Rob Chapman

Experience

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  British Telecom Mobile

  Jan 1990 - Jan 1998

  Analyst Programmer

  Delphi Rapid Application Developer working with business clients to produce software solutions to business problems with fast turn around.• Designed and developed a report request system• Developed an internal web based report distribution system• Developed batch load utilities for the Test team

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  Environment Agency

  Jan 1998 - Jan 2001

  Software Developer

  Contracted to provide software development support for the Central Host Server Group, managing the Windows 2000 desktop and Netware 6, Unix and Solaris server environments. Role required Development, Analysis and Test skills for cost efficient resolution of problems / requirements within a high pressure environment.• Low level Windows 95 API programming with Borland Delphi• Compile custom Linux distro for remote desktop imaging system • Designed and developed network based asset tracking system• Security analysis and deployment of FishE (Rod Licence website)• Developed automation utilities for the desktop network build• Troubleshoot Weblogic application issues Show less

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  Siemens AG

  Jan 2001 - Jan 2003

  Non-Functional Test Analyst

  Reporting directly to the Senior Project Manager responsible for System Readiness Testing of the UK based Vehicle Inspectorate Ministry Of Transport (VIMOT) Computerisation project. This was the electronic replacement to the paper based MOT certificate process. System Readiness Testing encapsulated the complete environment; BS2000 Mainframe, Solaris Web Servers running Tomcat, Cisco Routers, Nokia Firewalls and Suse Linux Client devices. The objective was to test Performance and Resilience under failover conditions of the messaging system between the client devices and the web farm and then the mainframe. Extensive use of Java (partially J2EE), XML and IP throughout the system.Carried out the following key roles and functions:• Developed and implemented test scripts facilitating the failover, disaster recovery and performance testing.• Performed preliminary security analysis scans using Nessus and NMap whilst the system was under load from work load generation systems.• Identifying Firewall and Routers configuration issues using network testing utilities.• Create Test scenarios with The Grinder and Load Runner.• Developed Linux scripts to facilitate updates and control of the load test devices.• Developed and executed load test scenarios from a bank of 50 Linux client devices.• Analyse and Report test results and findings. Show less

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  BT Global Services

  Dec 2004 - Mar 2009

  Performance Test Lead

  As the largest system in Europe at that time, the NHS Spine was a highly performant and complex system. Leading a team of 13, I was responsible for designing and implementing the performance strategy, test environment, test design, build and execution. I used HP LoadRunner to script and execute both .Net and C tests with multiple protocols. • Designed and implement performance test strategy• Scripted and executed LoadRunner tests using VUGen • Managed performance test environment Solaris, SunOne AppServer, Oracle Show less

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  Environment Agency

  Apr 2009 - Sept 2010

  Non-Functional Test Analyst

  To improve monitoring and control, the Environment Agency centralised the waste and pollution regulation systems under the Integrated Regulation programme a J2EE application deployed to Weblogic, Tibco and Oracle. I was responsible for Environment Readiness Testing and maintaining QC and QTP scripts. I designed and coordinated out of hours failover testing, supported the Performance Test Team with Load Runner scripting, execution and analysis, and scripted and executed performance tests for the “What’s In Your Back Yard” website – a GIS mapping web application.• Environment Readiness Testing for all new code deliveries• Management of Non-Functional defects• Executed Non-Functional Tests• Maintained test documentation, plans, specifications• Ensured requirements traceability• Maintained Environment Regression QTP scripts.• Scripted, executed and analysed LoadRunner performance tests. Show less

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  Certeco

  Sept 2010 - Jan 2011

  Performance Test Lead

  As part of the readiness for business separation I carried out the preparation and execution of Performance Testing on the core business applications. This involved the scripting and execution of VB.NET, Weblogic and Oracle systems using Visual Studio Performance Test 2010, SoapUI and LoadUI.• Qualified scope and design approach• Scripted, executed and analysed Visual Studio 2010 / LoadUI tests• Management reporting of progress and risks

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  Microsoft

  Jan 2011 - Oct 2012

  Performance Test Lead

  Microsoft Consulting Services developed and maintained the high availability Faster Payments service for Nationwide Building Society. At Microsoft I was empowered to implement a number of improvements in the performance strategy, approach and testing solution. The engagement was successful in testing and tuning BizTalk 2010, SQL 2008R2 and .Net web services running on 64bit Windows 2008R2. A key improvement was the transition from Loadgen to Visual Studio Load Test, enabling the solution to cope with changing requirements and a threefold increase in throughput. Working closely with developers, performance issues were identified and solved using Agile methodologies.• Defined Performance test strategy for major releases• Matured the performance test approach• Improved Test Tools, Reporting and Analysis • Scripted, executed and analysed Visual Studio 2010 performance tests Show less

