C U R R I C U L U M V I T A E
| gavinj-at-fnarg-dot-net | |
| Website | fnarg.net |
| Address | 2, Station Houses, Creigiau, Cardiff, CF15 9NH, United Kingdom |
| Birth date | December 25, 1961 |
| Nationality | British |
| References | Available on request |
Last updated in November, 2006.
I am interested in any position where I can extend and develop my existing skills and knowledge in the production and publishing of digital content. I have particular expertise with web applications and audio-video content, and extensive experience of project managment and team leadership.
I have a good understanding of the following technologies; Perl, Unix, Apache, XML, Concurrency Version System (CVS), Structured Query Language (SQL), RDBMS (MySQL, Oracle), HTML, CSS and JavaScript. As a developer I have worked with Perl to produce web applications for deployment on Unix platforms. I have a good working knowledge of TCP/IP networking and Linux System Administration and can produce software designs using the Universal Modeling Language (UML) standard. More recently I have been managing the development of Encoding Systems to manage the production and delivery of audio and video streams.
Skills and experience that I can offer.
My current role of Technology Team Leader covers all aspects of new media technology including system development, maintenance of the production environment, and the operational support of distributed content. The role is (informally) comprised of four components; Team Leader, Technical Project Manager, Divisional Account Manager (Nations and Regions) and Management Team Member (BBC Wales New Media).
As a member of the management team, I authored, and hold responsibility for, the departmental Technology Strategy and related strategies concerning departmental usage of Storage and Networks.
Working on the management team, alongside the Executive Producers and Senior Managers allows me to understand the department's business drivers. In turn, this informs project planning through a greater understanding of departmental dependencies. As well as acting as technical authority to managers, I also provide input on general business issues. For example, we are currently re-organising production to increase our external spend, and I have contributed extensively to the thinking behind the new policies and business practise.
I meet regularly with editorial staff in BBC Wales to define and capture technical requirements and assist in project planning.
I contribute regularly to the monthly departmental meetings, and enjoy presenting new technologies to a non-technical audience. I have recently lectured on new media technology at UWIC (University of Wales). My role on the management team has increased my confidence in liasing between technical and non-technical groups, and I feel that this is an area where I have particular strength.
As the Team Leader in BBC Wales New Media, I act as line manager to a team of eight, consisting of four web developers (client and server-side) and two multi-platform developers (web streaming and interactive TV) and two technical project managers.
I have five years experience of recruitment.
My line manager activities include facilitating a weekly routine (organised by team members on a rotational basis), managing a training budget and appraisals. In learning to motivate technical staff, I've found that stimulating creative thinking through training, brainstorming, conferences and similar activities to be a rewarding and valued approach. My experience of working in psycho-dynamic environments (i.e. schools, hospitals) has been helpful when dealing with more profound personnel issues.
Some notable individual successes have been fostered from within the team, including a translation tool Vocab and a mapping application Streets of Cardiff, both of which have won acclaim and sponsorship from outside of BBC Wales. In terms of workflow and process, I have introduced help-desk software and shift working to deliver a short order system; a wiki and support web site provides documentation, and the use of CVS (Concurrency Versioning System) and UML (Unified Modelling Language) assist with software development.
I handle complaints from members of the public and do a weekly stint on the help-desk.
When working with larger, multi-stakeholder projects, I work pro-actively to identify areas of risk and strive to make informed decisions through suitable enquiry and research. In the capacity of Technical Project Manager I've learnt to listen carefully to client requirements, and also how to have influence in the decision making. As a Technical Project Manager I provide a level of expertise that is necessary to ensure projects will be delivered within agreed financial and time constraints. I have extensive experience of estimating resource requirement and providing advice on allocation.
Recent examples of projects that I've worked on as Technical Project Manager include, a network commission for the BBC Two programme Tribe, and Voices, which was nominated for a webby award. Both of these projects involved contracting, and working with external suppliers.
