Joseph Tomkinson
Head of Software Engineering @British Heart Foundation
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WORK HISTORY
Head of Software Engineering @British Heart Foundation
London, GB
Leading significant and capable ~30-person (plus) engineering function delivering the digital platforms that power BHF\'s fundraising and supporter engagement. From content management and payments to retail and data integration.Key focus areas:• Supporting large digital transformation programmes of work.• Establishing engineering governance across the function.• Owning the 5-year Software Engineering Enterprise Vision, aligned to BHF\'s Tech Strategy.• Managing significant vendor partnership and leading contract strategy for a multi-year development and support arrangements.• Championing people development: career ladder redesign, graduate mentoring, and regional recruitment strategies.
EDUCATION
Henley Business School
Master of Science - MS, Digital and Technology Solutions
University of Staffordshire
Higher National Diploma, Operations/Departmental Manager
Keele University
Master’s Degree, Masters of Research in History (MRES)
Keele University
Bachelor’s Degree, History & English Dual Honors
ABOUT JOSEPH TOMKINSON
I\'ve spent ~15+ years in software engineering, and the thread that runs through all of it is the same. Figuring out how solid engineering translates into real business outcomes and building the teams that make it happen.Today I lead engineering functions of up to 30 people across platform, infrastructure, DevOps, QA, and delivery. The work is as you\'d expect varied; from modernising CMS platforms with headless architectures, standing up engineering governance where none existed, and building platform engineering capabilities that take deployment cycles from hours to minutes. I\'ve managed large vendor partnerships and shaped contract strategies, balancing growing in-house expertise with knowing when to bring in outside help.I\'m still hands-on where it counts. My background is as a Microsoft full-stack developer, but the toolkit has grown over the years: Azure cloud-native platforms (AKS, App Services, Bicep, GitHub Actions), micro front-end architectures (Vue, Next.js, React), and more recently AI/ML solutions including generative AI and Azure Cognitive Services. I\'ve delivered across retail payment modernisation, enterprise integration, and digital fundraising; always with security baked in rather than bolted on (ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials Plus, PCI DSS).AI is reshaping how we work, and I think it\'s important to be honest about that rather than just excited. Generative AI and agentic AI are already changing development workflows in meaningful ways; accelerating everything from code generation and test automation to architectural spike work and strategic option analysis. I\'m actively embedding these tools into how my teams build software, but with a careful eye on what\'s actually delivering ROI versus what\'s just noise. The hype cycle around AI is loud; the value comes from treating it like any other engineering investment — measurable, incremental, and tied to tangible outcomes.The bit I care about most, though, is the people side. Designing career ladders that actually mean something, mentoring graduates, championing regional and inclusive recruitment, and embedding a quality-first culture where teams feel confident enough to stop and fix rather than ship and hope.At the end of the day, I care most about two things: building engineering teams people genuinely want to be part of, and using technology responsibly to solve problems that matter.
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