University of East London

Full Stack Software Engineer @ NN  -  Technical Solutions Engineer

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

NN is an insurance and asset management company active in more than 18 countries, with a strong presence in a number of European countries and Japan. The overarching company, NN Group, includes NN, Nationale-Nederlanden, and NN Investment Partners. NN is committed to helping people secure their financial futures, offering retirement services, insurance, investments, and banking products.

Within this role, I am currently working within the architecture and innovation team. My main responsibilities involve contributing to the new payment applications on mobile, web and cloud platforms as NN moves towards creating a new Neo bank for customers. Most recently, I integrated payments via the iDEAL protocol acting as an Issuer bank within the iDEAL ecosystem.

- Full stack TypeScript development (React, React Native & Node.js).
- Cloud computing (AWS & Serverless Framework).
- Presentations of new application features to wider bank audiences.
- Ideation & brainstorming with bank architects, business stakeholders and fellow engineers.
- Cultivating and contributing to the developer community within NN.

Nationale-Nederlanden

Senior Full Stack Software Engineer

INFO is an agency that helps organisations to grow through innovation by helping them to develop go-to-market digital products and services which always focus on the end user, and to deliver high-quality digital solutions regardless of whether they are entering a new market or distinguishing themselves from their competitors.

INFO also serves multiple markets including retail, media, finance, energy, mobility, government, healthcare, online food delivery, and telecom. They have run more than 1000 projects for more than 250 customers such as NS Dutch Railways, Greenwheels, Adyen, Graydon, Voetbal International and Bank of Scotland.

My duties within this hybrid role include software engineering on multiple projects, and also conducting technical business consultations with clients in order to help them shape their digital products, and also to pitch propositions to clients in order to win contracts.

- Full stack JavaScript development (React & Node.js).
- Cloud computing (Azure & AWS).
- CI/CD (Gitlab, Travis, Code Commit / Build / Pipelines / Deploy).
- Part of the multi-client team which handles multiple concurrent projects from POC to production.
- Breaking down business problems into digestible parts and mapping them to technical and sometimes cultural solutions.
- Ideation & brainstorming sessions.
- Presentations, public speaking and live coding sessions.

INFO - business innovation partner

Senior Software Engineer

Backbase is a fast growing fintech software provider that empowers financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformation and effectively compete in a digital-first world. Clients such as ABN Amro, AIG, Al Rajhi Bank, Barclays, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity, Hiscox, Legal & General, ING and Nationwide use Backbase technology to create superior digital experiences for their customers.
This role required navigating through the full sales cycle from both from a business and technical perspective. All of the technology deep dives, code level customisation for proof of concept, and conversations with engineering and business leads were directly tailored uniquely for the institution.

- Advising financial institutions on best practices for integration with the Backbase platform with regards to their particular core banking setup.
- Conducting remote and onsite technical consultations with financial institutions and managing the concerns and expectations of technical and business leaders of financial institutions during sales cycles with regards to implementing the Backbase product with their infrastructure.
- Organising and executing technical PoC's with financial institutions in order to map Backbase technology to their desired end state.
- Vetting FinTech providers and partners who wish to become part of the Backbase ecosystem and become a certified member of the Backbase Open Banking Marketplace.
- Deploying solutions on AWS Cloud.
- Working with microservices.
- Technologies included Node.js / JS / Docker.

Backbase

Technical Solutions Engineer

Lloyds Banking group is the UK’s largest retail and commercial bank with extensive overseas operations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
My role in Lloyds Banking Group Innovation Labs included owning various digital projects. This involved integrations and collaborations with various Fintechs, and platforms such as Amazon Alexa for voice enabled apps, Facebook chatbots, the WhatsApp Business API, Stripe, and many more.
- Merge with other business areas of the bank to identify items on their roadmap which require fresh insight, exploration or de-risking, and provide a solution to meet that need.
- Create new products that solve problems, allow a person to do things easier, faster. Often supported by integrating with 3rd parties, vendors such as Oracle, Google, IBM, WhatsApp, Amazon, HTC, Daon, iProov, Visa, MasterCard, Facebook, Apple / Android Pay, Personetics, Financial Conduct Authority and the HMRC.
- Stakeholder management and Backlog prioritisation.
- Exploring new customer service channels through voice, messaging, biometrics, natural language capabilities, Crypto currencies, Blockchain and smart contracts.
- Coaching graduates.
- Technologies included Node.js / JS / Swift / Docker.
- Deploying solutions on IBM Cloud / AWS Cloud.

Lloyds Banking Group

Software Engineer

My role included working within the unsecured public multi-brand websites. This involved back / front end web application development for Content Management Systems which would be used by business users to build online experiences for customers.

I used Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript extensively in this role.

-  Meeting with project stake holders from the wider business, attending planning sessions with project managers, test managers and SME’s.

-  Collaborating with Digital Security and 3rd party penetration testing companies on Software vulnerability remediation, neutralising the threat of hackers, malicious software and application defects across the public website interface.

Being part of the in-house software development team creating Java SE / Objective C (iOS & Android) application, databases, scripts and reports for management information.

-  Maintenance of the organisation’s computerised international database of ambassadors, prospective ambassadors, sponsors, supported charities and service providers, etc.

-  Monitoring of the organisation’s franchise holders’ compliance with its policies on the selection of national delegates to its annual international contests for the selection of “cultural and charity ambassadors”.

-  Official website information updates, liaising with graphic designers and website hosting companies.

Ashley Patricks