Steve Talbot
Verified Expert in Engineering
Full-stack Developer
Cardiff, United Kingdom
Toptal member since June 3, 2019
As a serial co-founder of tech startups, Steve has worked with a wide range of technologies and supported many engineers to do their best work—whether by troubleshooting a specific technical issue, improving the engineering process, or simply acting as an independent mentor.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Agile, Engineering Management, Jira, Linux, Git, Software Architecture
The most amazing...
...platform I've built was used to transact over £400 million of residential property, 40% faster and with a 40% better success rate than the national average.
Work Experience
Chief Technology Officer
EverKnock
- Served as a technical co-founder of this startup in the property tech/legal tech sector.
- Developed the MVP to support customer discovery and fundraising.
- Took responsibility for technology strategy, process, innovation, and engineering leadership.
Technology Consultant
Solviq
- Provided software consultancy at director/board level to help companies build and lead engineering teams, launch new technology projects, and overcome barriers to progress.
- Served as a consulting chief technology officer and interim director.
- Architected digital products, infrastructure, and algorithms.
- Invited to give talks and workshops in the School of Computer Science and Informatics at Cardiff University, the National Software Academy of Wales, and the University of South Wales.
Chief Technology Officer
Properr Software Ltd
- Served as a technical co-founder of this startup in the property tech sector.
- Recruited and led the engineering team to deliver our cloud-based platform, TrackMyMove: over £400 million worth of assets were transacted through the platform. Clients cut the timescales and fall-through rates of selling residential property by 40%.
- Helped secure over £1.2 million in funding, including two investment raises and R&D tax credits.
- Owned the technology strategy, process, innovation, and engineering leadership.
Interim Chief Technology Officer
Delio Wealth
- Served as an interim, founding CTO of this high-growth startup in the financial services/fintech sector.
- Recruited and led the team to deliver a minimum viable product for a European bank.
- Supported the executive team through the Startup Bootcamp Fintech accelerator.
Principal Systems Engineer
General Dynamics UK
- Served as a requirements manager on a major program with 400+ engineers, responsible for managing the system requirements and monitoring technology readiness levels, system maturity, and cross-functional design issues.
- Led the team for a systems architecture R&D project, managing a lab for evaluating third-party products and developing supplier relationships.
- Acted as a project manager and systems engineer for a communications software project, which required me to set up company-wide guidance for open source software usage within defense projects.
- Held a company-wide systems engineering role, with responsibilities including interviewing, mentoring prospective chartered engineers, and developing company-wide process guidance.
Experience
EverKnock
https://www.everknock.com/TrackMyMove
I was responsible for the technology strategy, software architecture, DevOps, and engineering leadership and helped raise two rounds of investment and secure R&D tax credits. The software is built around a configurable workflow engine and critical path algorithms.
TECHNOLOGIES: RESTful API, PHP, CouchDB, Elasticsearch, JavaScript, AngularJS, React, Amazon Web Services (AWS), DevOps, Ubuntu Linux, Git, Jenkins, Ansible, Packer
Delio Wealth
https://www.solviq.com/services/early-stageI personally architected and implemented JWT-based OAuth2 bearer authentication to support access from on-premise software installations to the cloud-based platform.
TECHNOLOGIES: PHP, JavaScript, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Elasticsearch
Musiqli
https://www.musiqli.com/I also helped secure R&D grant funding from the Welsh government and supported the team through Cambridge University Judge Business School’s accelerator program.
TECHNOLOGIES: PHP, Elasticsearch, JavaScript, AngularJS, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Conduit
https://getconduit.org/Conduit is a family of open-source libraries that implement this data mapping and validation, making it easy to write API-based applications without compromising good programming practice.
Conduit is licensed under the permissive MIT license, enabling me to use it freely in client projects. The release to the broader open source community is planned.
Education
CMI Level 7 — Distinction in Strategic Management and Leadership
Cardiff School of Management - Cardiff, UK
Postgraduate Certificate in Management
University of Lancaster - Lancaster, UK
BA (Honors) and MEng Degree (First with Distinction) in Engineering
University of Cambridge - Cambridge, UK
Certifications
Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology
Institution of Engineering and Technology
Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
AdvanceHE
Chartered Engineer
Engineering Council UK
Skills
Libraries/APIs
REST API, React.js
Tools
Jenkins, Ansible, Jira, Git, Terraform, DOORS, Packer, Asterisk, Amazon Lex
Languages
PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, ECMAScript (ES6), SQL, TypeScript
Paradigms
DevOps, RESTful Development, Agile Development, Requirements Analysis, Management
Platforms
AWS, Linux, Docker
Storage
Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, MySQL, CouchDB, MongoDB
Frameworks
Silex, Symfony, AngularJS, Zend Framework, Redux, Angular, Ionic
Other
Open Source Development, Architecture, Software Architecture, System Requirements, Requirements & Specifications, Systems Engineering, Interim CTOs, Startup Development, Engineering Management, Engineering, R&D, Sparx Enterprise Architecture, University Teaching, Enterprise Architecture, Asterisk Gateway Interface (AGI)
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