Nationality

I have dual nationality (United Kingdom and New Zealand). I also hold an APEC Business Travel card for visa-free travel to China, Russia, etc.

Professional Profile

I am (once again) a software engineer, writing Apps for iOS (iPhone/iPad) and OSX (Apple Mac) and working from home in Golden Bay, New Zealand.

Prior to June 2014, I had a 24 year career in the Geospatial industry with Trimble Navigation Ltd (a NASDAQ-listed US technology company). I held a variety of managerial roles, working in New Zealand, the UK and France.

My experience with Trimble included engineering team management, product management, sales management, marketing and leadership of business infrastructure projects. In my final role at Trimble, I managed the integration of an acquisition in France.

Marketing and Product Management are the roles in which I spent most of my time at Trimble. I have a long track-record of creating products that will generate strong, profitable businesses and driving sales success through the promotion of these products. I love nothing better than identifying customer value and structuring a product offering in order to leverage profitable business from that value.

I was the founding engineer and marketer for Trimble’s GIS business, and drew huge satisfaction as we grew that business from nothing. We weren’t just creating products: we were creating whole new mobile computing markets, applying new technologies (GPS and others) and new solutions to long-standing problems, many of which had previously never been tackled with anything more complex than pen and paper.

I began my Trimble career writing mobile application software, and I have now come full circle to write mobile applications once again, but this time for myself and selected clients under contract.

Skills

Business skills: I am an experienced international businessman who has worked extensively in Asia (China/Taiwan and New Zealand), Europe (UK, France and Germany) and the US. My experience spans the management of hardware and software projects, the negotiation of supply contracts, the employment of staff, the engagement of external consultancies, suppliers and product development resources, and the management of 3rd party distribution channels. Management skills: I am a strong team player and have consistently mentored my direct reports to achieve strong personal growth. I take pride in the achievements and career development of my staff. My management style is collaborative: I make sure my team is aligned with the vision, so we can all move ahead at maximum speed to realize the goal. I have extensive experience working in an Agile project management environment. Technical skills: I am an experienced software engineer (mostly in embedded GNSS and data collection firmware, though I have done some work with PC and web-based applications). In addition to writing software in teams and solo, I have managed a wide range of technical projects with scale up to 3 years and US$3.5M.

Marketing skills: Marketing and Product Management are the roles in which have spent most of my time at Trimble. I have a long track-record of creating products that will generate strong, profitable businesses for Trimble, and of driving sales success through the promotion of these products. I enjoy nothing better than identifying customer value and structuring our product offering in order to leverage profitable business from that value. Relationship skills: I have built enduring trust relationships with distributors, ODM suppliers, customers and colleagues across many countries. I am a strong believer in the power of honesty, integrity and friendship in business. I count among my closest friends many of the people with whom I have done business over the years. Financial skills: I am familiar with a range of key business ERP systems (Oracle, SAP, Agile, iStore, Cognos) and have developed tools to assist with analysis of the financial performance of my businesses and product portfolios, with the goal of optimizing both top- (pricing, capability) and bottom-line (cost) aspects of the business.

I am a hands-on manager who believes in leading by example and making a powerful personal contribution to the business. I am a talented communicator with a considerable amount of public speaking experience. My personal productivity level is exceptionally and consistently high.

Professional Experience

Palace Software – September 2014 to present day. Freelance software engineer and contract programmer. Over the past two years I have released two applications to the Apple iTunes App store, and have worked under contract for Penmap.com Ltd, on the development of their Places2Note application (for iOS, watchOS and macOS platforms). For details, see the Palace Software website.

Trimble France SAS, Carquefou (Nantes), France – Director of Product Marketing and “Director of Fusion” (Integration Manager) May 2011 – May 2014

Trimble Navigation NZ Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand – Product Marketing Manager 2005 – May 2011  

Trimble Navigation NZ Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand – Market Development Manager and (briefly) Worldwide Support/Service/Training Manager October 2003 – 2005

Trimble Navigation Europe Ltd, United Kingdom – EMEA Sales & Marketing Manager for Mapping & GIS 2000 – September 2003

Trimble Navigation Europe Ltd, United Kingdom – EMEA Marketing Manager (Survey and Mapping) Early 1998 – 2000

Trimble Navigation Europe Ltd, United Kingdom – EMEA Marketing Manager (Mapping & GIS) August 1996 – Early 1988

Trimble Navigation NZ Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand – Product Manager Mid 1993 – August 1996

Trimble Navigation NZ Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand – Software Engineering Manager December 1989 – mid 1993

Medical Research Council, Cambridge, United Kingdom – Software Engineer October 1988 – December 1989

Technology Solutions Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand – Software Engineer Part-time (vacation/weekends) between 1983 and 1986

Education

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Graduated 1986 with BSc (1st class honours) in Computer Science
Finished top of my year in both Computer Science and Pure Mathematics
Awarded the IBM Scholarship for Doctoral Study in New Zealand
Awarded a Price of Wales Commonwealth Scholarship for Doctoral Study at Cambridge

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Post-graduate research scholarship (PhD program)
Completed 18 months study in September 1988 before taking a MRC/DoD contract

I am listed as (co)inventor on 9 issued US patents, 3 EU patents and one New Zealand patent.

Personal

I live in Golden Bay with my wife Nicole and our two daughters, Ava (11) and Isobelle (9).

My cultural interests include photography, art and architecture, travel, French and Italian cuisine and wine.

Outdoors, I enjoy swimming, skiing, sailing, cycling and (watching) rugby.

I speak native English (with a faint New Zealand accent), functional French and disfunctional German.

The social issue with which I most strongly identify is youth unemployment.