Richard Covell

Experience

• 

  SJJ Consultants Ltd

  Mar 1995 - Jan 1997

  Senior Internal Verifier – NVQ Level 3 Instructor

  Came to SJJ and developed the whole IT delivery from NVQ level1 all the way to NVQ Level3 and further developed the whole internal verification structure along with becoming senior internal verifier. Helped to develop and deliver the Assessor qualification and Management Level 3 NVQ’s

• 

  West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

  Feb 1997 - Oct 1997

  Civilian IT Instructor

  Working for the Fire service as the IT Instructor to implement the brigade’s directive to bring every fire-fighter's IT skills up to a verified level and to develop a brigade wide Database of Past/Present and future training in all aspects of the brigade

• 

  Britannia Restaurant - PDC - Lanzarote

  Oct 1997 - May 1998

  Head Chef

  Worked as head chef in a small 100 seat family restaurant in the main tourist are of Puerto Del Carmen - Lanzarote

• 

  Networxxpress S.L. - PDC - Lanzaote

  Jun 1998 - Aug 2000

  Chief Technical Officer

  I was employed to build the first dedicated Internet Cafe in resort bringing the internet to the holidaying public. And to further develop a customised printing business for many residential/business clients within the resort.

• 

  Crontel Ltd

  Aug 2000 - Oct 2005

  Company Owner / Director

  International Web Hosting Company. Providing Dedicated and co-location facilities in 6 data centres around the globe. Company owner/Director responsible for all aspect of the business.

• 

  IPRS Ltd

  Sept 2002 - Oct 2005

  Company Owner / Director

  International telecom Routes Brokerage Company. Was the administrative director in charge of managing all relationships along with accounting, administration and compliance functions?

• 

  ArkMK Ltd

  Feb 2005 - Apr 2012

  Network, IP and Broadcast Systems Manager

  Feb 2005 to March 2008I worked as a contract engineer in charge of developing, monitoring and maintaining the networks both internal and internet facing. During this period I installed the server room and the lighting systems in the studios.April 2008 to April 2012I worked in a variety of roles, these being Network Manager, Broadcast Technician and Studio Maintenance Engineer. Ark MK is a fully digitised live broadcast play-out and studio services company located in Milton Keynes. They have six studios that are broadcasting 4 live shows daily and 8 live shows in the evening and through the night. Ark MK is utilising a fully digital approach to its facilities using Multicast IP Data Backbone, Fully Switched SDI Platform and VOIP/Analogue phone network currently playing out to satellite uplinks in Chalfont Grove.Daily Responsibilities• Day to day management of public internet servers • Systems monitoring of both IP and video networks • Internet services management • Maintenance and support to 150 workstations and servers across 2 Sites • TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP and firewall management • Ongoing pro-active maintenance and troubleshooting on the whole IP broadcast system • Management of 4 Email servers • Bandwidth monitoring across 4 inter routed networks • Upkeep of network connectivity records to show all aspects of change • Day to day studio maintenance • 24 hour support and callout for all issues on the IP and broadcasting systems • Training and support across the whole systems and infrastructure at the studios • Management of all secure data access to the systems, both clients and customers Show less

• 

  Osprey Co

  Oct 2005 - Feb 2006

  Engineer

  Employed by osprey to project manage the move to a new works unit for the workshop and sign making side of the business. This involved organising, planning, clearing out and implementation of the agreed design plan and the fitting out of the 2000 sq ft work area. And storage sheds for the timber. Managing the implementation of work areas, painting areas and machine areas

• 

  NetSite Education Management Ltd

  Feb 2006 - Apr 2008

  Chief Technical Officer

  Employed to take on the responsibility of developing and implementing an ISP based around providing a totally secure and safer internet access based on the users age. Each and every user has content they surf filtered, based on their age profile. This is regulated at a centralised location thus alleviating the need for parental or teacher intervention.The System was based on a Windows 2003 and Linux Shared platform built around a Cisco routing core. The Platform incorporated radius authentication, MSSQL servers, Clustered mail and web servers along with Content Management Systems in a fully redundant setup. Responsibilities• Day to day management of the team’s workload and deliverables.• Project, staff and resource scheduling.• Database design, programming, implementation and forward planning using MSSQL• Day to day management of the secure filtering servers.• Management of interconnectivity and third party relationships. BT and Arbinet• Documentation for all aspects of the systems.• Procedures for all aspects of the systems.• Client side support systems and installations.• Budget management.Achievements• Built a fully scalable and future proof ISP ADSL platform.• Incorporated various server and routing technologies to achieve a versatile ISP platform• Secure and Safe surfing based on age profile managed from a central location without client side intervention. Show less

