Richard Cochrane
Software Development Manager
Plumstead
Summary
My career has allowed me to develop both aspects of software development that I love – the technical side, making software that works well, making a difference in the lives of users; and the human side, recognising that people are very different in complex ways and being able to listen to and understand people is an increasingly important managerial skill. I enjoying solving problems although the most challenging (and rewarding) work is in helping teams grow to being able to solve problems themselves effectively.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Certificates
Work History
Software Development Manager
Retail Capital
Cape Town
03.2022 - Current
- Manage the team and plan career growth with team members
- Still doing some development but also developing the processes and standards by which the development workload is planned with the rest of the company.
- Train the team about the joy in creating automated tests
- Document in Confluence much of the domain knowledge that had been otherwise only held by a few
- Organise the work for the department using a workflow in Jira, helping keep stakeholders aligned with the team work
Software Development Manager
Siyavula Education
Cape Town
03.2017 - 03.2022
- Taking an active role in development as need requires
- Fortnightly checkins with annual assessments to gauge progress and development toward career goals
- Keeping the team updated and motivated in achieving the fine art of software development
- Used a Kanban approach to keep the work focused, to prevent unnecessary work-in-progress and to ensure that team output was maximised
Software Development Team Lead
Siyavula Education
Cape Town
02.2016 - 02.2017
- Managed the team workload
- Improved productivity
- Had fortnightly check-ins with team members
- Crafted the department budget and coordinated dev priorities with relevant stakeholders
- Skills: Python, Pyramid, PostgreSQL
Senior Developer
Siyavula Education
Cape Town
2015.01 - 2016.01
- Introduced structure to the development process, using Trello to manage bug reports and development tasks through a process including peer review, external (stakeholder) review on staging servers and deployment
- Created a vision for a simplified architecture to aid development and refactored the removal of much of the legacy code to achieve that simplified architecture.
Senior Developer
Mpowered Business Solutions
Cape Town
06.2013 - 12.2014
- Development included use of prototyping and TDD
- Monitored code quality to improve code design and patch security vulnerabilities
- Mentored developers in coding and breaking down tasks into manageable chunks
- Spoke at RubyFuza 2014 on debugging Rails projects
- Some projects include: developing a solution where one of the applications integrated with a third party payment gateway and would allow recurring billing; an API for another of the applications that would allow third parties to automate their own operations
- I also documented many policies and procedures around areas relating to security and organisation, including Pandemic Planning and Disaster Recovery, Privacy policy, Organisation of Information Security and Human Resource security
- Skills: Ruby, Rails, Rspec
Senior Python Developer
Go2Africa
Cape Town
09.2012 - 05.2013
- Created and implemented re-usable widgets (eg. Image widget, text widget) that, when put together, resulted in an editable website
- Skills: Python, Django, PostgreSQL
Python and Front-End Developer
Go2Africa
Cape Town
03.2012 - 08.2012
- Developed part of an online payment system
- Set up restful API's, including one to allow manipulation of images using low-resolution copies and another to allow full-text searching using SOLR
- Skills: Python, Django, PostgreSQL
Senior Python Developer
JobCrystal
Cape Town
06.2011 - 02.2012
- Developed a payment solution for a new product integrating with NetCash
- Administration of the Linux production servers including installation SSL certificates, PostgreSQL DBLink, Apache and Nginx
- Skills: Python, Django, Javascript, SQL, PostgreSQL, Photoshop, Linux Server administration, Nginx
Web Developer
JobCrystal
Cape Town
04.2009 - 05.2011
- Development of functionality to improve the web application serving job-seekers, including efforts to improve engagement by having job-seekers rank each other, improving their own chances of being ranked while discounting noise and enhancing the legitimacy of good ranking data.
- Skills: Django, Python, HTML, CSS, Javascript
Web Developer
Tribe (Ripe)
Cape Town
11.2008 - 03.2009
- Worked with creative designers to create and maintain exciting websites
- Skills: PHP, Linux, HTML, CSS, Javascript
Team Leader
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
Cape Town
2007.05 - 2008.10
- Increased motivation in the department through the organising of training, reading materials and monthly department lunches
- Managed the smooth operation of billing runs
- Managed the transfer of knowledge to other staff to perform billing runs
- Skills: Project Management, SQL, SQL Server, Business analysis, Visual Basic 6, Excel VBA
Systems Analyst / Senior Developer
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
Cape Town
2006.01 - 2007.04
- Analysis of user requirements and creation of technical specifications
- Development, testing and implementation of applications
- Managing the smooth operation of billing runs
- Skills:Visual Basic, SQL Server, SQL
Business Analyst / Software Developer
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
Cape Town
2001.11 - 2005.12
- Documenting complex business processes from client-level to database-level
- Developed a training programme to raise end-user productivity in Windows 2000, MS Excel and MS Outlook
- VBA, MS Office, Visual Basic, SQL Server
Education
Bachelor of Business Science - Information Systems
University of Cape Town
Cape Town 01.1998 - 12.2001
Matric -
Northcliff High School
Johannesburg 01.1995 - 12.1997
Skills
Python
Additional Information
- INTERESTS
Certification
AWS Cloud Practitioner
Timeline
Software Development Manager
Retail Capital
03.2022 - Current
AWS Cloud Practitioner
04-2021
Software Development Manager
Siyavula Education
03.2017 - 03.2022
Software Development Team Lead
Siyavula Education
02.2016 - 02.2017
Senior Developer
Siyavula Education
2015.01 - 2016.01
Senior Developer
Mpowered Business Solutions
06.2013 - 12.2014
Senior Python Developer
Go2Africa
09.2012 - 05.2013
Python and Front-End Developer
Go2Africa
03.2012 - 08.2012
Senior Python Developer
JobCrystal
06.2011 - 02.2012
Web Developer
JobCrystal
04.2009 - 05.2011
Web Developer
Tribe (Ripe)
11.2008 - 03.2009
Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop CS2
08-2007
Team Leader
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
2007.05 - 2008.10
Systems Analyst / Senior Developer
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
2006.01 - 2007.04
Business Analyst / Software Developer
Orion Telecom (Vox Telecom)
2001.11 - 2005.12
Bachelor of Business Science - Information Systems
University of Cape Town
01.1998 - 12.2001
Matric -
Northcliff High School
01.1995 - 12.1997
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