# Steve Eyre (@alsotop.net)

Profile: https://sifa.id/p/alsotop.net
Headline: Software Development Manager at Pearson

## About

Hi, I am a Software Engineering Manager based in Chesterfield, England. I have been writing and developing software for the majority of my life, but have most recently worked with Python (including Django), but before that used PHP for the last 15 years
\- mostly specialising in Laminas (fka Zend) and Symfony, but have utilised lots of other MVC frameworks. I really enjoy designing and developing software and leading teams to build amazing products. I pride myself in my ability to 'translate' requirements to/from end users and development teams.

I studied Software Engineering for four years at the University of Sheffield and received a First grade Masters of Engineering Degree, with a strong focus on agile software development which I have been able to put into practice ever since.

## Career

- **Software Development Manager at Pearson** (Dec 2024 - Present)
- **Software Engineering Team Manager at ZOO Digital Group plc** (Oct 2022 - Dec 2024)
  ZOO Digital provides media localisation services to some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. As an Engineering Manager, I manage a number of developers of varying seniority and lead the development of multiple products. I collaborate closely with the product management, project management and quality assurance teams in order to achieve our roadmap of product development. I am fully involved at all steps of the development lifecycle, and have direct involvement with clients and gathering requirements and providing support. I am actively involved with code reviews and deployments.
  
  I have a strong focus and desire to keep my direct reports actively engaged and to continue to improve and hone their skills. I have mentored junior members of staff and helped provide direction and reassurance to senior engineers. I like to hold frequent catch ups with my team and make myself as available as possible.
  
  Products I lead or have significant involvement include supporting the complex process of media localisation for streaming services. These products often involve a lot of connectivity between internal systems and external systems used by clients.
- **Technical Director at High Tech Click** (Jul 2012 - Sep 2022)
  In 2012 an opportunity arose to spin off the IT department from Xbite Ltd into its own organisation which would enable the business to also seek additional clients. The primary goal of High Tech Click was to develop an ERP system to manage online ecommerce retail businesses. To that end, the software developed was used for stock, product, listing, purchasing and warehouse management all within one connected system.
  
  As Technical Director, I oversaw all projects, but as the team grew that led to delegating management of subprojects to various project managers, with whom I oversaw. The software supported regularly processing 5,000 orders a day and almost £50m of transactions going through the system. During peak selling periods the system handled close to 20,000 sales per day whilst being used by 100 office staff and 75 warehouse staff.
- **IT Manager at Xbite Ltd** (Jun 2011 - Jul 2012)
  In the position of IT Manager I was responsible for leading a team of four PHP developers and one IT engineer, as well as having full responsibility for all IT systems, whether that was the software under development or the infrastructure that the business was using. I was still involved in development, but this took a backseat to project management and team management.
- **IT Developer at Xbite Ltd** (Jul 2010 - May 2011)
  I joined Xbite Ltd as a PHP developer to assist with the development of their internal systems for managing the online retail business. This involved working with online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay as well as developing warehouse management software.

## Skills

### Technical
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Databases
- Django
- Docker Products
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Java
- Linux
- MySQL
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
- PHP
- PostgreSQL
- Python (Programming Language)
- Software Engineering
- SQL
- Web Development
### Business
- Agile Methodologies
- CMS
- E-commerce
- Online Retail
- Performance Management
- Project Management
### Interpersonal
- Leadership
### Other
- Coaching & Mentoring
- Grafana
- Laminas Framework
- MVC
- Performance Reviews
- RabbitMQ
- Software Engineering Management

## Education

- **The University of Sheffield** — MEng (2006 - 2010)
  First class honours degree, MEng Software Engineering (awarded 2010).
  
  During my course at Sheffield, I have learnt a variety of skills – both technical and organisational. The course has included modules on agile development and other methodologies, programming and databases and has featured many teamwork based projects. In my dissertation, I was awarded an 80% grade. I have constantly achieved average 1st level grades over each year.

## Links

- linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveeyreuk