Battle/London, United Kingdom

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Executive Summary

Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect and technical leader with 20+ years’ experience modernising legacy estates into scalable, AI-ready platforms.

I specialise in defining technical roadmaps, architecting resilient Google Cloud environments, and directing external digital product agencies to deliver mission-critical software. My background bridges strategic technology leadership with hands-on architectural governance, aligning vendor delivery, FinOps cost control, and platform reliability with core business goals.

Acting as the sole client-side technical authority, I have led full-scale migrations from Windows, IIS, and MS SQL environments to automated GKE platforms, reducing deployment cycles from days to minutes and cutting infrastructure costs by 70%.

I bring deep architectural expertise across GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform, and BigQuery data pipelines, focusing on scalable, secure platforms governed by clear engineering standards and disciplined cost management.

Core Competencies

Strategy & Governance Cloud & Infrastructure Data & Operations
Cloud Strategy & Governance Architecture Design Data & AI Strategy
FinOps & Cost Optimisation Platform Modernisation Cloud Migration
Kubernetes (GKE) Terraform (IaC) CI/CD Pipelines
Vendor Management Linux & Open Source Disaster Recovery

Signature Project

The Cloud Transformation
Directed a multi-year initiative modernising a legacy Windows, IIS, and MS SQL estate into a fully automated GKE platform, acting as the sole technical authority directing an external software engineering agency.

  • Architectural Oversight: Designed the target GCP architecture, cloud networking, and CI/CD pipelines used by external engineers.
  • Governance & Standards: Established code quality baselines, release criteria, and container standards across external development streams.
  • Measurable Impact: Cut infrastructure costs by 70% through licensing removal and rightsizing, while reducing deployment cycles from days to minutes.

Professional Experience

Upskill People | 2017 – Present

A leading e-learning platform provider.

Head of Technology | Jan 2021 – Present

  • Agency Leadership & Governance: Directed external software engineering partners as the sole client-side technical authority, defining technical requirements, sprint priorities, and release standards.
  • Architecture & Modernisation: Architected the full migration from on-premises Windows infrastructure to a cloud-native GCP estate, ensuring third-party deliverables aligned with long-term scalability and security benchmarks.
  • Commercial & FinOps Oversight: Managed agency delivery spend and infrastructure budgets, using BigQuery telemetry to monitor cloud utilisation and reduce operational costs by 70%.

Lead Application Developer | May 2017 – Jan 2021

  • The Bridge: Led the critical database migration from MSSQL to MySQL on Linux, removing licensing bottlenecks and enabling the cloud shift.
  • Legacy Refactoring: Deprecated legacy ASP codebases, rewriting core services in modern frameworks to support containerisation.
  • Availability: Stabilised the legacy platform during the transition, ensuring zero downtime for enterprise clients during the migration window.

Ian Paine IT Consultancy | 2010 – 2017

Self-Employed Senior Consultant

  • Scope: Delivered full-stack infrastructure and development services for SME clients, specialising in stabilising legacy web estates and early virtualisation.
  • Key Achievement: Managed end-to-end lifecycle for web applications, bridging the gap between “Rack-and-Stack” hardware management and early cloud adoption (GCP pilots).

Early Career History

  • Web Developer | XRX Limited | 2005 – 2010
  • Junior Web Developer | School Showcase Limited | 2002 – 2005

Certifications & Professional Development

Google Cloud Certified

Pending

  • Professional Data Engineer (PDE) (Target: Summer 2026)
  • HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate (004) (Target: Summer 2026)

Technical Skills

  • Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Terraform, Docker, GCP.
  • Data: BigQuery, Cloud SQL, MySQL.
  • Data Pipelines: Datastream, Dataflow, Cloud Functions, Pub/Sub.
  • AI & ML: Vertex AI, Generative AI, LLM Integration.
  • Development: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL, Bash.

Community Leadership & Interests

  • Founder – Sussex Trail Runners | 2021 – Present | Founded and lead a thriving trail running community, organising events across Sussex, raising funds for the Campaign Against Living Miserably: Suicide Prevention Charity.