Here's my "manual for me", so that you know what to expect.

• Born in Leeds. Currently living in Leeds.
• Went to the University of Lincoln. Got a BSc (Hons) in Computing and Cybernetics. It's not as cool as it sounds.
• Worked at the university, building things to improve the IT user experience, and then later working on research metadata management.
• Went to work for mySociety, empowering people in their democracies. Did quite a lot of work on data about politicians.
• Currently at dxw, building great public services to improve lives.

• Proficient in Python and Ruby, competent in PHP, passable in JavaScript, happy to engage with most other things
• Data modelling and architecture
• Translating user requirements into deliverable features
• Task automation
• Being pragmatic
• Presenting

• Prioritisation
• Keeping tickets up to date

• Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good
• Always ask yourself if you can do it better (and be happy to say "yes, but not right now")
• Always try to be nice, never fail to be kind

I usually work a hybrid of home, coffee shops and office, depending on what needs doing. I can work almost anywhere as long as the noise level is consistent. It doesn't matter if it's consistently quiet or consistently loud, as long as there aren't sudden changes every few seconds.

Music is good. I tend to prefer things without vocals when I'm working, but that isn't a hard and fast rule.

I work compressed hours from 8:00am until 6:00pm Monday to Thursday, and do not work on Friday.

I do have children in school and nursery, so often need some flexibility around school drop-off and pick-up times.

I use reclaim.ai to proactively block time out in my calendar for things, but that doesn't mean I won't be able to move things around to make way for something important.

The best way to reach me – at least at first – is asynchronously. Drop me a message in Slack. If I'm not busy I'm usually quite happy to jump on a call, just message me first to check.

I only check my emails a few times a day, so they're great for things I need to know or need to take an action on eventually, but not great for something which needs a rapid response.

In an open-plan office I may be wearing headphones. If so then it doesn't always mean I'm not interruptable, I might just be listening to something. I'd prefer you messaged me to check if I'm able to talk, but if I say "yes" then just wander over for a chat.

Get straight to the point. I'd rather receive feedback clearly and promptly, especially if it's something I need to be doing differently.

Clarity around what I'm doing and why. I often ask lots of questions to get an understanding of the reasons for doing (or not doing) something, especially in complex systems.

Freedom to explore a problem space, options and work which has been done before. This will hardly ever look like the actual solution which comes out at the far end, but is important for making sure the solution is the right one.

I don't do well with meetings which should really be emails. I have no problem attending (and often quite enjoy) meetings where we're actually unpicking problems or making decisions, but otherwise I'll usually have trouble staying focussed.

Good documentation, be that of the work left to be done, the process, the design of a system, or anything else.

I enjoy a good animated gif, and will apply them liberally in both chat channels and presentations.

• My pronouns are he/him/his.
• I can be quite extroverted when needed, so I'm usually quite happy to do things like show-and-tells.