Ready for New Opportunities

Highly Accomplished IT Leader and Infrastructure Transformation Expert. 

Charismatic and influential leader with over two decades of diverse leadership experience, driving innovation and delivering results.

Bringing extensive expertise in enhancing internal IT operations and engineering across diverse industries. Known for visionary, strategic leadership with a strong track record in technology implementation, budget management, cost savings, and strategic planning.

Committed to aligning strategies for business objectives, nurturing self-sufficient, dynamic teams for seamless operations, and fostering growth and success across domains. 

Open to leadership roles in various fields

In Career Transition 

ExpressVPN

Stepping into the realm of ExpressVPN, a global leader in digital privacy, I took the helm as the Head of Information Technology during some transformative times. My tenure was marked by orchestrating intricate system environments, driving forward-thinking IT strategies, and ensuring our technology infrastructure supported the robust needs of millions of users worldwide.

After the acquisition by Kape Technologies, I was promoted to the head of IT for the group of companies. This journey started with a huge project of merging the IT systems across the board.

Under my leadership, the IT department flourished as we embarked on ambitious projects, from streamlining legacy systems to pioneering next-gen IT solutions. My approach consistently bridged the gap between business and IT, ensuring our technological advances directly supported ExpressVPN's overarching mission and business goals.

Head Of Information Technology

Nutanix

At Nutanix, a powerhouse in hyper-converged infrastructure solutions, I took on the pivotal role of IT Operations Director for the APAC region. Overseeing a landscape as diverse and dynamic as APAC presented both challenges and exhilarating opportunities, a tapestry I thoroughly relished weaving.

My primary responsibilities encompassed driving the strategic IT vision across APAC, ensuring seamless system integrations, and providing unwavering support to our business units in the region. With a focus on blending technical expertise with a business-centric approach, I successfully led numerous initiatives that streamlined operations, reduced costs, and enhanced productivity.

IT Operations Director - APAC

VPK Packaging Group

At VPK Packaging Group's Coreboard Division, a leader in sustainable packaging solutions, my tenure as the Director of IS and Technology was both intense and rewarding. With the industry in the throes of digital transformation, my role was instrumental in aligning the division's technological framework with its ambitious growth goals.

In those seven months, I delved deep into refining the division's information systems, optimising operations, and spearheading technology-driven strategies that added tangible value to our processes. By combining my extensive IT insights with VPK's sustainability vision, we embarked on initiatives that fostered innovation and improved efficiency.

Director of IS and Technology at VPK Coreboard Division

NPAC Holdings Ltd

At NPAC Holdings, I steered the IT and Infrastructure direction, aligning tech solutions with business needs. My role was pivotal in streamlining operations, harnessing innovation, and ensuring a robust technological foundation for the company's ambitious growth trajectory.

Director of IT and Infrastructure

Powerflute

In my consultancy role at Powerflute, I was engaged on a short term to define and deliver a full stack of IT services when powerflute bought corenso from StoraEnso. This short term role then turned in to the full time role at NPAC.

IT Consultant

Volex PLC

I have been productively involved in the transformation of the global IT infrastructure of the UK listed Volex Group PLC with offices in Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe and the Americas and took responsibility for the operational IT management of the company’s facilities for more than 2 000 users in three regions globally, and for more than 30 local and remote staff.
This was one of the largest IT projects in the company’s history, costing $4 million to transform its IT platforms over a period of two years to a modern, centralised system.

Key achievements included, inter alia:
Extension of two regional data centres using IBM hardware and VMWare virtualisation software.
Migrating Email to MS Exchange and migrating global desktop and server to a single manufacturer and image.
Perimeter security, remote access and penetration testing, as well as MS Lync for global VoIP calling and voice/video conferencing.
Globalising and legalising all software licensing.
Managing vendor relationships with suppliers such as AT&T, Singtel and Microsoft.

As Infrastructure Manager of Volex, I also ensured efficient use of global resources by centralising the IT department, reducing staff by 40% and implementing service level agreements (SLA’s) and a service desk system to track the department’s performance and enable continued service improvement. I furthermore helped to safeguard the ability of the business to meet its goals by implementing process improvements and more functional systems.
I was involved in numerous green field site builds, including the provision of building work, cabling, desktops, a local data centre, a Cisco Call Manager and WAN/WWW connectivity for a 200-user factory in Batam, Indonesia – a $300 k project completed on time and within budget.

