Curriculum Vitae

John Field MSc

Available with 1 month's notice; immediate from September 2006Gainfully employed!
(email removed from web version)
http://www.vodex.net/

Profile

A web and intranet application developer and architect, with experience of delivering effective solutions on time and under budget. I'm seeking an opportunity for increased responsibility, ideally involving a Web 2.0 platform.

Analytical and disciplined with a passion for open standards and best practice, I'm a lifelong learner and 'generalising specialist' with additional public sector experience, including high-level communication skills and client-facing activities.

Core Skills

  • Architecture analysis and design, including object-oriented design (5 years)
  • HTML/XHTML/CSS/Javascript/DOM (5 years), including web standards, accessibility and AJAX
  • PHP (2 years) including PEAR & MySQL
  • Ruby on Rails (4 months)
  • Database design and usage (MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and Access) (5 years)
  • Development environments including Dreamweaver, Eclipse and Subversion
  • VB6 (6 months)
  • ASP Classic (6 months)

Supplementary Experience

  • over 10 years experience in technical and associated areas, including:
  • information architecture
  • interaction design, including usability
  • Agile methodologies including test-driven development
  • communication skills, including towards non-technical individuals
  • documentation & training
  • graphical design, including Paint Shop Pro
  • Website administration and maintenance
  • Project management, including proposal creation, team guidance, and monitoring
  • requirements analysis
  • Windows platforms and technologies (including training) including Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP
  • Office packages
  • scientifically minded and numerate
  • Working knowledge: UML, Search engine optimisation, Flash, Java/JSP, XML, SOAP, WSDL, Scrum

Career History

Feb-Nov 2005 Applications Developer, University of Portsmouth Business School

Achievements: (As of March 2006) Successful development, launch, and maintenance of bespoke GoalPost system, used by 2000 students and 150 teaching staff; management of rollout, training, change management, & troubleshooting

Contract extended to prototype additional systems, including an automated student feedback capturing/analysis application, and a folksonomic document management tool; implemented in Ruby on Rails

Responsibilities: responsible for system analysis, design, and implementation of GoalPost, a bespoke web application for e-learning and national Personal Development Planning activities within the Business School. Activities beside development include user testing, documentation, quality assurance, training sessions and stakeholder management; conducting presentations both internally and at conference; collaboration with University functions such as Information Services and Quality & Curriculum Enhancement. Effectively a hybrid post building on both academic and support staff experience.

GoalPost records and automates career and personal growth activities and student support, and has aspects of both virtual learning and social networking environments. Compliant with Web standards and accessibility guidelines, developed in object-oriented PHP & MySQL using the PEAR framework.

Jan-Feb 2005 Web Developer, Geodata Institute, University of Southampton

Achievements: Development of several geological information system-related websites and application, including completing a Vodafone population application in under 50% of budget, national conferences, Scarborough Borough Council and internal departments

Responsibilities: Design & development of PHP-driven web sites and Visual Basic applications as member of the Institute's specialised web development team

2003-2004 MSc Internet Systems Development

(See Qualification History)

2000-2003 Software Implementer, The Innovation Group

Achievements: Promoted from trainee to core development team; involvement in business milestones, mission-critical development, and client prototype demonstrations

Responsibilities: Analysis and design of business-critical systems, presentation components, administration tools and websites, using prototyping and structured methods for a global insurance solutions provider, both independently and as part of agile client-facing teams, utilising DHTML, ASP, SQL Server, and Visual Studio

Qualification History

2003-2004 MSc Internet Systems Development, University of Portsmouth

Achievements: Achieved professional qualification with grade of Merit; expanded and formalised my capabilities; consistently higher grades than colleagues with previous domain experience (e.g. Java, multimedia); word-of-mouth good reputation led to various employment via the University and individuals

Responsibilities: Personal career development via a specialist technical course; considerable self-management, working unsupervised both independently and as part of a team; substantial real-world project to analyse and develop an application for a local company, including dissertation and presentation justifying development decisions. Range of subject matter including project management, website architecture & management, networking, security, server and client programming, multimedia development, and database management

1997-2000 Information Technology lecturer/trainer & course manager, Highbury College

Achievements: Enabled over three hundred people to gain useful career-enhancing and confidence-boosting skills; gained advanced interpersonal and communication skills, including dissemination and mentoring; originally a part-time position, promoted to full-time with increased responsibility; achieved record student achievement/retention rates

Responsibilities: Training and communicating with a diverse range of clients, including school leavers, company directors, and required needs, in a wide range of IT subjects from beginner up to HNC level, including programming, web design and business analysis, requiring considerable strategic and tactical IT knowledge; liaising with and supervising other lecturers and external bodies in course delivery; designing courses and their implementation; large amounts of unsupervised work

1992-1996 Undergraduate study (BSc (Hon.) Applied Physics, University of Portsmouth)

Achievements: Diverse range of practical and academic physical science subjects, including computing-related; 2.ii grade with final year computer simulation project (Distinction grade); Merit grade for Diploma of Industrial Studies

Responsibilities: Self-development and self-management; sandwich year with industrial placement at British Steel's Technological Research Laboratories.

1985-1992 3 A-Levels (Physics, Maths, Biology), 9 GCSEs (Wallingford School)
Interests
In my leisure time I enjoy walking and amateur scientific interests such as astronomy and paleobiology. I also have interests in the paranormal (having performed a sponsored firewalk) and professional wrestling.

Personal Details

  • Nationality: British
  • Date of Birth: 19 May 1974
  • Member of British Computing Society