Dave Mace

Candidate Profile

Dave is a qualified Agile Multi-Project Software Manager, who manages projects to an acceptable level of risk by balancing scope, time, cost and quality. He has solid problem solving skills, business skills, verbal & written communication skills. He has excellent relationship building skills with a keen sense of customer focus coming from a genuine sense of integrity and a strong desire to deliver on his promises. Dave’s reputation that ‘he can be relied on to complete & deliver’ is gained from his focussed Agile leadership & team management approach and his ability to influence all levels & functions within an organisation.  Dave is competent in managing complex multi-disciplinary projects with significant technical content. He has the flexibility to lead diverse, dynamic teams across global sites and deliver integrated products & solutions to clients’ challenging business problems.

Candidate Summary

·          High level of business, communication & client-facing expertise with customers from Europe & Japan

·          1^st Class Honours degree,  PhD from a top University, Scrum Master Certified (for  Agile Projects), PRINCE2 Practitioner,

·          Experience in delivery of concurrent multiple software projects & programmes both UK & Overseas

·          Successful in delivering Products, R&D, Organisational Change & Process Re-engineering

·          Delivered European & Global commercial off-the-shelf software products, internet technology solutions for Industrial users & UK Government, Online Web purchase systems, SAP Campaign Management systems

·          Led projects with multi-global diverse teams, in-house & 3^rd party, across UK, off-shore in Europe, India & Japan

·          Accountability for projects of at least £3.5m

·          Responsible for >35 full project lifecycles from Business Development to Delivery, Localisation, Manufacturing & Support

·          Led teams with multiple discipline representation (technology, creative & strategy), for projects with 40+ staff

·          Experienced using UML object oriented design & development methodology with skills in Microsoft & Java Software Engineering

·          Delivered solutions for Commercial Advertising, Mobile Telecommunications, GIS, Industrial Automation, Auto-ID, Semiconductor Optoelectronics

Skill Set

Scrum Master Certified, Agile Project Management, Prince2 Practitioner, Agile SAP Development Management, Multi Project Management, Programme Management, Subcontract Management, Software Management, Software Lifecycle, Off-the-shelf Software Products, Stakeholder Management, Planning, Project Control, Risk Management, Quality Management, Configuration Management, Change Control, Quotation Management, Specification Development and Management, Architectural Management, Milestone & Release/Delivery Management, Software Test, UAT, Issue Management, Localisation, Maintenance & Support Management, ISO 9001, Capability Maturity Model (CMM), Process Improvement, Man Management, Recruitment, Appraisals, Career Development, Training, Mentoring, 3^rd party Management, Off-shore Management, UK Government Solution, India & Japanese business culture, Sensors, Optoelectronic Devices, Microwave Transmission Spectroscopy,  Internet technology, Research, Organisational Change, Process Re-engineering, GIS, Industrial Automation, Mobile Telecommunications, Smart Card, UML, Visual Basic, Visual C++, HTML, Java, UNIX, Win 2000/XP, MS-Office, MS Project, SourceSafe, TrackRecord, Lotus Notes.

Professional Experience

2010 – 2011                         Yell.com                                                           Reading, Berkshire

Yell is a leading international directories business operating in the classified advertising market in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Peru, with £2.4billion turnover (2009) that is undergoing a major transition to Agile

Feb 2010 to Apr 2011:      Consultant – Scrum Master

Used Agile Scrum to deliver changes to SAP R3, CRM & BW to enable Yell Market Planners renew packages of advertised products in future Campaigns and Sales teams sell these renewed packages. After coaching the Product Owner in building the Product Backlog, I coached a new team (consisting of ABAP & BW Developers & a Tester) in the delivery of a small change to live within a 2 weeks and a major upgrade to live during the fourth 2 week sprint.

