Stephan Swart

Experience

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  Autus technologies

  Jan 2006 - Dec 2010

  Consulting Software Engineer

  - Managed end-to-end project lifecycles, from initial business analysis to successful implementation and support, ensuring alignment with strategic business goals.- Developed and launched a customised Point of Sale system for a national restaurant chain, which increased transaction speed by 30% and significantly improved customer satisfaction.- Engineered an inventory and driver management system for bicycle ice-cream sales, optimising delivery efficiency and reducing operational costs.- Designed and deployed multiple client websites, focusing on enhanced user experience and functionality.- Designed, built and delivered an asset management software package, enhancing asset tracking capabilities and financial accuracy for the client.- Led business analysis and general management duties, ensuring projects met deadlines, budgets, and client specifications, while fostering team collaboration and stakeholder engagement. Show less

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  LARA Brand Engineering

  Jul 2010 - Jan 2012

  Manager: Software development

  Overseeing custom website and application developments that integrate with a holistic marketing package. Business Analysis, project management, strategic planning, managing outsourced web related processes like SEO and online marketing for clients were my primary responsibilities

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  Leadership Nomad

  Jan 2012 - now

  At Leadership Nomad, I partner with clients to transform technology leadership and organisational effectiveness. Through technical strategic planning, I align tech initiatives with business goals. I harmonise technology architecture with strategic and cultural objectives, enhancing efficiency and facilitating change. My technical leadership training empowers tech leaders to drive innovation and excellence. Evaluating tech stacks and architectures ensures robust, scalable infrastructure aligned with best practices. I align product capabilities with strategic goals, enhancing responsiveness to market demands. My coaching in Agile, DevOps, and Lean methodologies embeds continuous improvement cultures.My unique strengths include technical leadership and coaching, organisational design, comprehensive technical knowledge, leadership in Agile and DevOps transformations, and a track record of impacting key organisational metrics. Leadership Nomad embodies a holistic, adaptive approach to navigating and thriving in the digital era, ensuring businesses are prepared for both current challenges and future opportunities. Show less As a Leadership Development Consultant, I've had the privilege of facilitating strategy clarification workshops and providing leadership coaching across various sectors. My goal is to enhance leadership capabilities and align strategic objectives with operational activities. Key highlights of my role include:Strategy Clarification Workshops:- Private School Leadership: Conducted workshops to refine educational strategies, enhance administrative leadership skills, and improve student outcomes.- Personal Development Organisation: Led sessions that focused on aligning leadership practices with personal growth objectives, thereby enhancing organizational impact.- Financial Advisory Firm: Facilitated workshops that clarified business development strategies, focusing on Vision and Mission clarification and interpersonal effectiveness training.Professional Development Coaching:- Provided tailored coaching sessions for mid to senior-level professionals aimed at enhancing their leadership skills, improving communication, and driving effective team management practices.Advisory Services for Software Development Teams:- Offered strategic advisory services to software development teams, focusing on adopting agile practices, enhancing team dynamics, and improving delivery timelines through effective project management techniques.These initiatives have consistently resulted in enhanced leadership effectiveness, clearer organisational direction, and improved team cohesion and performance. My approach combines practical advice with empathetic coaching to empower leaders and teams to achieve their full potential. Show less

  • Fractional CTO

    Mar 2011 - now

  • Leadership Development Consultant

    Jan 2012 - Jun 2012
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  BCX

  Jun 2012 - Feb 2014

  Responsible for gathering requirements from clients and translating these into a format which is easy to understand and has clear direction and milestones.I work closely with the development teams including PMs, Developers, Dev managers, SCRUM Masters, Line managers, and product owners.I furthermore give guidance to junior-mid developers on Software architecture and technical skill building.Finally I train potential managers/leaders in leadership skills, facilitate conflict sessions, and serve as a mentor, coach and advisor to developers and managers. Show less

  • Mobile Solutions Architect

    May 2013 - Feb 2014

  • Software Developer (Mobile)

    Jun 2012 - May 2013
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  Pfortner Pty Ltd

  Feb 2014 - Dec 2016

  Head Of Engineering

  I'm responsible for coaching the development team in our Agile methodology. I'm also part of the executive team and responsible for the executive team's professional development. In the executive team, I ensure that our organization's vision, mission, values, and strategies align.Finally I own one of our products and do mobile development on that product as well.

