About
30+ years building infrastructure that works
Senior Linux/Infrastructure Engineer | Telecom & Banking Specialist
I solve complex infrastructure problems at scale. From building New Zealand’s first 0800 core hardware to automating security across 3900+ servers, I’ve spent three decades learning what it takes to make systems work reliably when failures cost money.
This is the work that shapes how I approach every project: understand deeply, build pragmatically, automate ruthlessly, and execute flawlessly.
The Path
1988–1997
The Hard Yards: Wellington
Started in telecoms documenting code for telephone exchanges, then learned Assembler and PLC. Led teams. Designed a GUI that cut operator learning curve from 6 months to 6 weeks. Installed NZ’s first 0800 core hardware.
Foundation in full-stack work, time-critical infrastructure, innovating within constraints.
London
The Right Way: Dewand Peyton
Inherited a Java process consuming months of compute time. Read the code. Realized it was solving the wrong problem poorly. Replaced it with three shell commands. Done in 3 minutes.
Pragmatism over complexity. Know your tools. Investigate before acting.
London Bank
Automation: IRC + Shell + Database
Built a multi-threaded shell script coordinator linking IRC to a database query engine. Eliminated 30–45 minutes per day of manual status calls. Added signal handling so when things failed, they’d auto-respawn without human intervention.
Remove toil. Design for resilience. Let tools talk to each other.
Multi-region Bank
At Scale: Trans-Tasman Security
Maintained 3900+ servers across 4 Active Directory domains. Automated real-time security event detection over Kafka. Scaled from 5-server pilot to 200 servers × 4 times/day. Replaced manual server maintenance with automation.
Enterprise infrastructure requires meticulous planning and careful scaling. Debugging matters.
Bank Divestiture
The Exit: $768M Sale
Extracted an entire division from the parent bank’s infrastructure. Built secure gateways, encryption, robust transfer protocols. Orchestrated cross-team coordination. Kicked off Friday 4pm. Completed at 2am. Division running in new offices by Tuesday 10am. Sale closed at $768M.
Enterprise transformation requires politics, meticulous planning, and flawless execution.