I act as a Technical Account Manager and point of contact for the department in three key relationships; with internal BBC Wales staff such as IT and broadcast engineers, with staff on contract via Siemens/RedBee for management of playout, and as technical sign-off on all major projects with external suppliers.
As a Software Engineer the longest running project I have worked on is WiPS (Wales interactive Production System). I wrote the initial version of WiPS whilst an Online Engineer in 1999. Currently the system has over 400 users, and is used extensively within BBC Wales and occasionally within the Nations. The system allows non-technical staff to author, store and publish content to bbc.co.uk. WiPS is now developed and maintained by the team members, I continue to contribute some project management input, and advise on technical architecture issues.
As a Technical Architect I've overseen the development of the infrastructure that delivers Welsh and English language streaming services to bbc.co.uk. My part has been in making written proposals and funding applications that, over four years, have secured twelve dedicated encoders, development of local and remote sources including four Digisat receivers, four video editing desks, increased bandwidth to playout centres and the development of scheduling and routing control systems. This project has helped me appreciate the (future) importance of the relationship between broadcast and software engineering.
I represent Wales in the Nations and Regions New Media Technical Group, chaired by the Technology Controller for Nations and Regions. I work across the division in a number of areas: including DAB Text for Digital Radio, Webcam policy and procurement and earlier this year, drafted a report, commissioned by Head of Nations and Regions, to advise on the feasibility of adopting a single Content Management System within the division.
As a Divisional Representative I represent Nations and Regions in several of New Media's initiatives; the Technical Forum (Standards and Guidelines), the Online Infrastructure Group and at Online Operations. As the Nation and Region representative on the Technical Forum I ensure that the division is adequately represented throughout the process of creating, and signing-off, the standards that govern the production and delivery of new media content. I formed, and chair, the Applications Development working group. The Applications Development standard is mandatory reading under New Media's procurement rules. I also act as Nations and Regions representative on a number of other working groups; Audio-Video, XML, RSS, Email and Server Resources.
My involvement with the Standard and Guidelines community is largely driven by a belief in the value of public service broadcasting, and the important role that BBC standards have to play in influencing consumer expectation. Through this work, I have improved my understanding of many legal and policy issues, such as intellectual property rights, statutory safety requirements and the Disability Discrimination Act.
The Online Infrastructure Group is led by New Media's Head of Technology and meets quarterly to discuss investment strategy. As the representative on the Online Operations group I liaise between Internet Services (Siemens) and the New Media representatives from around the divisions. I occasionally chair the meetings, and get involved in managing spin-off projects.
As Team Leader I worked with a cross-section of professionals to ensure that the interactive elements of BBC Education web sites were developed to meet the requirements of the commissioning editors.
As senior programmer in the team I worked on a number of strategic applications including a Content Production System for BBC Navigation Components, and the development of Concurrency Versioning System for Web Producers. I also worked on bbc-wide web applications including TV and Radio schedules and the BBC Feedback (E-mail) System at bbc.co.uk/feedback.
Working on a shift rota I provided a range of Internet publishing support services to BBC commissioners, site producers and third party developers. I also produced web applications for the public web sites, including BBC Radio 4 and Eastenders.
I lead a small team to implement an Internet based information service specialising in economical data from 'tiger' economies. Applications were developed using SQL server, HTML, Javascript and Java.
At Emap I applied my experience of databases to the Internet working on sites such as FHM, New Woman, Empire and Q
Overall responsibility for the design and implementation of a service wide database for the 6 clinics comprising the Substance Misuse Service. The project took 2 years, was delivered successfully, on time with a budget of 60,000 GBP. DAISY, (Drug Alcohol Information SYstem) captured demographic, process and outcome client data until 2000 when de-commissioned due to a merger.
Working for the Social Statistics Research Unit. Performed data analysis on the National Childhood Development Survey using SPSS software and Unix operating systems.
Co-development of research issues including management of project database and preparation of statistical reports. Development and purchasing of information technology hardware and software, provision of computer maintenance and software support.
Specialising in Art and Music for children with emotional and behavioral problems
Including Maths and English O Levels, Economics and General Studies A Levels.