server farm. This led to the production of definitive builds for each type of server, PC and laptop, and the provision of structured Group Policy and security as per [snip] requirements. 

[snip],  May 2000 to July 2002 

[snip] is a major international force in IT services and wireless telecoms.  It provides management and IT consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing services to clients across diverse markets including telecoms, financial services, energy and utilities, industry, distribution and transport, the public sector, government, and space and defence. 

Transitional Systems Manager, [snip] Contract, April 2002 to July 2002 

I was tasked with a change management role to facilitate a smooth handover between [snip] and [snip] for the provision of the service contract for the [snip], and then overseeing the setup of the [snip] Infrastructure team for a couple of months before handing over to [snip] completely. This involved me in the recruitment of the team and advising senior managers with regard to service level agreements. 

Systems Manager, [snip] Project, April 2001 to April 2002 

[snip] is a European consortium made up of the member states of the European Space Agency. It is responsible for the commission, launch and control of a fleet of geo-stationary communication satellites. Logica won the original contract to design and program a satellite control system. The system was written in FORTRAN with some C and SQL, on the Unix OS, and later migrated to Linux running on Intel servers.  

I managed a small team of developers and the development infrastructure of the [snip] project made up originally of several Alpha servers and Alpha workstations running OpenVMS, and Windows NT and 2000 workstations, using server clustering and peer-to-peer networking, mirroring the live configuration based in Paris. I also continued to develop Control System code, especially its interaction with the OS. I visited Paris, home of [snip], many times to gain access to the live system to update and patch various modules in preparation of a new satellite launch. I was also involved in the migration of the existing control system from running on OpenVMS to Linux, and the writing of a new control system for future satellites in C, C++ and Java to run on Linux servers. 

Developer, [snip] Project, May 2000 to April 2001 

Worked on modules relating to telemetry and tele-commanding, writing new routines and amending existing routines in both FORTRAN and C. Compiled, ran and tested new and amended routines, creating testing schedules and testing criteria, and version controlling passed routines. 

[snip], July 1999 to April 2000 and September 1994 to September 1995   

[snip] was a small mobile telecommunications company set up in 1994 just before the mobile phone explosion. They offered mobile telephones and pagers and their accessories initially to local businesses and later to the general public. The business was eventually sold to one of the national providers. 

   IT Manager, July 1999 to April 2000 and September 1994 to September 1995  

In my first period of employment with [snip] I was responsible for setting up the IT systems for the business and was responsible for the sourcing and purchase of all equipment. I was then tasked with teaching the staff how to use the PC’s and the various software packages that they required and providing ongoing hardware and software support.

In my second period with [snip] I carried out the upgrade of the IT system with new PC’s and peripherals and an update of the OS. 

University of Central Lancashire, September 1995 to June 1999 

After taking voluntary severance from [snip] plc I took the opportunity to go to university to take a degree course in Astrophysics, as I had intended to do after college but had been unable to do due to family commitments. Due to missing the cut-off I had to wait twelve months to start the course, hence my first period of employment with [snip]. I performed well throughout the course, winning the outstanding achievement award for my results in the second year, and being made course representative in my final year. Due to a death in the family I missed several pieces of course work and narrowly missed a First class degree, ending up with a 2:1. This course strengthened my IT skills and provided me with new development skills in FORTRAN and C.

[snip], February 1986 to August 1994 

[snip] is a world leader in nuclear technology from the production of nuclear fuel from the raw ore, to the recycling of spent fuel and all points between. 

Financial IT Manager, October 1990 to August 1994 

This role was created to create a unified IT policy and to manage the new IT systems and their interaction with the Materials Resource Planning system used by the Production department.

Scientific Officer, February 1986 to October 1990 

Worked in Quality Assurance laboratory testing production samples of Uranium Dioxide powder and fuel pellets to strict Quality Control plans.  

Education 

1999 – BSc (Hons) Astrophysics  Grade 2.1 

1997 – HND Observational Astronomy 

1985 – ‘A’ Level Maths (Pure & Applied)  Grade A

             ‘A’ Level Physics  Grade A

             ‘A’ Level Chemistry  Grade B

             ‘A’ Level General Studies  Grade B 

1983 – 9 ‘O’ Levels, 4 at Grade A, 2 at Grade B, and 3 at Grade C 

Pastimes and Memberships 

I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a Graduate Member of the Institute of Physics. Besides astronomy I have a keen interest in motor sport, American football and heavy rock music.