Technical Project Management
I am always careful to describe myself as a “Technical Project Manager”, as I have always been very close to the technical coalface when operating in a project management role. This has involved generating project plans in close co-operation with the commercial side of the business, whilst often liaising directly with internal and external customers and technical teams. On many occasions, I have been very fortunate to have been involved all the way through from concept to delivery.
System Architecture, Design and Documentation
My initial training was in digital hardware design within an extremely rigorous environment for Civil and Military Air Traffic Control primary radar systems. I became responsible for digital sub-systems fairly quickly – and then much more complex combined parts of the overall radars.
This broader range of responsibility continued in subsequent senior roles across many different sections of the electronics industry. As a result I am very comfortable working across, specifying, and partitioning complex combined mechanical, electrical, electronic, and software systems.
Requirements Generation and Management
Requirements management has always been one of my professional “soap boxes”. This is the process of identifying, eliciting, documenting, analysing, tracing, prioritising and agreeing on requirements and then controlling change and communicating to relevant stakeholders. It is a continuous process throughout a project. A requirement is a capability to which a project outcome (product or service) should conform.
Technical Team Leadership
I really enjoy working with and guiding a team creating real products for real customers. It’s such a buzz bringing together all the engineering disciplines that a modern product requires to take it through from initial concept to full production. I have often been responsible for both the technical and line management of the people I have been working with.
Documentation
Very often I have generated the customer-facing documentation for the products I have been involved in. I enjoy the challenge of stepping away from the developers’ intimate knowledge and working out how to communicate the necessary information to someone that, it must be assumed, has never seen it before!