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Hi, I'm Mitch.

Engineering Leader | Sociotechnical Systems Advocate

I am an engineering leader focused on sociotechnical systems and building high-performing teams through clarity, flow, and shared mental models.

Philosophy

Sociotechnical Excellence
Software is a social artifact. I focus on how teams communicate and how architecture reflects those social boundaries.
Flow over Friction
Using queues, WIP limits, and lead-time metrics to maximize value delivery rather than just busyness.
Pragmatic Architecture
Using patterns like EIP, Sagas, and CQRS where they solve specific decoupling problems, avoiding "framework fighting."

Experience

Consultancy & Strategic Leadership

2022 - Present

Working with NTT has really solidified my learnings around leadership at scale. Having the opportunity to directly lead almost 100 engineers, and indirectly influence several hundred more, has shown me that high-stakes technical delivery is essentially a social coordination problem. Success at this level depends more on shared mental models and sociotechnical alignment than on specific architectural patterns.

Jan 2022 - Present

Senior Engineering Manager @ NTT DATA UK

Integration Solutions Deputy Lead, focusing on digital transformation and system modernization.

  • Sky Livingston: Technical point-person for all NTT work, managing client relations and delivery pipelines.
  • Public Services: Advising on integration solutions for public sector initiatives.
  • Recruitment lead for Java developers and mentor for the Senior Leadership Team.
Mar 2022 - Apr 2024

Principal Engineer @ Sky (via Contract)

Strategic process improvement and technical oversight across Sky's product suite.

Fintech Scale-up & Evolution

2017 - 2022

Working and scaling up a lean startup gives you a deeper understanding of resource constraints and the drive to push improvements that benefit both customers and staff. At Satago, I focused on sociotechnical "wins" like zero-downtime deployments. This didn't just mean no break in service for customers; it fundamentally improved life for the engineering staff by allowing deployments during working hours instead of late nights or weekends. It transformed a stressful release culture into one of predictable flow.

May 2017 - Feb 2022

Java Development Lead @ Satago / TruFin / Oxygen Finance

Led the development team through multiple rebrands and organizational growth from 4 to 50+ people.

  • Introduced Feature Flags and zero-downtime deployments to remove release friction.
  • Pioneered remote-first pairing and a high-trust engineering culture.
  • Scaled cloud-native AWS microservice architecture.

Technical Foundations & Consultancy

2014 - 2017

This period was about deepening technical expertise and learning that robust architecture is less about the "perfect" design and more about the "defensible" design. Whether leading teams in gaming or consulting for high-stakes projects at Thomson Reuters, I learned the value of being able to explain the sociotechnical tradeoffs of every decision and protecting the team's focus as a "shit umbrella" during organizational noise.

Aug 2016 - Apr 2017

Senior Software Engineer @ BlackCat Technology Solutions

Exclusively engaged as a consultant for Thomson Reuters on high-stakes architectural projects.

Jan 2014 - Aug 2016

Java Team Lead @ Inspired Gaming Group

Technical Direction and Team Leadership for Java-based gaming platforms.

Early Career & Financial Middleware

2007 - 2013
View Details of Early Financial Sector Experience

My early career in high-frequency financial batching taught me that technical efficiency directly changes business perception. Specializing in the Calypso framework across global banks including HSBC, RBS, and UniCredit, I learned that "done" is better than "perfect," but "efficient" is better than both. Shaving 50% off a batch window or mastering thread safety wasn't just a technical exercise—it was about ensuring the data was right and the business could move faster.

  • Reduced end-of-day batch processes by 50% at HSBC.
  • Optimized high-concurrency middleware connecting disparate front-end and back-end systems.
  • Pioneered Continuous Integration practices in legacy financial environments.

Toolbox

Leadership

Team Topologies Flow Metrics (DORA) Sociotechnical Systems People Management Product Ownership Recruitment Mentorship

Engineering

Java AWS Microservices EIP Zero-downtime Deployments Feature Flagging Thread Safety Calypso Framework

Interested in collaborating or talking sociotechnical systems?