Software Engineer Management

CHRISTOPHER IRELAND

Ipswich, MA *****

*********@*****.*** . 978-***-****

Throughout my 14 year career I have held progressive roles in development,

management, and architecture, becoming a strong technology generalist

deeply rooted in the engineering survival skills I acquired along the way.

I have built systems ranging from bolt-on application security tools to

high-volume middleware services to high-complexity search interfaces

servicing millions of users. I have worked for the past several years in

the IP & Science unit of Thomson Reuters - a small division where we run

our team with a collaborative culture and entrepreneurial spirit. Group

behavioral dynamics and culture are paramount to me and I infuse the

principles of transparency and collaboration into the teams that I lead.

In my current role, challenges such as weaving together disparate big data

stores, distributed data analytics, and disambiguation of imperfect data

satisfy my intellectual curiosity, and engagement in research programs at

institutions such as MIT allows me to keep us on the bleeding edge. While

largely reliant on Java, Oracle, and open source communities, the breadth

of systems in the division provides ample opportunity to explore a wide

range of technologies. Evangelizing for pragmatically governed service

oriented platforms provides the mechanisms through which to orchestrate

such incongruent systems across our globally distributed teams, while also

managing the IP, privacy, and security risks that confront our industry.

I am seeking a new opportunity in an organization that acknowledges the

value of group culture in solving complex problems - a place where a team

is expected to produce more than the sum of its members. I enjoy the

challenges that come with striking balance: setting strategic direction

while embracing change and the dynamic nature of technology; building well-

principled systems while meeting the immediate needs of business and

customer. Having spent several years focused on developing my technical

and architectural capabilities, I am seeking to apply my multi-disciplinary

background in a strategic role in a company that makes a difference in the

world.

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Thomson Reuters

A leading provider of intelligent information targeting Intellectual

Property & Science, Financial, Legal, and Tax & Accounting professionals

and industries, with over 55,000 employees and $13B+ in revenue.

Director Enterprise Architecture

Thomson Reuters, Intellectual Property & Science; Divisional Leadership

Team, July 2012 to Present

Strategic and technical oversight of Architectural and Software

Engineering activities in the IP & Science division, encompassing 1000

globally distributed technologists producing systems generating $1B in

revenue. In addition to definition/oversight of technology vision,

governance, and execution processes, serve as Technology liaison to

executive business stakeholders for the Intellectual Property

organization, as well as the Corporate Technology and Governance teams.

. Champion and steward of the division's platform strategy, creating

roadmaps, execution and integration plans, and budget-neutral funding

schemes for consolidation of systems within IP & Science as well as

integration with broader TR level platforms, with a focus on proper

adoption of security controls and frameworks within platform structures

. TR representative to programs within the bigdata@CSAIL program at MIT,

as well as technology liaison and technical program manager for TR-

funded research labs at MIT's Sloan Center for Digital Business focused

on predictive analytics

. Strategic team leader for R&D efforts to integrate IP & Science data

into various graph style and multi-array databases as part of broader

bigdata and analytics strategy

. Due diligence and acquisition research

. Designated enterprise technical resource for Information Security

practices and strategy - oversee Info Sec Governance for the division

. Author of and advocate for lightweight governance that integrates with

emergent Corporate standards and policies, with emphasis on risk

mitigation efforts around quality, information security assurance, and

Open Source liability mitigation

. Advisor on staffing allocation, location strategy, and hiring decisions

for the Technology organization

. Dotted-line/matrixed technical responsibility for all Solutions

Architects (globally dispersed group of ~30 architects) within the

Intellectual Property Solutions unit of the division, constructing

systems producing $500 million in revenue annually

. Building on prior success in establishing an office in Bangalore,

India, established and executing plan to grow this office by two

hundred positions in order to continue a shift away from reliance on

contractors

. Advise on systems and methodologies for standardization of the entire

SDLC for the division

Director - Lead Architect

Thomson Reuters, Intellectual Property & Science; Patents & Standards,

July 2010 to July 2012

Strategic and technical oversight of Architectural and Engineering

activities in the Patents & Standards unit, producing and maintaining

systems ranging from web and desktop products for patents/standards

research and discovery (generating $100M+ revenue), to enterprise

infrastructure and business systems (enabling products that generate

$500M+ revenue). In addition to defining and overseeing technology

vision, governance, and execution processes, represent Technology as

primary liaison to business stakeholders and divisional layers to

collaborate and align local and corporate initiatives.

. Partnered with management to create Architect group, assuming technical

oversight of design, engineering, and workforce planning activities for

up to 150 technologists within 10 globally distributed locations

. Lead group of 9 Solutions Architects in architecture activities,

including comprehensive review of systems, ongoing reviews of

incremental development, and overhauling redesign of the platform

. Introduced security code scanning and remediation practices for the

flagship product, and work with engineering management to adjust

development methodologies to accommodate this on an ongoing basis

. Worked with Marketing and business teams to manage security-related

communication with customers

. Dramatically increased vendor-provided code quality by redefining

Master Service Agreement to define expectations for design, security,

coding standards, and Open Source compliance - MSA updates later

adopted across the corporation

. Championed organizational and process overhaul to reduce reliance on

single external development vendor while structuring parallel project

to internalize currently outsourced system knowledge and increase

internal team size

. Successfully created forty person full-time team in Bangalore, India in

order to manifest desired decrease in reliance on offshore contractors,

while remaining within low-cost center

Director - Rights, Identity Management, and eCommerce Technology

Thomson Reuters, Legal; Intellectual Property Solutions, May 2008 to June

2010

Strategic, architectural, and managerial oversight of all software

engineering, hardware, client, and vendor management related to the

enterprise platform. Represent topics of security, eCommerce, and

middleware technology to senior Technology and Business stakeholders,

advising on best-practices and industry standards in order to drive

strategy and seek out new opportunities to leverage the shared platform.