As Scrum Master I represented management to the project, was responsible for enacting scrum values and practices, tracked progress via Sprint Burndown, removed impediments raised by daily scrums, ensured  the team was fully functional and productive, enabled close cooperation across all roles and functions and shielded the teams from external interferences.  I worked closely with Product Owner throughout the Sprints preparing stories and updating the Backlog ready for next Sprint Prioritisation and then led the planning at the start of each Sprint. At the end of each Sprint there was a Sprint Review  demonstrating to the stakeholders what was done and go live ready that Sprint, followed by a Retrospective to help the team to identify improvement actions for the next Sprint. 

I also met regularly with other Scrum Masters (>8) in Yell, informally sharing ideas and experiences to help the Agile transition with the organisation.

2008 – 2010                         Infoterra Ltd                                                    Farnborough, Hampshire

Infoterra Ltd (subsidiary of EADS Astrium) is a world leader in the provision of geographic information products and services.

Jan 2008 to Jan 2010:       Consultant – Agile Development Project Manager / Scrum Master

Introduced Agile Scrum to enable rapid business change & improve software development productivity. After appointing a Product Owner, I initially Scrum Mastered a small team of 6 (developers, database engineers & tester) delivering the first online service (a Flood Risk System) within three 2 week Sprints. This was developed using continuous integration and included some automated tests. Then building on the success and components of the first service, the teams were expanded, further product owners adopted and three more Java web based Internet systems that involved ecommerce and automated production were developed. They went live within 3 months. Some of these retailed mapping data to govt organisations.  To achieve this I Scrum Mastered multiple teams working to the same 2 week Sprints with Sprint Reviews to the stakeholders & some Retrospectives at the end of each Sprint..

As Scrum Master I again represented management to the project, was responsible for enacting scrum values and practices, tracked progress via Sprint Burndown and ad hoc QA, removed impediments raised by daily scrums, ensured  the team was fully functional and productive, enabled close cooperation across all roles and functions and shielded the teams from external interferences.  I worked closely with Product Owners throughout the Sprints preparing stories and updating the Backlog ready for next Sprint Prioritisation and then led the planning at the start of each Sprint. A variety of approaches, including Planning poker, were used for estimating new Systems & upgrading existing Systems.

After each Sprint Review, I provided reporting at Sprint Prioritisation to the Governance team on Release planning forecasts (based on Product Burndown), Budget forecasts (based on Project Burnup) and Agile Risks assessments.  Sprint Prioritisation every 2 weeks, enabled to the Business to reprioritise work across multiple projects and balance the available resources to achieve the priorities. 

In addition to numerous upgrades, I was also involved as Scrum Master for two further Online Services, retailing data to the general public, again involving multiple teams. Agilo™ Scrum software was introduced to support the scrum process. Selenium was used to increase the automated testing.

I also used the Scrum framework for managing subcontract components of a large overseas Land Administration Project. This involved development teams in Ljubljana (Slovenia) & Farnborough (UK) and the onsite deployment team in Port Louis (Mauritius). The Project progressed with incremental deliveries, in 2 week sprints with a daily scrum across the teams to share commitment, communicate daily status, identify impediments, identify drops between teams, set focus and build the project team.

2006 – 2007                         Qualcomm                                                      Poole, Dorset

Qualcomm is a US Fortune 500 Company developing products and solutions for next-generation wireless communications.

Jan 2006 to Dec 2007:      Consultant – Program Manager

Program Managed engineering of Content Delivery Management software products for Mobile Telecoms.  9 month core Product delivery was completed on schedule with no critical defects by 41 staff in 10 teams UK & US using Scrum based Agile Project Management. Trained Program Manager for follow-on projects.

2003 – 2005                         Infoterra Ltd                                                    Farnborough, Hampshire

July 2003 to Dec 2005:      Consultant – Development Project Manager

Project Managed the Development of software to cleanse, restructure & combine datasets into commercial Address List. Led the GIS delivery into an IBM Data Warehousing project for DEFRA.  Project Managed, using Prince2, the development of an online GIS Application, delivering into an Accenture Solution for Government Rural Payments Agency. The Application was developed by multiple UK & Overseas subcontract teams using an Oracle Geo-Information database & ESRI Java Technology. Responsible for Change Control, Budget control, Contract Negotiation, Planning & Reporting for the Project.

