Curriculum Vitae: Bobby Jack

Contents

Personal Details

Full name: Mr. Robert Kenneth Jack
Common name: Bobby Jack
Nationality: British
Website: https://bobbyjack.me/

Work & Employment

March 2021–present

Employer Quix Analytics
Position Technical Writer
Type Freelance

An ongoing contract to produce technical documentation and public-facing content, including blog posts and articles. I am required to interpret complex technical documentation and discuss the product’s feature set with various members of the team. I then write copy against creative briefs provided to me, and liase with the Marketing VP, amongst others.

October 2020–present

Employer MakeUseOf / Valnet
Position Staff Writer, Floating Editor
Type Freelance

A Staff Writer position for consumer tech website, MakeUseOf. The role demands pitching original ideas, and creation of eight feature-length articles per month, across topics including ‘Programming’ and ‘Internet’.

In July 2021 I took on a role of Floating Editor. This involves editing article submissions when regular editors are busy or absent. It requires good knowledge and understanding of the company’s style guide, and I provide writers with detailed feedback to improve overall quality.

March–May 2020

Employer Welocalize
Position Writer
Type Freelance

Providing linguistic input for a prominent voice assistant tool. This required working to a demanding schedule, producing a high quantity of accurate and varied microcopy. Specific requirements changed frequently, which required adaptability and focus.

February 2020–present

Employer Ninty Media
Position Staff Writer, Reviews Editor, Editor-in-Chief
Type Freelance

A writing position for print and online magazine Switch Player, requiring review copy to be written to a tight schedule, on a monthly basis. The role also requires occasional proofreading, feature writing, and contribution to a new print title, Ninty Fresh.

After eight months I was promoted to the role of Reviews Editor. This involved working with publishers to source new titles for review, allocating reviews amongst a team of 21 writers, and taking ownership of the overall review process.

In July 2021 I was offered the role of Editor-in-Chief. This involves taking overall responsibility for the magazine, introducing new features, proofing and editing each issue, and managing the team. I continue to write content and fulfil the Reviews Editor role alongside this.

January 2019–present

Employer Self
Position Writing, research and development
Type Freelance

Beginning in 2019, I have pursued several editorial opportunities, alongside continued research and development in the technology field. Alongside the roles detailed above, I have:

July 2018–present

Employer Nossel
Position Co-founder
Type Ongoing project

Development and launch of an educational service targeted at schools, in conjunction with my co-founder of the company known as Nossel. This is an on-going startup company and development project which is being introduced to a selection of schools in September 2020.

June 2018–January 2019

Employer The Day News, London
Position Support & maintenance
Type Freelance contract

After leaving The Day, I continued to work for the company in a contracting role for six months, making myself available for ad-hoc support and maintenance. This was remote work, on-demand, and I turned it around at short-notice, and always by deadline.

October 2011–June 2018

Employer The Day News, London
Position Head of Technology
Type Full-time contract

In my role as Head of Technology for The Day, an online newspaper aimed at schoolchildren, I was responsible for all technical strategy and in-house development. My remit also included administration of the company’s network of Apple Macs, and various other tasks required in the running of a small company.

The first key project I planned and implemented was the move from a traditional hosted web server to Amazon’s cloud-based AWS platform. This necessitated configuration of a large part of the server ‘stack’, including DNS transfer, SMTP, data storage, and process monitoring. The project successfully delivered a more cost-effective and flexible solution.

Other key projects I helped to deliver included the migration of CRM (to Salesforce), and the development of a site aimed at the primary school sector.

The final major project I delivered was a migration of the sites’ CMS, from Joomla to a bespoke architecture. The resulting site was more reliable and efficient, and the backend interface easier to use, requiring fewer team resources.

As a member of the management team, I was also involved in strategic planning meetings, helping to define the overall direction of the company, with a specific focus on the core product. I regularly met with both the board of directors, and the ‘teacher’s advisory board’.

October 2007–October 2011

Employer Save the Children UK, Farringdon, London
Position Web Developer
Type Full-time contract

For four years, I was employed in the position of Web Developer in a small online team at Save the Children. This role primarily involved HTML, JavaScript, and CSS development for the main public-facing website. It also included maintenance of Save the Children’s site within the RedDot Content Management System, and back-end programming in the PHP scripting language.

During this time, I worked on some major project-related sites including ‘Kroo Bay’, a collection of multimedia resources presenting the charity’s work in a town in Sierra Leone, and ‘everyone.org’, a site that integrates and displays twitter, facebook, and YouTube content provided by Save the Children member organisations in international locations.

As part of the Communications team, I was responsible for strategic decisions regarding many projects, both small and large. I worked with internal clients across the company, consulting on feature requirements, development of ideas, and training requirements. I liaised closely with a number of external agencies to assist in the management of out-sourced projects.

October 2000–October 2007

Employer John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Ealing, London
Position Web Developer, Developer, Software Engineer
Type Full-time contract

Over seven years, I was employed in a variety of roles, with job titles ranging from Software Engineer to Web Developer. Throughout this time, I gained significant experience in web site and application development, having worked on front-end development, back-end server programming, and on many other aspects of such an environment.

My main focus was the development and maintenance of an online publishing platform, hosting primarily scientific, medical, and technical content (www.interscience.wiley.com). This involved programming in a variety of languages including C++, Java, and Perl. I was exposed to a number of technologies including HTTP, XML, Apache configuation and module programming, database design and programming, and CORBA.

I acted as the technical lead on several major projects, refining business requirements and creating functional specifications. I was also responsible for the coordination of small teams of developers, ensuring adherence to a project framework and production of functional requirements, design specifications, and project updates.

In my role as Web Developer, I designed and built an intranet solution (PHP and MySQL), then worked in an advisory and hands-on capacity for front-end development and delivery.

May 2000–August 2000

Employer John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, West Sussex
Position Web Developer
Type Short-term contract

Before being hired by John Wiley on a permanent basis, I carried out a short term of employment involving the administration and management of web-page content. This work provided a grounding in the publishing process and an introduction to team-working in a corporate environment.

Skill set

Proficient experience

Significant experience

Education

2007–2009

April 2007

March 2002

September 1997–April 2000

September 1995–June 1997

September 1990–June 1995