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  Tribus Digita

  Jan 2017 - Aug 2018

  CEO/CTO | Co-Founder

  As CEO and CTO, I championed a facilitative leadership style, empowering team members to make informed decisions by ensuring access to vital information and fostering a culture of collaboration. My role involved:- Empowering Decision-Making: Facilitated open access to information and promoted active engagement, embedding our core values of respect and collective responsibility across the organization.- Technical Oversight: Directed our technical strategy, managing the software development lifecycle, and ensuring best practices in architecture and solution development.- Active Development & Mentorship: Engaged directly in software development while mentoring the team, enhancing both product quality and team skill sets.Through these efforts, I led Tribus Digita to achieve strategic objectives while maintaining a supportive and innovative work environment. Show less

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  Astute - The Financial Services Exchange

  Sept 2018 - Oct 2020

  Head Of Engineering & DevOps

  Astute is a Financial Services, electronic information exchange company that enhances the movement and integration of data in the financial services industry in South Africa.Notable achievements: - Reduced onboarding time for Junior developers from 3-5 months to < 1 month and for Senior developers from 2-3 months to < 3 weeks - Increased knowledge sharing and reduced risk associated to key-man dependencies - Improved quality and flow of work and knowledge through the organisation and engineering department by structuring teams according to the value chain and software architecture - Developed clear career maps for developers and DevOps engineers that are used as objective growth indicators that translate to promotions - Managed 25 direct reports that included developers, testers, business analysts, and DevOps engineers - Initiated and chaired an architectural forum where architectural decisions were made, documented and communicated collectively - Reduced developer turnover from a point where it was listed as a primary organisational risk to a point where we haven't seen a single developer resign that I recruited Show less

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  Firefinch

  Oct 2018 - now

  CTO & Chief Architect

  As Chief Technology Officer and Chief Architect at Firefinch, I oversee the development of our mobile applications on iOS and Android platforms, integrated with Firestore for streamlined database management. My key contributions include:- Architectural Leadership: Developed the technological roadmap that guides our scalable and innovative solutions.- Market Impact: Successfully launched a consumer app in South Africa, achieving over 9,000 downloads.- Exceptional Conversion Rate: Achieved a 14% conversion rate, surpassing the industry average of 1-10%.- Stellar App Stability: Maintained an app crash rate of only 0-1% over three years, ensuring a reliable user experience.- Strategic Direction: Provided strategic leadership aligning technology initiatives with business goals to drive growth and competitive advantage. Show less

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  ProLink Arabia

  Oct 2020 - Jun 2022

  Engineering & DevOps Leadership Consultant

  Leading the Engineering and DevOps portion of the organisation's digital transformation process through training, consulting and coaching. My focus is on equipping leaders of technical teams and guiding DevOps initiatives. I ensure that the training and coaching aligns with the greater transformation strategy with a team of 15 consultants. - Trained 200+ employees in DevOps Fundamentals - Coaching 12 teams in Engineering, Architectural, and DevOps principles and practices - Coaching & training team leads and managers in leadership theory and practices including effective one-on-one meetings, professional development of the team members, onboarding, and collaboration - Delivering mini-trainings as the need arises on Leadership, Software engineering, Architecture, Product Development Flow, and DevOps Show less

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  Magna BC

  Feb 2021 - now

  Fractional CTO

  Notable achievements:- Spearheaded the adoption of Agile/Lean/DevOps principles, reducing the software delivery cycle by 75% and increasing deployment frequency by 400%.- Introduced unit testing, all teams now have an average of 90% code coverage- Increased employee retention by 50% over 3 years- Reduced onboarding time by 75%. From 3 months to < 3 week to have average developers productively contributing- Running an engineering department of 5 cross-functional teams including DevOps engineers, Developers, Test engineers, Business analysts, and Product OwnersObjective: Increase Quality, Speed, and Efficiency of software deliveryKey responsibilities include: - Implement product development flow principles throughout value streams (Agile/Lean/DevOps, etc.) - Teach, coach, facilitate adoption of agile development principles & practices (TDD, pair/mob programming, refactoring, coding standards, etc.) - Teach, coach, facilitate adoption of DevOps principles & practices (test automation, CI/CD, small releases, etc.)Objective: Increase employment tenure & engagement of team membersKey responsibilities include: - Create environment where team members feel valued and respected - Coach team members on being professional and contributing to a collaborative, psychological safe, and productive culture - Create clarity of purpose of work - Create opportunities to grow in mastery of the crafts - Clarify enabling constraints that facilitate true autonomy and accountabilityObjective: Improve architectural decision makingKey responsibilities include: - Increase speed of architectural feedback - Teach, coach, facilitate the adoption of agile architectural principles and practices (evolutionary architectures, DDD, etc.) - Chair architectural forum - Clarify roles & responsibilities for architectural decisions, implementations, approvals, and governance Show less