Global IT Infrastructure Manager

API Group PLC

In this role I was accountable for the global IT infrastructure of this UK-listed manufacturing company with operations in Europe and the Americas and took responsibility of an IT budget of $0.75 million US dollars, as well as regional IT support teams of eight staff in four regional locations.
During my tenure, I migrated the legacy distributed IT infrastructure into centralised, standardised systems for group-wide operations to simplify support and maintenance.
I furthermore consolidated the global IT budget at less than two percent of the group’s turnover by a reduction of 60%. At the same time, I consolidated numerous data centres into two global data centres to reduce the group infrastructure in the region.
My key achievements included:
 Implementing a global VoIP unified communications system for 1000 users and guiding, mentoring and supporting the team of eight staff at four different sites
 Introducing outsourced IT solutions for operations such as Mimecast Email security and daily management of the Oracle EBS outsourcing delivery, as well as continuous improvement programmes for IT infrastructure
 Utilising shop floor data capture hardware and networking to bolster infrastructure implementation supporting Oracle ERP systems and segmented IT services for operations sold during disposal of non-core activities
 Ensuring legislative compliance and audit standards in all systems

Group IT Infrastructure Manager

In this role I provided daily technical support for all the Group’s European operations. I was accountable for Project Management of all IT Infrastructure projects including:
 Global Cisco VoIP rollout
 Annual Desktop refreshes
 Building out two global data centres
 Migrating WAN infrastructure
 Supporting Oracle ERP rollout
 Implementing Hyper-V Globally, and
 Many others

Senior IT Systems Administrator

AstraZeneca

Working for this world leader in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, I served on a team providing IT security and Email access to 70,000 customers world-wide. I was also responsible for the migration of NT4.0 architecture to Windows 2000, management of response and SLA’s to user support requests and the provision of technical support to other internal functions.

Email & IT Security Specialist

Shell

Working for ExPro - a function within the Shell Oil Group’s IT division that supported the exploration and deep sea oil rig staff - I was part of the Helpdesk team that provided first line IT support to more than 13,000 staff worldwide. This support also included management of the implementation and integration to legacy systems of Windows 2000 and providing liaison with 2nd line support teams to ensure that SLA’s, response and fix times were met.

IT Helpdesk Analyst

Hi! I'm Patrick, an IT Strategist and Leader with over 20 years of expertise across diverse industries in the UK, Europe, US and extensive parts of APAC.

My journey in IT is awash with a rich tapestry of experiences. Beginning in Cheshire's restaurant kitchens, I've since swapped aprons for algorithms and infrastructure, leading technical transformations at several  MNCs. My 2009 move to Singapore wasn’t just a new pin on the map; it represented a myriad of transformative challenges and growth opportunities.

Beyond technology, my ethos revolves around a marriage of technicality with genuine business impact. Every strategy I implement is meticulously crafted to not only elevate user satisfaction but also support the delivery of organisational aspirations and goals. My succinct communication style, devoid of unnecessary embellishments, ensures that messages are impactful and direct, and builds trust at all levels.

One passion sits fervently at the heart of my professional pursuits: sustainability. Living by the beach, I often find solace in its tranquillity. Yet, it perturbs me to witness the remnants of human indifference littering our shores. With my children as my motivation, I’ve been an active advocate for environmental responsibility, often taking the initiative to clear plastics from our local beachfront. Ensuring a sustainable future isn’t just a wish, it’s a commitment; one I wish to intertwine with my career objectives. Whether it's volunteering in sustainability ventures or teaching my children about the environment, I aspire for a world where technology and eco-consciousness converge harmoniously.

I've also embraced a continuous learning philosophy, from dabbling in new programming languages to graphic design, proving that every day presents a unique opportunity. I also take great satisfaction in learning from my team and peers as experts in their respective fields.

I am a visionary, strategic, and results-driven leader looking for a new opportunity to express my passion and build new leaders. Let's connect and collaborate to make our world a bit better.

Patrick Kittle

• Developing an internal skill directory tool using Typescript, React, Redux, and Go. The tool will allow us to track engineering skills across teams to facilitate team formation and drive engineer upskilling efforts.

• Spearheaded a team of six senior software engineers in redesigning our monolithic API service written in Lua into smaller and better scoped microservices using Go. The initiative resulted in
a significant reduction in system complexity and a substantial improvement in overall reliability.

