Christopher F. O'Shea 18 Letchworth Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex. TW14 9RY h: 0208 707 2555 m: 0776 990 3675 e: chris@chrisoshea.com Summary ======= Senior Software Engineer/Team leader specialising in User Interface design, system architecture, documentation, training and Quality Assurance. Able to motivate staff and find innovative solutions, while delivering on time, on budget, and with high quality. Main Areas of Expertise ================== * Project Management * Graphical User Interface Design * Documentation * Writing & Presenting Training Courses * Quality Assurance * System Analysis/Design * Electronic Document Interchange (EDI)/Electronic Messaging Systems (EMS) * Platforms: Unix, Linux, MS Windows, AS/400 * C/C++, COBOL, Java, Perl, VB/VBA etc. * Database Design * Customer Support Experience and Achievements ======================== 1992 - Present: Global eXchange Services http://www.gxs.com (previously known as GE Information Services/International Network Services) Software Engineer/Team Leader/Senior Product Specialist * User Interface Project Leader. Designing MS-Windows, HTML and X/Windows user interfaces for a major multi-platform (Unix, Windows and Linux) Electronic Messaging system. Design named a corporate "best practice" and applied to other products within General Electric. Managing a team of up to seven developers. * Documentation Team Leader. Producing and maintaining roughly 50k pages of documentation in Word/PDF, RoboHelp and WinHelp for multiple releases of multiple products. The documentation receives glowing reviews and contributed to the highest quality/lowest Customer Impact Index the EMS product has ever received. Managing a team of four locally and additional teams in the US and Bangalore, India. * Producing and presenting training courses for developers, technical/customer support teams and external customers. Courses are given both on-line/over the Internet and in person around the world. The training courses have received "exceptional" feedback and led to requests for additional courses by companies including NEC, in Japan. * ISO9000/BS5750 Technical Support. Designing/maintaining a development lifecycle tracking system. The tracking system is used both in-team and across the company to track multiple projects and product releases, including full metrics and intranet output. * Providing pre-sales and marketing support on product requirements, future product directions, and presentations to the Enterprise System SIG. Also providing specialist knowledge in-team on EDI standards and the use of MS Office tools, and support for new team-member orientation. * Acting QA team manager. Automated processes, built test plan suite and managing a team of five QA staff. Reduced complete product QA from three months to three weeks, and regression testing from one month to one week. Product quality improvement resulted in a reduction of 75% in defects detected after release to customers. 1990-1992: Blue Rainbow Software International/Ibix Computing. Support Manager & Product Architect. Product architect and support manager for a small software house specialising in EDI/EMS software for IBM midrange computers. Provided in-house support for the National Westminster Bank electronic payment system. Worked with external consultants on design and development of a product that was declared a great success by Nat West Bank. Also, assisted with pre-sales, supported other systems developed by Blue Rainbow/Ibix Computing, maintained documentation, and provided training. 1989-1990: EPG Senior Analyst/Programmer Worked as part of a software house developing products for the insurance industry, in particular for brokers and syndicates associated with Lloyds of London. 1988-1989: Morgan Grampian Publishers (part of United Newspapers). Analyst/Programmer MG is a direct mail and subscription publisher of 40+ specialist magazines, such as What's New in Software and Farming Today. Maintained a large subscriber database (of more than seven million individuals) in Oracle and SQL, including data entry and monthly label runs. Redesigned the Ad Booking System for speed, functionality, and ease of use. Investigated, designed, and implemented Royal Mail MailSort for magazine label production, to save company over £250K per annum in postage. Automated invoicing system, including form layout and graphical branding. 1987-1988: Fidelity Management Holdings Inc. (UK division of Fidelity of Boston) Graduate Management Trainee High-intensity induction with multiple training courses and experience of several departments, including Personal Pension Plans, Unit Trusts, and others. Education and Training ================== 2000 - present: Oxford University. Post-Graduate studies (MSc) in Software Engineering. 1983-1987: University of London, Queen Mary College. BSc (Hons) Computer Science. 1980-1983: St. Ignatius College, Enfield. A-Levels: Mathematics, Physics, English, and General Studies. Oxford/Cambridge Use of English: Distinction. 1977-1980: Bishop Ireton H.S., Alexandria, VA. USA. High School. Technical courses including C/C++, Client/Server Design, Six Sigma Quality, Object Orientated Design and Programming, Project Management, Software Mathematics, SSADM/PRISM, Java, User Interface Design, Time Management, AS/400 & RPG/400, Concurrent System Design etc. Awards ====== GXS Award of Excellence - 2003 for Enterprise System(tm) on Windows GEIS Award of Excellence - 1998 for Enterprise System(tm) on Unix Several smaller awards for individual and team accomplishments Additional Information ================= Organise events from 30 to 5,500 people, including directing operations and producing publications. Chairman of the 2004 British National Science Fiction Convention. Award-winning amateur musician and composer. Enjoy travel, theatre, music festivals, literature, graphic design and swimming. Technical Summary ================= * Programming Languages: C, C++, Cobol, Visual Basic/VBA, Perl, Java, HTML, JavaScript, Unix Shell, SQL, Oracle, and others. * Design/management tools: MS Project, Visio, Minitab, et cetera. * Office software: MS Office (including Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint). Also, WordPerfect and MultiMate. * Graphical tools: PaintShopPro, CorelDRAW, Photoshop, DreamWeaver, PageMaker, Ventura, Macromedia Flash/Studio MX, MS FrontPage, and various other design, layout and graphics packages. * Other software: Including RoboHelp, FileMaker, TestDirector, DBase/FoxPro, Crystal Reports, source version control software, and various automated test tools and defect tracking systems. * Communications software / protocols: X.25, X.400, ODETTE, SMTP, S/FTP, async, bisync, others. * EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) and messaging formats: ANSI X12, EDIFACT, Tradacoms, XML, HTML, OFTP, ODETTE, EDIFACT, TRADACOMS, ANSI X12, FTP, HTTP, and others. * Internet and security software: Norton Utilities and AntiVirus, AVG, ZoneAlarm, Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, MS IIS Web server, Apache Web server, SunONE Web server, plus other anti-virus, firewall, and Internet/network tools. * Audio production software: Cubase, AcidPro, SoundForge, eJay, and others. * Internet security: Familiarity with Public/Private keys, certificates, encryption, authentication, S/HTTP, S/FTP, AS1, AS2, firewalls, DMZs, et cetera.