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  M7k

  Oct 2012 - Apr 2016

  Technical Director

  I established my company M7k as a Bespoke Software Developer and Microsoft Cloud Partner in 2012. Leading a team of 5, I grew the number of clients and projects over the 4 years. Development of solutions using Ruby on Rails, HTML 5, Postgres on Linux and Heroku, Knockout JS, ASP.NET MVC4/5, SQL 2012/14 on Windows 2012/R2 and Azure. • Developed client requirements into specifications• Planned development engagements, cycles and timelines• Developed and tested software, maintaining version control • Automated development and test environments• Managed the software defect process with clients• Designed and built production environments Show less

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  Hermes

  May 2016 - Oct 2018

  Cloud Architect at Hermes managing the technical design of cloud platform architecture. This involved supporting the adoption of AWS services and building technical relationships within the tech partner ecosystem.I managed the newly formed Integration Team, comprising of customer focused, polyglot engineers. Skilled in all areas of development from SDK creation to API architecture. Targeted to improve and maintain the internal and client platform integration with services and APIs.Charged with the growth of DevOps practices at Hermes I manage the DevOps team responsible for the adoption of best practices, principles and improving the quality of software developments. Show less DevOps Lead at Hermes challenged with accelerating the adoption of DevOps practices. Leading by example I apply DevOps principles to the large ongoing migration from on premise to AWS. Technologies include, Ansible, Python, Bash, Java, Spring Boot, Tomcat, Docker, Linux, Jenkins, Concourse, AppDynamics.• Established foundations for the DevOps culture • Identify per project AWS requirements and path to live• Manage the build tools (GitLab, Jenkins, Concourse, Nexus, Sonar, Jira, Confluence)• Engage early developer adoption of AppDynamics monitoring• Identify Ops training for development engineers• Mentor development engineers to improve linux and AWS skills• Increased the use of APM and Automation early in the development process. Show less Performance Test Engineer on the Hermes Parcelnet systems at their Leeds HQ. Hermes are one of the largest courier firms in the UK and as such have several high throughout IT systems requiring low response times. I was able to identify bottlenecks and defects using Gatling/Scala to load J2EE Web Services, API’s, Apigee Edge and Oracle systems. I tested concurrent projects as part of the Agile teams focused on delivery.Technologies include RabbitMQ, Cassandra, Spring Boot, Tomcat, Docker, Linux, AWS, Ansible, Prometheus and AppDynamics.• Identified requirements / approach across several projects• Designed and built performance environments• Improved performance tools, reporting and analysis• Scripted, executed and analysed Gatling performance tests• Managed issues and risks with key stakeholders• Deployed and configured Prometheus and AppDynamics monitoring Show less

  • Cloud Architect

    Sept 2017 - Oct 2018

  • DevOps Lead

    Nov 2016 - Aug 2017

  • Performance Test Engineer

    May 2016 - Oct 2016
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  Anaplan

  Nov 2018 - Aug 2023

  Senior Observability Engineer at Anaplan responsible for the maintenance and architectural direction of the Observability Platform. Charged with the introduction of a TDD approach to the development of Observability solutions, mostly in Python.Main technologies used in the observability platform: Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Observability Cloud (was SignalFx), Splunk Data Stream Processor (DSP), NewRelic, OpenTelemetry, Grafana (Loki, Tempo, Prometheus, Mimir), Python, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Jenkins, Terraform, Ansible, AWS. Show less Engineering Manager at Anaplan leading a team of diverse engineers as part of a larger tribe building a new interface to the core multi-dimensional database. Providing leadership and career development to the team, reinforcing best practices and actively encouraging continuous improvement.My role involved working closely with stakeholders both internal and external to build the product roadmap. Setting goals and direction for the team defining technical requirements and vision.Technologies used include, Kotlin, React, Spring Boot, Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, Jenkins, Gatling, NewRelic, Splunk. Show less

  • Senior Observability Engineer

    Sept 2020 - Aug 2023

  • Manager, Software Engineering

    Nov 2018 - Sept 2020
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  The Melt Cafe

  Aug 2023 - now

  Founder / Observability Barista

  Serving Observability Solutions to private and public organisations throughout the UK. We help our clients solve common observability problems.• Designing strategies and architectural approaches.• Accelerating implementation and adoption.• Controlling capabilities to restrict spiralling costs.