Richard Walker

Experience

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  Willey & Pearsons

  Aug 1986 - Nov 1997

  Factory Mechanical Engineer

  ● Repair and maintenance of industrial textile machinery and general steel fabrication● Learned COBOL on a self funded distance learning course to pursue a career in I.T

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  Equifax

  Nov 1997 - Dec 1999

  Permanent Trainee/Junior COBOL developer

  ● Trained to develop COBOL mainframe applications using COBOL 85 and ADABAS/Natural database technologies

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  Halifax

  Dec 1999 - Oct 2012

  Halifax General Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group.I was hired to design and deliver visually appealing, user-friendly web applications to support key business requirements.I provided technical expertise during the design and build of a new web development framework and identified the target framework for e-Commerce and e-Business platforms.I produced the front-end websites using ASP.Net 3.5 / ASPX / C# / XML / CSS, implementing mid-tier and backend web service interfaces using WCF/SOAP.Key assignments included:● Led team of on / off shore developers for new £1.2 million project to build an internal web application integrating Lloyds Banks Home Insurance and Halifax Mortgage Sales platforms, coordinating all technical design and build activities.● Designed and developed the Household Customer Proposition web application using ASP.Net 3.5 / C# / XHTML / XML / CSS.● Led design and implementation of Birmingham Midshires website using ASP.Net 3.5 / C# / ASPX Web Forms. Show less

  • Lead Senior Web Developer

    Jul 2004 - Oct 2012

  • Permanent COBOL Senior Developer

    Dec 1999 - Jul 2004
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  Richard Walker Web Design

  Oct 2012 - Dec 2014

  Freelance Web Designer / Director

  Richard Walker Web Design provide specialist technical expertise and website development services.I operate as an Independent Consultant providing business and IT consultancy. I worked directly with the client to design, develop and deliver client specific e-Commerce and websites.I provided expertise to establish SEO strategies, incorporating Google analytics to monitor conversion rates.Key assignments included:● Designed and developed 28 page CMS for Fitness Finesse using Joomla 2.5, enhancing the clients web presence and providing a stable platform to publish content.● Implemented a CMS for Advance Welding using Joomla 3.5 integrating to 3rd party e-Commerce plugin. Created login portal for technicians to access more in-depth technical information.● Built job portal web site in collaboration with local graphic design agency to provide a Tax Recruitment company with their own bespoke job board.● Created a website for the charity Hope for Kenya’s Orphans to raise their online presence and enable online donations. Show less

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  Provident Financial Group - Provident, Satsuma & glo

  Jan 2014 - Dec 2015

  Senior Web Developer (contract)

  Provident Financial plc is a British financial services group specialising in credit cards, home collected credit, online loans and consumer car finance.I was hired to provide technical and web development expertise. I developed and delivered a number of key projects including a new Employee Appraisal website and Personal Credit UK website.Key assignments included:● Delivered proof of concept prototype, which led to approval for full development of an Employee Appraisal system. Resulting system was developed using MVC4 / ASP.NET C#, WCF, ADO.Net and TSQL, incorporating n-tier style design pattern to enable scalable future development.● Evaluated 3rd party content management systems, produced and presented prototype using Umbraco 7.2, MVC4, Knockout.js, AJAX, JSON and JavaScript.● Redeveloped Personal Credit UK website to provide full mobile responsive design and functionality to improve overall user experience.● Worked closely with SEO specialists to implement SEO strategy, defined SEO tags and established HTML generated templates to enable marketing team to dynamically add keywords. Optimised page load performance using PageSpeed Insights. Show less

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  Covéa Insurance

  Jul 2016 - Nov 2019

  Senior Software Engineer

  Covéa Insurance is a UK general insurer specializing in commercial, motor, high net worth, property and protection insurance. Key assignments included:● Developed a new website allowing affinity partner John Lewis to provide car insurance online. Sole Senior Software Engineer tasked to develop the website as part of the overall project. Built using MVC4, JavaScript, Knockout JS and EpiServer content management system (CMS). Participated in Agile scrum events and planning. Demonstrated on-going progress to senior stakeholders. Organized build of web infrastructure with networking teams. Successfully delivered the site providing John Lewis the ability to provide online car insurance within the project deadlines.● Responsible for selection, design and co-development of a new Single Page Application (SPA) using Angular4 to enhance their customer Self Service portal for policy holders to amend their car details online. Presented framework of choice to stakeholders and architects. Developed components for the SPA Embedded the SPA into the existing MVC4 EpiServer CMS website. Determined training path for new developers and ran workshops to demonstrate how the SPA would be built. Participated in agile planning, sprints and ticket creation for individual development tasks. The resulting web application allows customers to amend car policy details online reducing the reliance on call center operatives.● Maintenance and improvements of existing car insurance website including a fix to the existing payment gateway resulting in a saving cost approximately £29,000/annum;● Delivered addition to the customer insurance portal UI to provide the ability to process online renewals. Resulting system was developed using MVC4 / ASP.NET C#, AJAX and EPiServer CMS, incorporating n-tier style design pattern to enable scalable future development. Show less

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  First Central

  Dec 2019 - now

  Senior Software Engineer