Alex A.
Data Engineer
Alex is a seasoned Data Engineer with 13 years of commercial experience, specializing in Python, VBA, AWS, SQL, and Power BI. He has extensive expertise in leading teams to develop and maintain data pipelines, ensuring efficient data flow and processing.
Throughout his career, Alex has worked across various sectors, including higher education, services, and technology. At Regent's University London, he led a team to enhance data infrastructure, significantly improving operational efficiency. His strategic insights at the University of Bradford contributed to the institution's rise of 30 places in national rankings. In recognition of his innovative research on commuter students, he received the 2020 HESPA Data Award.
A notable achievement in his career was leading the transition from Jenkins to Airflow, resulting in a 25% reduction in ETL processing time and delivering data six hours faster. Alex's work is highly valued, reflecting his commitment to excellence and his ability to drive impactful results.
Main expertise
- AWS ECR 3 years
- VBA 5 years
- Data Analytics 13 years
Other skills
- AWS EC2 4 years
- ElasticSearch 3 years
- AWS CDK 3 years
Selected experience
Employment
Senior Data Engineer
Nexthink - 8 months
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Developed and maintained real-time messaging services using Kafka in Java (Micronaut);
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Optimized data storage and processing pipelines with Protobufs and Clickhouse, ensuring efficient performance monitoring through Datadog;
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Managed AWS infrastructure, including Kubernetes and ECR, and implemented CI/CD pipelines utilizing GitHub Actions and ArgoCD;
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Enhanced team workflows and project management by applying Agile methodologies, including Sprints and Kanban, using tools like Jira and Confluence.
Technologies:
- Technologies:
- AWS ECR
- Azure
- Java
- Data Engineering
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Senior Data Engineer
Applearn - 2 years
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Engineered real-time event pipelines in AWS (Firehose, S3, Athena, Quicksight, RDS, Redshift) and Azure (PowerBI), achieving a 30% improvement in data processing efficiency;
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Maintained a codebase written in Python (with code quality ensured via Black, Flake8, Xenon), TypeScript, Shell, SQL, and DAX;
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Developed an AI-driven "Experience Mining" model using Python Petri Nets, which generated user journeys from browsing data, including clicks on screens and page navigation;
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Migrated the CI/CD process from Jenkins to Airflow, including the development of custom operators, alerting mechanisms, and AWS integration, resulting in a 25% reduction in execution time;
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Implemented a data firewall for data validation using the Python jsconschema library to filter out events that did not meet predefined rules;
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Achieved £5k in monthly savings on cloud infrastructure costs through optimized container management;
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Led the migration from deploying directly to production by building infrastructure-as-code (via CDK) and implementing gitflow processes for multiple non-prod environments, reducing service outages from over 10 per quarter to zero, enabling 24/7 uptime.
Technologies:
- Technologies:
- Jenkins
- AWS S3
- Redshift
- Python
- Azure
- SQL
- Data Engineering
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Data Lead
Regent’s University London - 1 year 1 month
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Led a team of seven in the development and maintenance of data pipelines, ensuring efficient data flow and processing across the institution;
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Oversaw the implementation and optimization of digital systems, enhancing the operational efficiency of various departments within the university;
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Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify and address data-related challenges, ensuring data accuracy and reliability;
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Provided strategic guidance on data management practices, contributing to the university's digital transformation efforts.
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Data Engineer
JISC Analytics Lab - 2 months
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Served as a Data Engineer at JISC Analytics Lab, processing large-scale data sets to improve the student experience;
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Analyzed and processed educational data to identify trends and insights that contributed to enhancing student engagement and retention;
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Collaborated with academic and administrative teams to implement data-driven strategies for improving educational outcomes.
Technologies:
- Technologies:
- Python
- Data Engineering
-
Data Lead
Middlesex University - 5 years 4 months
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Awarded the 2020 Higher Education Strategic Planners Association (HESPA) Data Award for groundbreaking research and insights into the behavior of commuter students;
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Led the Data Analytics and Business Intelligence function for an organization with approximately 4,000 staff, driving data-driven decision-making across the institution.
Technologies:
- Technologies:
- Data Analytics
- Data Engineering
-
Data Engineer
University of Bradford - 1 year 10 months
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Served as a Data Engineer at the University of Bradford, providing actionable insights that contributed to the university’s rise by 30 places in national league tables;
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Analyzed complex datasets to identify key performance indicators and areas for improvement, directly influencing strategic decision-making;
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Collaborated with university leadership to translate data findings into targeted initiatives that enhanced the institution's academic and operational standing;
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Implemented data-driven solutions that supported the university's goals of improving student satisfaction and academic performance.
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Database Architect
Dementia Care Mapping - 7 months
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Served as Database Architect for Dementia Care Mapping, building secure and efficient data pipelines for an international dementia care project;
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Designed and implemented data architectures that ensured the secure handling and processing of sensitive healthcare data;
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Collaborated with international teams to develop scalable data solutions that supported the project's global reach and impact;
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Ensured data integrity and compliance with relevant data protection regulations, facilitating the successful execution of the dementia care initiative.
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Education
BSc.Computer Science
University of Bradford · 2010 - 2014
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