Richard West Email & Phone Number

Northampton, England, Gb

Engaged with the primary vision of replacing the claim management system in use with an in-house, fit for purpose system that would enable the business to manage its processes and have access to the wealth of intelligence hidden within the data processed in the course of business activities.Beginning with a three-month investigation and analysis period I designed the core premise on which to build the replacement solution: open-ended process management.Following the period of design, I set about building the initial MVP which would go into use in June 2022 replacing the existing production system using vanilla technologies:- HTML, CSS, SASS and JavaScript for the front end,- C# for the API layer, and- MySQL on AWS RDS for the database layerData was migrated from the legacy system's SQL database into the new system's MySQL databases successfully and the system went into production on D-Day 2022.A microservice architecture was used to separate functions and to provide scalability - the entire solution being deployed within an AWS environment utilising EC2 instances, S3 buckets, and RDS database servers. Even with the persistence of elements of the legacy system within AWS the replacement solution reduced the AWS costs by more than two thirds while delivering increased functionality to the business in terms of doing 32% more business with the same people costs.

Birmingham, England, Gb

Leading and developing the technology stack to build a white label product platform for a disruptive start-up in the pool gambling and gaming space.Collaborating with the “C-Suite” to develop reliable and robust platforms to advance the global, and IPO, aspirations of the business.Established the PMO and PM methodologies for the business.• Led the development and delivery of a multi-tenanted platform that enabled the business to reach targets of >45,000 monthly active users and >120,000 total users on the platform with 25 partner apps.• Boosted scalability by decomposing a monolithic application into microservices (using patterns), allowing the business to reduce AWS costs by >50% while increasing infrastructure performance levels.• Introduced Scrum and other Agile principles into the development processes which allowed for increased iterations. Responsible for the project management function within the business.• Engaged an offshore team expansion partner that reduced recruitment and payroll costs of the team by 17%.• Implemented robust cyber-security policies including penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and proactive monitoring to keep data incidents at zero.• In housed the front-end and back-end development teams taking the team to 22 people across three international locations.• Selected the technology stack for front-end (Swift / Kotlin), web (react.js), and back-end development (PHP / Laravel), DevOps (AWS)• Owned the product development roadmap.• Managed the priorities of the different technology teams to develop strategic direction for product development.• Responsible for managing technology risks• Responsible for designing consumer data capture API and SDK• Responsible for monetisation of data through the use of data marts.• Accountable for estimates, statements of work, and delivery of bespoke product development.• Implemented and maintained vendor and supplier relationships from AWS through to outsourced personnel.

My focus in this role is a blend of technology, product development, and business management for the whole bean soya processing company at board level.We have been successful at profitably scaling the business by streamlining R&D and by effectively meeting customer demands along with capitalizing on opportunities in emerging markets. Within a short period of time our business has more than doubled major customers while also achieving 23% cost savings in production.My responsibilities included ownership of the entire technology function within the business covering:- ERP implementation- CRM implementation- Cloud migration - Plant technology integration into ERP- Supplier management- Project managementI conducted extensive gap analysis in order to create a strategy to move the business to the desired end state in a series of small increments, following the ITIL Continual Improvement model

This was a rewarding experience launching and operating two profitable Sorbet franchise beauty salons. Our success led to our sale in 2018 with an average growth rate of 140% while in operation. We also won the top franchise award for revenue in 2017. A major factor in our growth was effective use of IT coupled with smart business strategies to attract and properly serve customers.

This position was critical to my success as a business and technology leader. By revamping the PMO in this position I greatly refined my ability to bridge business and technology stakeholders behind common goals. By improving the PMO with PMBOK/ITIL management principles and Microsoft technology the business was able to significantly boost client satisfaction in implementation quality.

Johannesburg, Gauteng, Za

My greatest achievements in this role were founded upon my passion for representing the voice-of-the-customer from implementation through deployment. The majority of my attention was focused on SAP Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) implementations where I maintained frequent customer contact with key business and technology contracts to maximize the usage of technology features and to ensure end-user satisfaction. Reporting to the Managing Director I regularly led our department to meet or exceed our goals including achieving 144% of FY2014 profit target while completing all projects 21% below budget.

Tamworth, Staffordshire, Gb

I functioned as a senior business leader overseeing multiple departments including IT, contact centre, HR, purchasing, and learning & development. We delivered over £3.7m in savings by revamping business processes and introducing advanced technologies including RFID. Additionally, I led the process for the business to obtain BS25999 and ISO 27001/2 compliance for information security.

Tamworth, Staffordshire, Gb

Tamworth, Staffordshire, Gb

M.B.A., Business Administration

L.L.B, Law

B.A. (Hons), International Relations

B.A., International Relations