. Oversight of globally distributed team of 22, including

Managers/Directors, Architects, Engineers, Project Managers, and

Business Analysts - performing full SDLC activities through 24 x 7

production support

. Decreased department run rate by 30% via methodology and coding

efficiencies, and reset direction and service paradigm for the

department, doubling number of clients - bringing revenue enabled by

the platform to $300M+ in support of 2M+ unique users, and realizing

capital savings of $5M+ by promoting consolidation

. Created governance model for the shared platform that has been adopted

more broadly across the corporation

. Produced a 30% decrease in support costs and $1M of vendor-provided

development via vendor management

. Sponsored internal education program, resulting in 40% decrease in

runtime requests via client side optimization

. Integrated with business systems, decreasing fulfillment time and

errors via automation, while enabling enhanced audit and regulatory

compliance - achieved internal award for crossing functional boundaries

in order to unify diverse teams

Manager - Rights and Identity Management Technology

Thomson Reuters, Scientific; Enterprise Shared Services, May 2007 to April

2008

Business analysis, architectural, and engineering management of all

software/hardware related to the enterprise Rights and Identity

Management system, closely collaborating with other department managers

to ensure realization of unified vision.

. Oversight of 6 technologists, matrixed/contractors as required, and

associated departmental and project budgets

. Optimized code to realize 10 - 60% performance gains in highly utilized

areas of the component

. Implemented process and governance changes to balance activities of 3

distributed QA teams charged with testing the platform in different

contexts, realizing ~30% cost savings without decreasing quality

coverage

. Decreased business continuity risk by successfully rolling out platform

into additional globally distributed data centers

Senior Software Engineer - Rights and Identity Management Technology

Thomson Reuters, Scientific; Enterprise Shared Services, March 2006 to

April 2007

Guide the architecture and contribute to development of software for the

cross-functional shared Rights and Identity Management platform, and

liaise with platform management regarding estimates, project planning,

and execution oversight.

. Technical oversight of team of 5 dedicated engineers and 4 matrixed

resources as needed

. Inherited 50% complete project with cost and schedule overruns, and

brought system to production on time/budget via aggressive scope and

process control

. Championed development process definition and improvement initiatives

Senior Software Engineer - Middleware Integration

Thomson Scientific; Academic & Government Business Unit, April 2003 to

February 2006

Perform software engineering, architectural, and team leadership tasks as

part of the Middleware Integration team for the Web of Knowledge (WoK)

platform of products, focused on leading the development, maintenance,

and product integration of authentication and authorization systems,

middleware sessioning systems, and search brokerage systems, while

promoting technology change and process improvement throughout the

organization.

. Technical oversight of 2 junior-level full-time engineers and 2

offshore contractors

. Architected new deployment strategy for middleware, introducing

globally distributed multi-master data center presence with cluster

scalability and redundant failover

. Designed and implemented new authentication and authorization system

for the WoK platform, providing a 75% decrease in login time while

introducing audit/reporting capabilities to facilitate regulatory

compliance, decreasing the storage needs by 50% and fulfillment time by

~30% via optimization of workflows and reusable secure web services

Entegrity Solutions

A provider of access management, single sign-on, application

authorization, and secure content delivery solutions.

Software Engineer

Entegrity Solutions; AssureAccess Core Development Team, June 2000 to March

2003

In a startup environment, perform software design and development as part

of core development team, as well as pre and post sales support as part

of the company's Professional Services group.

. Designed and implemented an administrative UI as part of the

AssureAccess platform, including creation and integration of a user and

identity management utility

. Ported the AssureAccess platform to various operating systems and

platforms, web servers, and Java application servers

. Provided pre and post sales support in the form of white papers,

customer and conference presentations, second-level technical and on-

site support, and professional services

. Produced functional and technical specifications, cost analyses, and

market feasibility studies as necessary

Pre-Graduate work experience available upon request

EDUCATION

Drexel University (College of Information Technology) - Philadelphia, PA,

March 2006

MSSE (Masters of Science, Software Engineering) - Completed with 4.0 GPA

Harvard University (Graduate Extension Division) - Cambridge, MA, Fall 2000

Non-matriculated graduate course work - 4.0 GPA

Colby College - Waterville, ME, June 2000

B.A, Honors in Computer Science, double minor in Mathematics and Music -

Graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa honor society, with Honors,

with Distinction in the Major, Colby Senior Scholar - active in leading

several groups/activities/Student Government, held IT and teaching

assistant positions, active in non-course-related CS research

References available upon request

Contact this candidate