Nick Wilks Email & Phone Number

Sheffield, Gb

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom

Durham, United Kingdom

Contract Developer working on new, current and legacy projects spread over a wide variety of technologies. Helping with the businesses focus towards continuous interrogation and agile practices, specifically the adoption of lightweight SOA architecture and scalable technologies.

Sheffield

Provide guidance, advice and leadership for a team of software developers, working on a pilot Placement Management System in partnership with a prestigious Sheffield based University:Although initially a software development role, duties evolved to include project management, specification, system architecture and colleague mentoring. Once the project progressed from the pilot phase into the live environment, the role further evolved to include Dev-ops like duties, managing environments with a strong focus on testing automation, continuous integration and automated deployment. The project comprised of a number of discrete applications running in concert (scheduled console applications, 2 MVC 5 websites and a Web Api project). The development aspect of the role covered the full stack, from optimising views and stored procedures in SQL server, developing Entity Framework 6.0, DI using Ninject and Razor/HTML and JQuery for UI development. Setup and administration of Continuous Integration using SVN/Team City including automated deployment

I have worked on a number of projects at Alpharooms, both as a lead and as a team member and I relish either role. I played an integral part in the development of the multilingual vacenza.com website helping to shape the architecture around SOA principles and develop all aspect of the solution across a wide variety of browsers and platforms.Whilst working on these projects my duties have been varied – from dealing with complex and in-depth code integrating 35+ suppliers via various web services to payments systems. Writing custom JQuery plugins and google maps / places integration on the front end to importing and cleaning data from suppliers like Booking.com and writing and optimizing stored procedures and designing database schemas.Also working on any aspect of the legacy codebase like the current Alpharooms.com website and associated sub-projects and (Both VB and C#), all the while supporting, and where necessary, mentoring colleagues of every level. I have also played a large part in developing a prototype for an iOS application called Holexa, an application that gives suggestions for holiday destinations based on metadata about the users preferences rather that a straight choice of destination.I initially took a contract for 6 months, which was then extended a further 2 months. At the end of which, they negotiated to keep me in the full time position of Software Development Manager.Key Projects• Vacenza.com (Multilingual Travel Website) (MVC 3, Mongo DB, SQL Server / HTML / JQuery)• AlphaRooms.com site new feature development, maintenance & bug fixing.• Holexa – iOS application for iPad with a.NET 4.5 Web API backend• Alpharooms2 – a soon to be launched revamp of alpharooms.com based on the Vacenza.com solution with MVC4 UI based on SOA principles.

Vivid recruited me after I worked on a number of projects for them whilst at Bootroom New Media. Initially there was no new media department within the agency. I was brought in to develop the ‘online’ arm of the business from scratch including integrating & training existing and new staff members. I had ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the new media side of the business, and input into the creative aspects of pitches and tenders for all aspects of the business.Key Projects:• Mountain Equipment bespoke CMS system (.NET / ASP / HTML / SQL)• Bridgedale bespoke CMS system (.Net / ASP / HTML / SQL)• Scarpa bespoke CMS (.NET / ASP / HTML / SQL)• Mechan Dual Brand Multilingual CMS (.NET / ASP / HTML / SQL)

Rotherham

Initially started as software developer, and progressed to studio manager within 18 months. I personally worked on more than 80 Web based projects, and managed and trained a team of 6 other developers. I was involved in around 120 projects in total. I also oversaw all technical aspects of the internal systems including web servers and domain administration, email systems, backup, redundancy and business continuity policies of the new media side of the business, and input into the creative aspects of pitches and tenders for all aspects of the business.Key Projects:• Developed a customisable .net CMS capable of being used for multiple clients and purposes with little development overhead• Sheffield Arena - bespoke event management CMS system• Barnsley GP’s – bespoke CMS managing 70+ General practitioner sites throughout the Barnsley area• DRFC’ intranet / Web portal and Ticket Management System• Quality Health Intranet – workflow system for producing / processing and analyzing data for NHS questionnaires (resulting in massive company growth)

Initially worked on internal tools such as the corporate intratnet and the intenal bugs database, worked on bespoke tools for various clients and one of SDL's primary products WEBFLOW, a bolt on to Content Managment Systems that managed multilingual content and workflow for large websites.Also, served as an internationalisation (I18N) consultant to various clients on issues relating to developing web based software in multiple languages, both technical and cultural.It should be noted that SDL had such a high calibre of software developers with such disperate skills and experience that I considered myself fortunate to be part of the development team.

Education record

It

Hnd Computer Studies, Computer Software Engineering, Distinction