Hello, I'm Gareth Senior

Northerner, Developer, Pythonista, Dog-Walker, Gentleman, Runner, Optimist, Builder of Cigar Box Guitars.

About Me

I was born in the Yorkshire town of Holmfirth, a place most famous for the long-running BBC sitcom Last Of The Summer Wine - I am adept at riding down a hill in a bathtub.

I attended Holmfirth High School from 1985-90. I sat A-Levels at Greenhead College in Huddersfield before studying at Edge Hill College, Ormskirk 1992-1995. After a brief career as a journalist and writer, I attained a Master's degree in Designing Worldwide Interactive Systems from the University of Huddersfield in 1999.

I've lived in London since 2000, during which time I've worked as a Designer, Web Developer, Software Engineer and Technical Lead for Ocado Technology, Sainsbury's, Global Radio, Capital Radio Group, GCap Media PLC, BBC Worldwide and EMAP Automotive.

Skillset

I'm from a design and front-end background and have worked with HTML, JavaScript and CSS since 2000. For a few years I built a lot of games in Macromedia Flash with ActionScript.

In 2006 I started working with Python using the Django framework. I've worked with most iterations of the framework from 0.96 onwards.

In 2016 I moved to work at Sainsbury's and developed microservices using Python and Go Lang.

My work at Ocado is mainly focussed on building developer tools for working with AWS.

I've run development teams and line-managed developers since 2006.

Key Skills

  • Python
  • TDD
  • Microservices
  • MySQL
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Team management, mentoring and coaching
  • HTML, CSS, SASS
  • Django
  • JavaScript
  • Agile Methodologies
  • Go Lang
  • User experience

Work History

November 2019 - Present: Engineering Team Lead
May 2017 - November 2019: Cloud Services Engineer
Ocado Technology

Working devops and engineering teams building tooling software and managing AWS infrastructure for Ocado's cloud-native "smart platform". Clients include Morrison's (UK), Bon Preu (Spain), Casino (France), Kroger (USA), ICA (Sweden), Sobey's (Canada). Key AWS serviecs: Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Elasticache, ECS, Route 53, S3, EC2

February 2016 - May 2017: Lead Software Developer
Sainsbury's

Worked with small cross-functional teams on projects that included:

  • A service that served an a central interface to Nectar's API. Structured as a suite of Go Lang microservices, provisioned using Ansible and deployed on AWS
  • An algorithm-driven engine that automated the re-ordering of stock in order to maximise availability and minimise waste. Python project
  • A personalisation system to generate offers and incentives for customers based on their buying habits. Microservices written in Python and Golang, deployed on AWS using Docker and Kubernetes

June 2011 - February 2016: Technical Lead
Global Radio

Managed a team of developers. Technical Lead for front-end development, focusing on: content managed radio-sites, online radio players, mobile applications.

August 2007 - June 2011: Software Developer
Global Radio

Agile web development with Python, Django, MySQL & ElasticSearch. Part of a small team that managed websites for major radio brands: XFM, Radio X, Classic FM, Capital FM, Capital XTRA, Smooth Radio, Big Top 40 and Heart.

April 2006 – August 2007: Senior Web Developer
BBC Worldwide

Senior Developer / Technical Project Manager developing content sites for magazine brands: TopGear.com, RadioTimes.com, BBCGoodFood.com, GardenersWorld.com and BBC Girl Talk.

February 2000 – April 2006: Web Designer/Developer
GCap Media plc / Capital Radio Group

Front-end development for an in-house content management system. Design and build of short-term tactical marketing sites for major events and commercial clients. Online games in Flash/Actionscript and Shockwave/Lingo. Brand design and creative direction.

Qualifications & Training

Formal Qualifications

  • 2000 - MSc. 'Designing Worldwide Interactive Systems', University of Huddersfield
  • 1995 - BSc. (Hons) 'Communication & Information Media', Lancaster University
  • 1992 - 4 A-Levels in 'Pure Mathematics & Statistics', 'Engish Language', 'Sociology', 'General Studies', Greenhead College
  • 1990 - GCSEs, Holmfirth High School

Notable Training

  • June 2020 - 'AWS Control Tower', Amazon (trainer: Chris Pates)
  • December 2019 - 'Product Management', Mind The Product
  • November 2019 - 'Leadership In Running Fitness', England Athletics
  • October 2017 - 'AWS Certified Developer (Associate Level)', Linux Academy
  • August 2017 - 'Linux Essentials Certification', Linux Academy
  • August 2017 - 'AWS Essentials', Linux Academy
  • May 2017 - 'AWS Concepts', Linux Academy
  • June 2017 - 'Data Structures', University of California via Coursera
  • June 2016 - 'Hands-on Ansible', Pluralsight
  • August 2016 - 'Introduction to AWS', Amazon (trainer: George Whiffen)
  • May 2016 - 'ElasticSearch Training', Elastic.co
  • 2008 - 'Certified Scrum Training', Scrum Alliance
  • 2006 - 'Effective Line Management' - BBC In-House Training
  • 2005 - 'Macromedia Director & Lingo', Aquent Training
  • 2004 - 'Web Applications with ASP', University Of Westminster

Contact Me

Fill in the form. Only use language you'd be comfortable hearing at a family gathering, thanks!

Summary

Gareth Senior is a British Software Developer & Engineering Lead. Specialties: Python & Cloud-based applications on AWS. developer management, mentoring and leadership.

Gareth has written this final section of his site in the third-person for SEO reasons. He imagines this is the text that appears as the site summary in search results.

Last update: 4th February 2021