James Alexander's Profile

Career

IPC Media

Core Developer

January 2008 - Present

Working across all IPC Ignite titles, including: Mousebreaker.com, Nme.com, Nuts.co.uk, Wallpaper.com, Loaded.co.uk, Uncut.co.uk and Whatsontv.co.uk. The Ignite network currently achieves over 184 million pages a month.

Most recently, I took on the role of Lead Developer on Ignite's new acquisition Mousebreaker.com. I also enjoy senior responsibilities - contributing to global architecture decisions, managing teams, giving code reviews, interviewing and setting tests. I have created a Developer Forum, getting the team together to share ideas and give presentations on new technologies. To aid this I set up a Google Group, to centralise ideas and knowledge.

Two of my most recent projects at IPC Media have been crucial in cementing and building on my skills:

Mousebreaker.com

The flagship website for IPC, it continues to break new ground in design, development and traffic

• Lead developer on the project since the aquisition by IPC in August 2008
• After the initial redesign visits are up by 17%, unique users up by 5%
• The first IPC site to be developed and managed in an Agile user Lean/KanBan
• Built using, Zend Framework with Smarty templates and Akimia as the CDN
• Codebase managed with SVN in a Constant Integration Testing using PHP Unit
• Code metrics and CI managed with Cruise Control and PHP Under Control
• Deployment done through custom Phing scripts with broken build checking
• Using the latest ad formats managed tough Ad Tech with custom look up scripts
• Custom CMS build in CodeIgniter
• Custom built search, use of Omniture API for game popularity and many other innovations

Nme.com

The multi award winning website, I worked on specialist, time-sensitive sections to benefit the end-user

• Rebuilt the Festival section of NME to a tight deadline
• Responsible for gathering client requirements and producing a workable technical specification
• Managed both the clients expectations and the project as a whole
• Delivered the project on time and increased NME's site traffic by 29%

While at IPC many of the titles I have worked on have won awards as well as IPC Media's own internal awards.

IPC Media

Web developer

April 2007 - January 2008

As Wallpaper.com's sole Web Developer, I was also able to contributed code which improved all the Ignite web sites. This role was client-facing role as Wallpaper was an internal client of Ignite's. During my monthly reviews I regularly scored the highest in company for client relationship and project delivery. The methods and documentation I used to manage my projects were rolled out across the Ignite titles. I also took on the role of mentor to the Developer who replaced me, at the time they knew little PHP and had not worked with MVC or Frameworks.

• Designed, developed and managed projects from sitemap generators to bespoke site search
• Redesigned the site with assesabilty, SEO and user benifits increasing page views by 69%
• Underwent regular maintenance tasks including code refactoring and documenting
• Planed and managed my own time, resources and projects
• Liaised with the client and effectively manage their projects and expectations

Zoom Hayes

Distribution Account Manager

December 2003 - April 2007

Technical support representative

November 2002 - December 2003

Initially, I worked in first and second line technical support. After a year I secured a promotion, working as a Technical Account Manager, also fulfilling the roles of Marketing Manager, Pre Sales Support and Trainer.

• Designed, developed and managed micro sites
• Monitored, updated and expanded third party websites
• Collated sales and contact data, maintained call logs, sales records and account files
• Produced T&C documents, contracts and press packs
• Managed product reviews and marketing development funds
• Organised and ran promo and spiff events
• Created multi-layered e-mails, e-shots, flyers, posters, cheat sheets and magazine layouts
• Developed customer relationships and new leads
• Trained distributors, resellers and internal sales staff and created information packs
• Provided pre-sales technical advice, third line technical support and Beta testing

Freelance

Web developer

February 2002 - Present

When MCB went into liquidation I began work as a freelance web developer, something I have carried on doing in my spare time. This gives me great opportunities to explain and develop my knowledge outside of the architecture used at IPC Media. My clients included an online retail outlet which included an integrated Paypal shopping basket, as well as freelancers, offering a showcase for their work. Examples available on request.

MCB Digital

Front End Developer / ColdFusion Developer

December 2000 - February 2002

I worked on a range of high profile sites until MCB Digital went into liquidation in February 2002. Then, I used my skills and experience to begin my freelance web development career, while using my technical skills to get full time employment at Zoom Hayes.

• Worked on sites for: BT Wholesale, Denton Wild Sape, John Lewis and several others
• Produced web pages from PhotoShop files using HTML, DHTML, JavaScript and CSS
• Over time, taught myself ColdFusion, SQL, CGI and PERL and helped develop content manegment systems, dynamic web sites and multi-platform media
• Developed an internal application that managed all projects, time allocation and billing
• Provided technical support for over 20 employees and managed backups for all the servers
• Maintained the network, printers and telephone system