1995 – 2003                         OMRON European Technical Centre        Whiteley, Hampshire

OMRON ETC develops Programming, Configuration, Monitoring & Sales software tools for OMRON’s Industrial Automation Components & Systems. OMRON is a Japanese Global with >23,000 employees.

Jan 2001 to Mar 2003:      Group Leader (HMI, Sensors & Mechatronics) – Multi-Project/Programme Manager

Led the Smart Web Suite Projects: Java Internet Technology for Industrial Automation solutions.  These included a £1m Java HMI software product for Vision Sensors (Win 98, 2000, ME, XP) - a dual-site, part-subcontracted development.

Concurrently led an Organisational Change Project/Programme to set up a new Off-Shore Software Development Centre in Spain. Recruited & built Spanish team. Transferred Inverter Configurator (Visual C++), Motion Control (Visual Basic) & Web Sales Selector (HTML & Java) technology from ETCUK. Trained & mentored the team.

Concurrently led the Software Process Improvement Projects (Change Programme) to reduce schedule, cost deviations & post release failure. Later targeted Key Process Areas of Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Level 3.

Jan 1998 to Dec 2000:      Group Leader (HMI & Mechatronics Software) - Development Manager

Responsible, via delegated Project Managers, for developing Temperature Controller (Visual C++, ActiveX, Win 95, 98, NT, 2000), Motion Controller & Inverter Configuration tools including localisation into Japanese & 5 European languages..

Project Managed HMI configuration software (Visual Basic, Visual C++, Installshield) using packages from 4 global sites (UK, India, Germany & Asia) including global localisation (using RC-Win Trans). Led software developments for Auto-ID (Magnetic Card, Smart Card & RFID) hardware using Active X, Visual C++ & HTML.

Jan 1995 to Dec 1997:      Project Manager

Project Managed a £3.8m PLC Programming Tool (C++, DOS) with 15 member team. Project Managed £0.5m Protocol Support Software Project (Visual C++, Win 95, 98, NT) and created the pre-development Visual Basic prototypes. Project was on time, within budget, with only 2 post-release defects reported.

1985 – 1995                         BT                                                                      Ipswich, Suffolk

1992 to 1995:       Service Creation – Team Leader

Team led delivery & demonstration of Service Creation (SC) Tools prototype for Advanced Intelligent Network applications on Service Control Platforms. Delivered specifications & architectural prototypes for an End-User SC product.

1992:                      Applications Research - Software Engineer

Transitioned to software development following intensive training & developed Visual C++ HMI components for a UNIX Network Management System product.

1985 to 1992:       Semiconductor Devices – Senior Research Engineer

Researched non-linear optoelectronic communications. Designed & fabricated semiconductor optical power limiter & optical crosspoint switches for broadband, bit rate transparent fibre optic communications systems.

1983 – 1985                         Cavendish Labs                                             Cambridge University UK

1983 to 1985:       Semiconductor Research - Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Developed techniques for researching novel two-dimensional semiconductor structures using low temperature, high magnetic field, conductivity assessment. Supervised undergraduates at St John’s College, Cambridge.

1980 – 1983                         Physics Departments                                  Exeter University UK / Wayne State University USA

1980 to 1983:       Condensed Matter Research - PhD Research Fellow

Detailed studies of spin wave excitations in sodium, potassium and, for the first time, lithium using microwave transmission spectrometers operating at 34 GHz & 80 GHz.

Summary of Qualifications & Publications

1980 - 1983                          Exeter UK & Wayne State USA                  PhD Physics

1978 - 1980                          Exeter University                                           BSc Physics 1^st Class Honours

‘A’ Levels – Physics (A), Chemistry (A), Maths (A) and Further Maths (B). Ten ‘O’ Levels

17 papers                             6 International Conference Presentations       2 patents

Interests and Activities

Music, Member of Winchester Family Church.

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