Previous skills and experience

I have been writing software for more than thirty years. I've learned a range of languages including C, C#, CSS, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Perl, SQL, and Visual Basic. I enjoy learning new languages (I'm currently experimenting with Lisp) both to find new ways of solving of problems, and to see where and how much languages overlap (ignoring syntax, low level features like if statements and for loops are very similar across most popular modern languages).

I dislike boring, repetitive tasks, and try to automate them where possible. My previous role included manually updating HTML pages (which was both boring and error prone), which lead to me creating a new guidance platform for HMRC that eliminated that role. (That also won me an "Innovator of the Year" award).

I worked as a telephone advisor for HMRC's contract centers for more than a decade, answering customer queries by phone and updating customer records in line with guidance and HMRC security policy. This job gave me strong empathy with our customers, and convinced me of the importance of the mission statement "Putting customers at the heart of everything we do."

That role also taught me how to explain complicated technical issues to non-technical people, and how to adjust the level of technical detail in an explanation in realtime based on the recipients reactions.