• 

  Hamilton Renata Ltd

  May 2008 - May 2010

  Contract Network Engineer

  Worked within a small dedicated team on contracts to design/plan and install small to medium sized networks integrated with Cisco routing and Active Directory.WorkSpiritCisco Firewall integrated to an Active directory domain to Authenticate Secure VPN Users and Secure Authenticated wireless.RM Curtis LtdTwin site organisation that requires a redundant interconnect between sites using Cisco secure tunnelling & routing with full authentication to redundant domain servers managing the users and authentication across both sites. Show less

• 

  SIS Ltd

  Apr 2012 - now

  Ongoing During the Pandemic and to present I have stood in on numerous occasions as Change Manager for the Organisation and run the Change Advisory Board (CAB) during this time. I have on numerous occasions been the de facto signoff for change within the company whether it be Broadcast, IT or Development orientated change.In my role as Broadcast Engineering Supervisor, I play an active role in managing the change within the department and represent these changes at CAB every week.I operate in enforcing the CAB systems within SIS and act as a optional second signoff for major changes within the company working closely with the Change manager to ensure all changes are accurate and follow the SIS Change guidelines. Show less As a Supervisor in the Engineering Department of Technical Operations Department I manage a team of 5 Broadcast engineers looking after the workings of SIS from a Broadcast perspective which includes IP Networking, Video, RF and Audio across the 60 Channels we broadcast from SIS. These are Satellite and IP Services for the Bookmaker industry, but also include many betting related and adhoc services which include IP streaming and Direct Fibre Transmission all over the Globe both Outbound and Inbound.The works encompass all aspect of managing a small highly skilled and well-motivated team and occasionally freelances who cover. We operate a 35 day rolling shift based working pattern covering 24/7 of on-site support and maintenance with afterhours scheduled and emergency maintenance work through the night.• We cover all aspects of the broadcast chain, ingress and egress• Manage Streaming• Work closely with all department across the company • Maintain a 24/7 service • I manage all the 3rd parties Support agreements and relationships for our department. • Introduced Ticketing and Job Management• Manage Change Management for Engineering• Member of Change board• Manage Systems Reporting• Responsible for Health and Safety - (CAR’s, Galleries, Dishfarm, Studios, NOC and Hub)• Manage all the PAT Testing, SSOW’s, Risk assessments, COSHH, Ladder, Harness, Noise and RF Emissions regulations on a constant basis along with the record keeping. • Fully qualified First Aider with AED training and Mental Health Awareness.• I cover for the Engineering Manager at meetings of all levels within the company, • Been a member of the “Management/Staff Consultation Committee” “VoiceSIS”. For the last 6 years.As the BES Department, we aid in many projects, too numerous to list. These range from works we do within the department to also enabling and supporting works the Engineering Projects Team do in installing and altering systems to meet every changing need within SIS. Show less I worked in a 2nd line support role for the Technical Operations Department that provided 24/7 IT support for the 1st line. This role included looking after all aspects of the network with emphasis on supporting all the numerous applications and systems that make up SIS operationally. • Semi-autonomous environment prioritising the needs of the customers, the team and the department to provide a professional and consistent level of service. • Manage the numerous In-house systems in the capacity of systems administrator. • Facilitate the installation of new equipment into the live working environments.• Work both On-Site and Off-Site at client premises. • Build servers, switches, routers and a variety of different systems in-line with the corporate and clients’ requirements.• Attend and participate in regular team meetings to circulate and consolidate learned knowledge. • Managing and configuring systems to integrate into both the existing and new corporate network systems.• Involved with the design and development process.I was expected to work closely with other departments within the company and their customers at all levels in order to help manage their expectations and build positive working relationships. As a member of the Technical Operations department I worked closely with a team at all levels to deliver projects and systems on-time and within budget for SIS and their customers. Show less

  • Incident And Changer Manager

    Jun 2023 - now

  • Standin Change Manager (Unofficial)

    Oct 2019 - Nov 2023

  • Broadcast Support Supervisor

    Nov 2016 - Nov 2023

  • Network Infrastructure Support Engineer

    Apr 2012 - Oct 2016