Curriculum Vitae
Page 1 of 2
John Smith
John Smith
15 Pasters Court, 1b Trinity Avenue, Enfield, EN1 1HW, England
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8363 7665
Mobile: 07762 601149
e-mail: cv@john-smith.me
Personal site: http://www.john-smith.me
Twitter: JohnMMIX
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-smith/14/377/6a7
Linux/Unix software developer experienced in the media, internet and finance
industries. Have designed, built and supported high-profile, business critical systems
using many different technologies. Familiar with both start-up/SMB and corporate
environments – over a decade at Fortune 500 companies (News Corp, Google).
Skills, Abilities and Areas of Expertise
I.T. - technical
Operating Systems
Have built systems running on many flavours of Linux and Unix; also on cloud
environments such as Google App Engine and Amazon EC2. Have also worked on
Windows, MacOS X and iOS systems, but would not consider myself an expert on
these by any means.
Programming Languages and Libraries/Environments
Core expertise: Python (inc. Django), C/C++, Perl, SQL, JavaScript (inc. jQuery and
Backbone amongst others), Unix shell scripting
Have also used: Java (J2EE, JSP, applet), PostScript, Tcl/Tk, C#, ObjectiveC/Cocoa Touch
Databases
PostgreSQL, Oracle (8i through 10g, also HTML DB aka Application Express),
MySQL, MS SQL Server (inc. Analysis Services), Firebird, Ingres
Client Applications and Development Tools
Emacs, Eclipse, TOAD, ProClarity, InDesign, Photoshop, MS Office, Visual Studio,
Xcode, Purify, gdb, git, Subversion, RCS, Bugzilla, CodeBase
Server Applications
Apache, Varnish, Tomcat, JBoss, Veritas Cluster Server, Samba, Puppet
Other technologies
XML (including SOAP), HTML/CSS/DOM, OAuth, JSON, Google APIs, SVG,
PDF; multi-threaded applications; distributed and clustered systems (client/server,
load-sharing, HA, etc); image manipulation, FIX
I.T. - interpersonal and non-technical
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Rapid application development, prototyping, and iterative processes.
Disaster recovery (aka business continuity) strategies.
Managing of financial systems for external audit requirements (e.g. SOX 404).
Producing documentation and giving training (both intra- and inter-departmental).
Management and development of the full system lifecycle, from analysis and design through
to go-live, BAU and ongoing support and development.
Change management and control.
GUI design and development, for both web and standalone application environments.
Other
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Experienced and comfortable with dealing with external customers and vendors.
Able to work in high-pressure environments, to extremely tight deadlines.
Japanese language: Intermittent study over a decade; currently extremely rusty.
Personal Details
Nationality:
Qualifications:
British
BSc (Hons) 2.2 in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham
3 GCE A-Levels (Maths, Computer Science, German); 7 GCE O-Levels
E-mail: cv@john-smith.me
Latest version of this CV is at http://www.john-smith.me/CV
Curriculum Vitae
John Smith
Page 2 of 2
Work History
2013 – present: BATS Trading Ltd
http://www.batstrading.co.uk
Web developer at BATS Chi-X Europe, the biggest equities exchange in Europe, working on both the
public site and internal web-based tools. Main technologies are Python/Django and JavaScript/Ext.js
running on Apache/SuSE Linux. I am also involved in the Python batch processing systems and
occasionally the core trading systems in C++. (Permanent role)
2011, 2012: Potato Ltd/Google Inc
http://www.potatolondon.com
Lead developer on “Our Mobile Planet” project for Google (http://www.ourmobileplanet.com),
built using Python, App Engine, JavaScript/jQuery, CSS3. Role also involved project management and
direct liaison with customer’s staff and other vendors/suppliers over three continents. Also part of the
development teams – sometimes as lead, sometimes as a minor contributor – on several other
intranet/backend projects, for clients such as Google and M&S, using additional technologies such as
Django and Backbone. (Contract role)
2011: European Directories
http://www.europeandirectories.com
Short-term, non-development position, evaluating and advising on vendor proposals. (Contract role)
2009 – 2010: Potato Ltd/Google Inc
http://www.google.co.uk
Developer working on-site in Google’s London office, via Potato agency. (Contract role)
Initially part of a three man team developing “Getting British Business Online”
(http://www.gbbo.co.uk). I was later was team lead on “Consumer Commerce Barometer”
(http://www.consumerbarometer.com), and also worked on systems for internal Google use.
Technologies used were Python, App Engine, Django, JavaScript/jQuery, Amazon EC2.
2008 – 2009: Newsprinters Ltd
http://www.newsprinters.co.uk
General responsibilities for all IT aspects of reel handling system. (Two 6-month contracts)
I was brought in to ease the transition between the commissioning and full operation at three new print
sites. This required a wide variety of “soft” IT skills, from project managing vendors and suppliers, to
defining, documenting and training internal processes. I also designed and built reporting and
monitoring systems to cover shortcomings in products from external vendors. Technologies used
included Windows, Linux, Perl, Python, Firebird database, PostScript.
2004 – 2008: News International Newspapers
http://www.newsint.co.uk
Senior Analyst Programmer (Permanent role)
Operating in a different team from my previous stint, notable projects included:
 Designing and developing a web-based system for tracking customer responses across the
business. Underlying technologies were Solaris, JSP, Tomcat, Oracle and HTML DB.
 Business Continuity system to produce editorial content from an external Disaster Recovery site.
 Developing a system to track newsprint deliveries of value £100m per annum, with rigorous audit
requirements. Technologies included Java, Oracle, XML, SOAP and Solaris.
I also consulted on a £650m project for new print sites, in areas such as vendor analysis and go-live.
http://www.merchantpagan.co.uk
Consulting for a small I.T. services company, with a focus on open-source solutions.
2003 - 2004: Merchant Pagan
2001 - 2003: Career break
Funded by a Y2K bonus payment, I took the opportunity to travel the world.
http://www.newsint.co.uk
Initially employed as a Programmer, promoted several times, rising to Consultant. (Permanent role)
Part of the team responsible for developing and maintaining many of the systems for newspaper production. Many
technologies utilized, e.g. Solaris, C, PostScript, Tcl/Tk, Unix scripting, MacOS, and Oracle.
1996 - 2001: News International Newspapers
http://www.pressassociation.com
Developed systems for newspaper and teletext services; technologies were Unix, C, Perl, MacOS and Informix.
1995 - 1996: PA Data Design
http://www.esprit-automation.co.uk
Developed, trained, documented and supported DOS-based applications in C.
1993 - 1995: Esprit Automation
E-mail: cv@john-smith.me
Latest version of this CV is at http://www.john-smith.me/CV