Nigel V Thomas
Tech Lead and Senior Software Engineer 2 Staff Software Engineer @Sophos
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WORK HISTORY
Tech Lead and Senior Software Engineer 2 Staff Software Engineer @Sophos
Oxfordshire, GB
Experienced tech lead in distributed systems in Java on AWS. Led the design and implementation of new features across the full software stack, leveraging modern design patterns, algorithms and data structures. Performed code reviews and ensured design and coding adhere to Sophos security standards.As an L3 (highest) Sophos security champion, I participated and took the lead in security reviews of features to ensure that products comply with security requirements at Sophos and industry best practices such as OWASP. Responsibilities include helping triage security issues from the bug bounty program, owning the threat model for core systems, analysing product security concerns, and presenting security documentation. Advocating the use of https://cairis.org as a security risk modelling methodology.As a force multiplier six months into the role I took on a team lead responsibility for a team of 6-8, planning various projects, from requirements to release, organising stand-ups, reporting progress, and helping with recruiting and interviews. As well as tracking defects, and development velocity and reporting this to senior management. Recognised for my coaching ability by team members and have mentored members of the team through, skills assessments, pair programming and code reviews. Worked with UX, PM, QA and engineers in project planning, to achieve high-value and high-quality solutions which meet business needs.Since 2022 I switched to an individual contributor role as a technical lead, where I proactively resolved developer productivity issues or escalated if required, actively seeking to de-risk and encourage delivery of code. Having had the privilege to lead the highest performing team within the central engineering team. The services we built and managed often scaled to billions of requests a day. Recently worked on distributed certificate management microservice, using public key infrastructure built on top of Hashicorp Vault transit engine.
EDUCATION
University of York
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hons.), Biochemistry
University of Oxford
Master of Science (M.Sc.), Software Engineering
SKILLS
ABOUT NIGEL V THOMAS
With nearly 20 years of experience, I operate as a Principal/Staff-level engineer and \"force multiplier\", setting the technical strategy and leading the implementation for secure, high-scale enterprise solutions. I have a proven track record of leading the design and implementation of complex systems that handle billions of daily requests. As an L3 Security Champion and subject matter expert, I own the threat models for core systems and embed security (like OWASP best practices ) into the full software stack. I excel at influencing and mentoring multiple teams, de-risking complex projects, and driving developer productivity. My focus is on solving business-critical problems, from architecting distributed microservices to ensuring compliance and delivering high-value solutions that meet stakeholder needs. Specialties: Security Architecture, Distributed Systems, Technical Strategy, Cloud-Native (Go, Java, AWS, GCP), Mentorship, Risk Modelling
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