Dec 2023 – Dec 2025 · 2 yrs · Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom · Hybrid

• 🛠️ Role Insight: CTO | Head of Engineering
• In this distinguished role, I am tasked with leading our ambitious journey towards engineering excellence and cloud innovation. My mission is to navigate Royal London through the complexities of modern technology, setting a benchmark for what is possible in our industry.
• 🚀 Strategic Focus Areas:
• ★ Visionary Modernization: Championing the strategic overhaul of our engineering processes, laying the groundwork for a future where agility and innovation lead.
• ★ Cloud Leadership: Architecting robust, scalable cloud solutions that not only meet today's needs but pave the way for tomorrow's innovations.
• ★ AI/ML Mastery: Prioritizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, I aim to harness these powerful tools to elevate our analytical prowess and decision-making capabilities.
• ★ Empowering Developer Ecosystem: Creating a vibrant ecosystem that arms our engineers with state-of-the-art tools, enabling them to push boundaries and drive ground breaking solutions.
• ★ Cultivating Excellence: As a leader, my goal is to nurture a culture of innovation, collaboration, and perpetual growth among our talented team.
• ★ Forward-Thinking Technology Adoption: My role on the CIO Leadership Team involves shaping our strategic technology vision, ensuring a seamless blend of AI/ML innovation with comprehensive developer support.
• 🌟 The Essence of Royal London
• Joining Royal London transcends mere employment; it signifies a commitment to being at the forefront of driving transformative change. Our culture is one of pioneering innovation, embracing diversity, and exploring limitless possibilities. As we embark on this journey, I am eager to leverage my passion for AI/ML and developer empowerment, setting new standards of excellence in the financial services industry.

Nov 2018 – Sep 2023 · 4 yrs 10 mos · On-site

• Led global transformation of the Payments Engineering function, modernising platforms, empowering engineering teams, and delivering mission-critical solutions at scale. Operated at the intersection of business and technology to drive real-time innovation, cloud adoption, and regulatory compliance across regions.
• ★ Architected and delivered a standardized Java and Python application framework adopted by 300+ Payments applications, accelerating development through reusable design patterns.
• ★ Built a high-performance messaging, caching, and observability platform in Java, leveraged by over 500 applications, driving consistency and operational visibility.
• ★ Designed and launched a cloud-native Payments Data Lake on AWS, unlocking scalable data analytics and real-time insights.
• ★ Created cloud blueprint accelerators in Java and Python, reducing AWS onboarding and environment setup time by 40%.
• ★ Spearheaded the development of JPMC’s next-gen CI/CD platform using Jenkins and Spinnaker, enabling automated delivery for 2,000+ applications.
• ★ Engineered a declarative Configuration Management Framework that integrated with CI/CD pipelines, eliminating manual setup and reducing configuration errors across environments.
• ★ Led DevOps and Agile transformation across 200 applications, improving delivery velocity, quality, and lowering operational costs.
• ★ Founded and scaled Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) capabilities within Payments, embedding reliability and performance into engineering culture.
• ★ Kubernetes platform architect for 150+ applications, enabling elasticity and optimization that resulted in multi-million-pound infrastructure savings.
• ★ AWS subject matter expert responsible for designing cloud migration strategies for 120+ applications, accelerating enterprise-wide cloud adoption.

Jul 2013 – Nov 2018 · 5 yrs 4 mos · On-site

• Led the development of a global SDLC automation platform supporting 2,000+ applications and 60,000+ engineers, enabling stable, touchless deployments and improving delivery velocity.
• ★ Standardised deployment architecture across regions, reducing change failure rates and enhancing release confidence.
• ★ Embedded controls and observability into the SDLC pipeline to improve compliance and traceability.
• ★ Championed foundational DevOps adoption by building tools that enhanced developer experience and operational resilience across the firm.

Jan 2011 – Mar 2013 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Singapore · On-site

• ★ Managed and developed market connectivity to multiple exchanges in Asia, ensuring next generation trading platform development & smooth trading operations.
• ★ Successfully executed the BMAL WinSCORE migration, seamlessly transitioning critical systems and minimizing disruption.
• ★ Implemented disaster recovery environments for exchange connectivity in India, Hong Kong, and Singapore, ensuring business continuity in case of disruptions.
• ★ Established broker connectivity to Fidessa and Thomson Reuters, facilitating efficient trading and market data integration.
• ★ Managed level 2 production support and quality assurance, ensuring robust systems and resolving issues promptly.
• ★ Met mandatory regulatory and business requirements for Asian exchanges, ensuring compliance and operational integrity.
• ★ Served as a subject matter expert (SME) for SUNGARD, Fidessa, and Thomson Reuters, providing expertise and guidance in respective technologies and platforms.
• ★ Acted as an SME for C++, UNIX, and FIX, providing consultancy and support for complex projects within the regional equities team, contributing to their successful implementation.

Mar 2010 – Jan 2011 · 10 mos · London, United Kingdom · On-site

• ★ Led and architected exchange connectivity to Liffe UTP and IDEM SOLA, enabling seamless integration with these trading platforms.
• ★ Designed the next-generation base framework for electronic trading technology, providing a robust and scalable foundation for future development and innovation.

May 2009 – Feb 2010 · 9 mos · Hong Kong · On-site

• ★ Managed exchange connectivity to major exchanges including BSE, NSE, HKFE, SGX, and KRX, ensuring seamless trading operations.
• ★ Led a team to enable algorithmic access to NSE and BSE, coordinating efforts across multiple teams and regulatory bodies, facilitating efficient and automated trading.
• ★ Successfully executed a critical Data Center migration for connectivity applications in India, ensuring minimal disruption and maintaining uninterrupted services.

Jul 2004 – Apr 2009 · 4 yrs 9 mos · Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai · On-site

• ★ Managed and developed exchange connectivity to a wide range of exchanges, including TSE, JSE, OSE, TFFE, HKFE, SEHK, KSE, KFE, Man Financials, Thomson Reuters Broker Connectivity, Shanghai Stock Exchange, NSE, BSE, ASX, SFE, LNSE, LIFFE, EUREX, XETRA, IDEM, LAVA, CURRENEX, EBS, ESpeed, BOAT, LSE, CME, PHLX, CBOE, CBOT, TSX, ISE, NYSE, EuroEnxt, ensuring smooth trading operations across various markets.
• ★ Developed a next-generation exchange connectivity framework for Morgan Stanley, providing a unified solution for market access and enhancing efficiency.
• ★ Successfully managed multiple complex migrations, encompassing not only technology stack transitions but also infrastructure and business aspects, minimizing disruption and ensuring seamless continuity of operations.