Hi, I'm Steven. I'm a

As a seasoned IT professional, I have over 28 years experience working in the industry in both full-stack engineering and leadership roles. I have a diverse skill set and I'm incredibly passionate about my work. I am able to pick up new skills very quickly and I'm familiar with many coding/development platforms. I'm constantly learning to keep up to date with the latest development trends, I'm constantly pushing myself and my teams to the next level.

I have a proven track record leading large and diverse teams, as well as directing the development and release of many of challenging technical/business directives and goals. I have led, trained and mentored colleagues and students in software/web/mobile development, project planning, agile practices, analytics, marketing, SEO, graphic design, and much more.

I have also worked as a consultant and advisor to help many companies reach their full potential. I am highly adaptable and able to assess systems and requirements very quickly. As a developer myself, I like to keep a finger on the pulse of the codebase, conduct code reviews, and get heavily involved in refinements and retrospectives. I am also coding language-agnostic, which means that because of my knowledge and experience I can jump between platforms and frameworks very easily.

My Leadership Style

When it comes to team management and leadership, I always try to lead by example and with compassion. I never ask anyone to do anything I am not comfortable doing myself. Communication, ownership, and accountability are essential in any healthy work environment. We all hold each other accountable. I own the team's successes and failures along with everyone else.

I want the team to have fun and enjoy what they're doing, whilst maintaining the highest standards and professionalism. We can have fun while knocking the ball out of the park and exceeding all expectations! I've been described as a "cheerleader", but I am also pragmatic and realistic. I don't cut corners, but I know what it takes to get a product out the door and into production.

While I stress the need for ownership and accountability, when something does go sideways there is no need for blame and finger-pointing. We just need to understand what went wrong so we can do better going forward. I always aim for a state of continuous improvement and always asking the question, "What can we do better?". The strongest teams can recognize their shortcomings and learn from them.

I am also well-versed in Agile, lean and hybrid processes, which are iterative and incremental frameworks designed to improve efficiency, adaptability, and collaboration in software development and project management. Agile emphasizes flexibility and customer satisfaction by delivering high-quality, functional increments of work in short cycles, known as sprints, while regularly incorporating feedback to adapt to changing priorities and requirements.

I excel at fostering cross-functional team collaboration, facilitating daily stand-ups, sprint planning sessions, and retrospectives to ensure alignment and continuous improvement. By leveraging Agile and lean principles, we can ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with stakeholders' evolving needs and expectations.

My experience extends to creating roadmaps, managing backlogs, and empowering teams to self-organize and prioritize tasks, all while maintaining a clear focus on the overarching business goals. An understanding of Agile and lean frameworks enables us to effectively bridge communication between technical teams, product owners, and stakeholders, fostering an environment of transparency, trust, and innovation.

There is a fundamental difference between management and leadership. Management focuses on organizing, planning, and executing tasks to achieve specific objectives, ensuring resources and processes are aligned efficiently. Leadership, on the other hand, is about inspiring and guiding others toward a shared vision, fostering collaboration, and encouraging growth. Importantly, leadership isn’t confined to management roles; it can emerge at any level of an organization. A leader might be the team member who motivates others, introduces innovative ideas, or takes initiative to solve problems. Leadership is about influence, not authority, and its impact can be felt in any role or context.

My relationship with my teams is built on trust and I aim for them to be autonomous, independent, and self-governing. I try to avoid micromanaging as much as possible, but I can be very hands-on as appropriate. I set each contributor up for success and endeavor to give them whatever they need to do their jobs confidently, efficiently, and effectively. I empower my team to be leaders themselves.