Tech Leadership & Vision
As a Data Platform Manager leading a team of data & software engineers, I focus on empowering people, driving innovation, and delivering enterprise-scale solutions. My approach combines strategic vision with hands-on technical expertise to tackle complex challenges and achieve ambitious goals that create lasting business value.
Built and led high-performing engineering teams, fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and psychological safety. Successfully mentored junior engineers, resulting in promotions and significant career growth across the team.
Defined and executed comprehensive technical roadmaps aligned with business objectives across 12+ countries. Championed adoption of modern cloud technologies and architectural patterns, resulting in 60% performance improvements and £5K+ monthly cost savings.
Successfully delivered many complex data platform projects on time and within budget by implementing agile methodologies, improving development processes by 80%, and ensuring effective stakeholder communication across global teams.
Led digital transformation initiatives solving critical business challenges through technological innovation. Drove research, prototyping, and implementation of cutting-edge solutions including AI/ML pipelines, real-time analytics, and automated data quality frameworks.
Experience & Education.
A timeline of my professional roles and academic background, building expertise in data, engineering, and leadership.
Professional Experience
Founder & Host
sql_squared
Manchester, UK
Founded and host sql_squared, a growing community platform for data professionals, producing high-quality technical content across articles, videos, and podcasts.
Key Achievements
- Develop and produce technical content covering complex data and AI topics for both expert and newcomer audiences
- Actively building a community for data professionals by fostering discussions around emerging industry trends and best practices
Data Platform Manager
Oliver James
Manchester, UK
Define and execute the strategic roadmap for the data and development functions, leading a high-performing team of data engineers and developers while partnering with senior executives to champion a data-first culture.
Key Achievements
- Matured AGILE processes by solidifying sprint ceremonies, introducing a development change board, and improving release planning and business transparency
- Drove continuous platform innovation by translating emerging industry trends into actionable technical strategies, leveraging insights from the sql_squared podcast and major UK conferences
- Lead the end-to-end implementation and rollout of modern enterprise platforms including Microsoft Fabric, solving master data management challenges and improving system integration reliability
- Partnered with external vendors for the successful implementation of large-scale enterprise application suites, technical management processes, and custom public-facing applications
- Translate complex technical capabilities into clear business value and ROI to drive data-led decision-making across the organisation
Data Engineering Lead
Oliver James
Manchester, UK
Following promotion, led the architecture, management, and operational excellence of the new data platform. Introduced and scaled the business's DevOps function and co-developed the long-term technical strategy with senior leadership.
Key Achievements
- Implemented Azure DevOps and CI/CD pipelines (YAML), moving from manual releases to 100% automated deployment for all software, data, and AI resources
- Co-developed the long-term technical strategy with senior leadership, focusing on embedding data into core business processes to drive commercial growth
- Engineered a near real-time, event-driven reporting suite for global telephony data, enabling management to monitor call statistics and integrating AI-powered call transcription summaries
Senior Data Engineer
Oliver James
Manchester, UK
Led the greenfield implementation of a new enterprise Data Platform, architecting a distributed and scalable design. Managed complex cross-functional integrations and established core data integration strategies.
Key Achievements
- Architected a distributed, scalable data platform with a flexible ingestion layer and dimensionalised data stores
- Managed the complex integration of legacy financial systems with a new ERP (SAP Business ByDesign), liaising with 3rd party suppliers to ensure seamless data flow and business continuity
- Designed and implemented the Salesforce data integration strategy using custom SOQL to delta-load sales activity data, forming the backbone of core business reporting
SQL Developer
Oliver James
Manchester, UK
Developed a new cloud-first SQL Data Warehouse to support critical analytical requirements during a period of hyper-growth, reverse-engineering legacy systems to preserve key business logic.
Key Achievements
- Built a cloud-first SQL Data Warehouse supporting critical analytical needs during rapid business growth
- Reverse-engineered legacy systems to preserve and migrate key business logic to the new platform
SQL Developer & Software Tester
Evolution Recruitment
Warrington, UK
Pioneered the enhancement of a SQL Data Warehouse for an in-house CRM and played a key role in the business's inaugural migration to a modern Azure data stack.
Key Achievements
- Pioneered SQL Data Warehouse enhancements for the in-house CRM platform
- Key contributor to the business's first migration to a modern Azure data stack
- Recognised for innovative solutions that significantly enhanced software usability and reporting capabilities
Education & Certifications
Computer Science (BSc) 2:1 Hons
University of Liverpool
Specialized in Software Engineering and Data Structures
Management & Leadership (Level 5)
Chartered Managers Institute
Advanced leadership and strategic management
Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
Microsoft
Cloud computing and Azure services fundamentals
Key Achievements.
A snapshot of the impact delivered across platforms, teams, and communities throughout my career.
Key Impact Metrics
60%
Platform Performance
Reduction in data processing time through optimisation initiatives
£5K+
Cost Savings
Monthly cost savings delivered through digital transformation initiatives
1000+
Global Reach
Users served by data platforms across 12+ countries
80%
Deployment Speed
Reduction in deployment time through CI/CD implementation
90%+
Data Quality
Improvement in data quality through validation frameworks
2
Team Growth
Junior engineers promoted under my direct mentorship