Kynan Hughes

Web Development, Team Management, Project Management, Technical and Client Liaison, Information Architecture, Web Application Design, Database Design

Expert in: PHP, [X]HTML, XML, CSS, Javascript

Working knowledge of: .NET, Flash, Rails, C based languages, Perl, ColdFusion

Contact Details

Address: 95 Heath Road
Pretty Beach, 2257
Phone: 0411 231099
Email: kynan AT kynan.net.au
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kynanhughes
Portfolio: http://work.kynan.net.au

Employment

Technical Lead

June 18, 2008 - Present
Mylk Message | Working Software [Melbourne, Australia]

In 2007, Working Software joined forces with Mylk Message to develop a range of highly innovative web software products and custom solutions. As part of the management team, I act as a bridge between Sales/Marketing and developers. My role is as follows:

  • Manage a small, efficient development team
  • Prepare estimates, budgets and functional specifications for client approval
  • Schedule and track development tasks
  • Meet with potential customers and clients to support the sales process
  • Liaise with customers and clients by phone and email for approvals and high level support
  • Prepare functional specifications and end user documentation
  • Keep the management team fully informed of development issues through a weekly WIP
  • Ensure that development is commensurate with business goals
  • Ensure the quality of all releases and implementations

Achievements:

  • Focused development activity to achieve business goals
  • Added value to the company by consolidating disparate products into a single platform
  • Delivered new products and new features on time and on budget
  • Implemented a system of effective quality assurance using Selenium

Lead Developer / Technical Lead

October 16, 2006 - June 13, 2008
Frost Design [Sydney, Australia]

I was originally brought into Frost as Lead Developer when they set up their digital department. As the department quickly grew, I moved into a Tech Lead role coordinating all aspects of development to support the creative and business processes of the company. I had the following areas of responsibility:

  • Made technical recommendations on a wide range of digital projects
  • Developed estimates and functional specifications for client approval
  • Scheduled and tracked development tasks for the in-house team
  • Prepared technical specifications for external suppliers
  • Researched new technologies and best practice to benefit the business
  • Developed products with potential to be resold to multiple clients
  • Provided recommendations to Head of Digital regarding costs associated with hardware, software, hosting and external suppliers
  • Ensured the in-house team and external suppliers followed industry best practice for standards compliance, accessibility and scalability
  • Acted as the point of contact for senior IT staff within client teams
  • Assisted in the development of ideas for new business pitches and major campaigns for existing clients.
  • Assisted in the identification and pursuance of new business opportunities
  • Assisted in the development of new digital product ideas
  • Set up and managed the in-house development environment
  • Lead development as required using PHP, .NET, XHTML, CSS, XML and javascript
  • Mentoring in-house developers

Achievements:

  • Set up a PHP / Rails / MySQL / Apache development and staging environment
  • Set up Windows Server 2003 / .NET / SQL Server / IIS development and staging environment
  • Set up an extranet to display work for client approval
  • Managed the successful implementation of a multilingual .NET CMS system for Tourism NT (travelnt.com)
  • Technically realised high level creative concepts for Travel NT using the Helium CMS system as a development framework
  • Developed the Frost website as a showcase for the company’s work
  • For three years, the Frost website has been consistently number one in Google for the search term “Frost Design”
  • Developed the Frost website CMS into an innovative turnkey content management solution for use with client sites, especially Flash based sites

Managing Director / Technical Lead

April 2003 - October 2006
DFI [Sydney, Australia]

DFI Produced websites for a range of small to medium clients and provided specialist development services to digital agencies. As managing director, I managed the day to day operations of the business and all aspects of making websites, including:

  • Estimating and preparing budgets for client approval
  • Functional and technical documentation
  • Scheduling
  • Managing a small team of front and back end developers
  • Concept development and high level interface design
  • Information architecture
  • Art direction on interface design
  • Coding in XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL and javascript
  • Managing external suppliers and contractors

Lecturer

2002 - 2005
School of Digital Media
University of NSW, College of Fine Arts [Sydney, Australia]

Education

Tertiary

2009
Master of Fine Arts
College of Fine Arts
School of Digital Media
University of NSW [Sydney, Australia]

1997
Bachelor of Visual Arts
University of Sydney [Sydney, Australia]

Secondary

1982
Year 12 Certificate
Dickson College [Canberra, Australia]

Courses / Professional Development

  • Allaire Advanced Cold Fusion Development Course - Daemon Pty Ltd, 2000
  • Workplace Training Certificate - Metro Screen, Sydney, 1999
  • Internet Programming (C, HTML, Javascript ) - University of Sydney, 1998
  • 3D Animation ( SoftImage ) - University of Sydney, 1998
  • Multimedia In Design (Flash, Director ) - University of Sydney, 1998
  • Associate Diploma of Fine Arts ( first year )- Hornsby College of TAFE, 1994

Personal Interests

Surf Lifesaving

Patrolling member of Killcare SLC since 2004.

Yoga

Accredited teacher with Yoga Australia.

Digital Art

"SeeingSystem",
Centre for Contemporary Photography, 22 January - 14 March 2010, [Melbourne, Australia]

"Compassionate Systems: 01 - SeeingSystem",
Kudos Gallery, August 5-9 2005 [Sydney, Australia]

"Places of transition. Portals to contemporary Netherworlds"
Kudos Gallery, 2005 [Sydney, Australia]

"The Cartoon in Art", 1998
Touring Group Exhibition [Regional NSW, Australia]

Skills Matrix

Technology

Years used

Last used

Proficiency*

PHP

9

2009

9

SQL

9

2009

7

[X]HTML

12

2009

10

CSS

12

2009

10

Javascript

12

2009

9

XML

9

2009

5

.NET

1

2007

5

Flash

2

2000

3

Rails

.5

2007

3

C#

1

2007

3

Perl

1

2000

3

ColdFusion

2

2000

3

 

* Proficiency:

1 - I can spell the technology, user level exposure with simple experience
5 - Super User level of expertise, can solve mid-level tech issues
7 - Highly competent, can develop complex solutions
10 - Could, if asked, write the manual