James Inman Email & Phone Number

I undertake contract and freelance work, including web application development, database development and digital consultancy.The bulk of my freelance work is focused on "tech for good" opportunities and working with the non-profit sector, but I am always open to new opportunities.I have a few SaaS-ish ideas floating around too.

Inclusive Jobs was a startup focused on bringing together neurodivergent individuals and forward-thinking employers wanting to create more inclusive workplaces. With a group of friends and colleagues, I created a community platform and employer neurodiversity audit, as well as training materials and content.Notable projects included training Aer Lingus on employee neurodiversity (in January 2024) and producing an eBook with the team.Unfortunately, the time wasn't right for Inclusive Jobs, but I'm always open to talking about neurodiversity and inclusion in the workplace with anyone who wants to push those ideas forward.

Chelmsford, England, Gb

As CPO and CPTO, I led on long-term product (and technology build) strategy, with a focus on the development of new solutions and insights to rebuild and consolidate the products in Juniper's portfolio. I am a member of the Board, attending monthly Board meetings, and providing product and technology best practice to the PE-backed EdTech business. During my time at Juniper I have been responsible for up to 90 staff members, including headcount, people management and departmental transformation strategies, and a substantial third-party software and services budget.Appointed when I joined Juniper as Chief Product Officer (CPO), I held the additional Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role from December 2021. In November 2022, I took on an expanded CTO role, divesting the product strategy and marketing to a standalone product department. In this role I was responsible for all aspects of product development covering technical strategy and Engineering leadership (working both strategically and hands-on where required), plus an expanded information role encompassing internal IT, systems and information security (including, where required, legal liaison) - plus a number of special projects. I took key roles in our database and systems optimisation projects, and liaison with external cloud providers to reduce annual spend by c. 50% of budget, whilst ensuring that the product vision I created continued to be implemented.

I had responsibility for long-term product strategy within Impero, and worked as part of the Executive team to expand the company's products into new markets and technologies. I brought the revolutionary Backdrop platform (including classroom management and online safety products) to market, including leading all engineering and product functions and the associated teams. I built the 5-year educational product and data strategy for the organisation.Working closely with the PE investors, I played a core role in M&A activity throughout the Group, and led technical and product due diligence on a number of potential and realised acquisitions. Following the acquisition of Netop, I was responsible for development teams across the UK, US, Romania and the Philippines.

Following Impero's acquisition of Safeguarding Monitor, I became the Product Director for EdAware (formerly Safeguarding Monitor) at Impero, working on the product management and strategy for EdAware (safeguarding in education), Locker (safeguarding for Premier League football and top-tier sports clubs) and related safeguarding products. I provided wider technical and product consultancy to the Group.

I was the creator and MD of Safeguarding Monitor, a software system for improving safeguarding in education. Safeguarding Monitor was acquired by Impero in September 2018.

Bury, Lancashire, Gb

I was the Managing Director of Centu, a digital agency, where I responsible for strategy, technical leadership and sales and marketing. Originally acting as a vehicle for my freelance projects, Centu grew to a team of eleven dedicated staff members based in Bury. We were an award-winning agency holding ISO9001 and ISO27001 accreditation, and I was shortlisted for the E3 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.We focused on the delivery of complex software applications, bespoke business systems and projects across web and mobile to our diverse client base - ranging from SMEs to charities, councils and educational providers.A core project was the ground-up redevelopment of a pioneering assessment solution for students with SEND, SOLAR for Schools.Centu was closed down due to the sudden death of our Operations Director, my wife, Michelle.

Manchester, Gb

At Ticketline I led development on a self-service ticketing system, Ticketlight, from specification through to delivery, including feature development, regular code reviews and project reports. I was also responsible for managing developments on the company’s main e-commerce website, including adding shopping basket and “up selling” functionality, and all recruitment and HR (including regular performance reviews) for the web team.

At Mediaburst I was the lead developer of Timetastic, a nicer way of booking time off work. Originally built in Ruby on Rails, I then converted it to PHP/MySQL backend and built it to serving 8000+ users. I also worked on expanding the company's plugins for sending text messages, specifically focusing on WordPress plugins. I was a developer evangelist, attending events and hackdays.

Za

At Meritec I was the lead consultant on CPOMS (see below), and continued as the developer of the product, planning and designing a new system for schools and agencies to share information about students. I also took a leading role in putting in place customer support procedures, and was the first point of call for all customer support enquiries about the product. I continued to undertake field sales and demonstration visits to schools and MPs alongside colleagues.I also led the redevelopment of an e-learning system for councils, "Focus On..."

Middlesbrough, Teesside, Gb

I founded Montrose River with a vision for a piece of software - which came to be known as CPOMS - for transforming child protection reporting for schools and colleges, by moving existing paper-based systems to the cloud. I was responsible for day-to-day operations of the company, and full architecture and development of the CPOMS product. My role included field sales and marketing of CPOMS.I managed the *nix-based cloud servers that hosted the application, and implemented backup and security policies, including hardware- based two-factor authentication. CPOMS was built in Ruby on Rails and ran over a number of replicated MySQL database servers.

Bachelor Of Laws (Llb), Law

Msc Psychology

Certificate In Software Engineering

Certificate In Web Applications Development