• Designed and developed new features for ExpressVPN’s API gateway, which serves as the primary interface for all client applications to communicate with our backend services. We were also responsible for maintaining the gateway’s stability, scalability, and security, ensuring seamless and secure access for millions of users worldwide.

• Architected and implemented an AWS ECS/Fargate based platform to support our microservices, enabling seamless deployment, monitoring and management of the services in a cost effective manner.

Staff Software Engineer | Lead

• Lead the development of ExpressVPN’s first Software Engineer Growth Path thus improving retention and hiring by providing clarity, consistency and transparency into career paths within the company.

• Our team built a cost effective log analytics and real time dashboard system enabling ingestion of TBs of logs/day at a fraction (0.3%) of cost of a third party solution potentially saving more than $190,000 annually and providing critical observability into our API Gateway.

• Successfully upgraded two Tier 1 services from Ruby on Rails 4 to 5, enhancing performance, reliability and maintainability.

Staff Software Engineer | Lead | Engineering Manager

• Assumed ownership of a mission critical legacy application (Ruby on Rails) that was key to managing our fleet of VPN servers, and led efforts to improve its stability, security, and operational maintainability.

• Developed a high performing team that consistently met SLA requirements for owned services and delivered all committed objectives throughout the year, earning recognition as one of the most effective teams in the company.

• Our team built tools to orchestrate the rolling update of ExpressVPN’s fleet of 2000+ Trusted Servers globally.

• Our team enabled ExpressVPN’s OEM partnerships with HP, ACER and Toshiba increasing sales, awareness and trust in the brand.

Senior Software Engineer | Lead | Engineering Manager

• Contributed to building and maintaining the infrastructure for ExpressVPN’s frontend facing websites. The system supported millions of requests/minute and included critical features such as signup, payment, login, split testing, and sales attribution.

• Led the migration of ExpressVPN’s frontend websites from multiple thirdparty hosting solutions to a multi region setup on AWS, resulting in a highly reliable, costeffective, and scalable system that improved website performance, improved our ability to handle DDoS attacks and improve end user latency.

• Managed operations for several hightraffic Ruby on Rails applications, achieving 99.99% uptime through effective security, budgeting, cost optimization, monitoring, and alerting.

• Designed and built the backend for ExpressVPN’s DNS Leak Checker.

Software Engineer | Lead | Engineering Manager

Nixplay

• Contributed to building and maintaining the "Nixplay Frame” software (running Android OS)
• Worked in cross functional teams to design, build and ship new features following both an agile development methodology and a test driven development (TDD) approach.

• Conducted extensive research and development to implement offline voice recognition (using Pocketsphinx) in Nixplay frames, enhancing the user experience by enabling voice commands without requiring an internet connection.

• Overhauled Nixplay’s image carousel software, leveraging LibGDX and OpenGL ES2.0 to improve overall functionality and aesthetics. Explored and tested new possibilities, including a LibGDX Video based prototype for a video carousel.

Junior Android Developer → Software Engineer

Kerry Logistics

Worked with internal stakeholders and vendors to build and/or maintain the following applications,
• Global Human Resource Database System (.net, C#, SQL )
• eOrgChart (electronic Organizational Chart) (Java, Javascript)
• ePR (electronic Purchase Requisition) Workflow (.net, C#, SQL)
• Kerrier eCard (mobile e-Greeting Card App) (iOS)
• KL Club (exclusive online shopping platform for Kerry Logistics staff and associates) (C#, MVC)

Programmer

Academic Liason Section of the Registry, The University of Hong Kong

Contact point for enquiries related to undergraduate admission from prospective students and their families

Tasks including but not limited to 
• Enquiry desk 
• Responding to Admission Related Queries through phone or email
• Campus tours 
• Sharing sessions

Student Research Assistant

J.P. Morgan

• Member of Research Publishing, Client Technology Group. Built and Tested Report Publishing Tools for in-house use.
• Member of IB Technology Intern Group. Built a Generic Lookup Platform to retrieve and visualize data from internal systems for use by traders.

Summer Intern of CIB Technology

The Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, The University of Hong Kong

• Supervised practical laboratory training for students. 
• Included Basic Electronic Circuit Practicals using Breadboards and FPGA Boards.
• Fostered students’ interest and logical thinking through interactive conversations and leading question

Lab Assistant

With over nine years of diverse experience in the field, I have served as a Software Engineer, People Manager, Department Head, Project Manager, and Product Owner. During this time, I have led teams, developed products, and engineered solutions. I am excited to bring my expertise to new challenges and opportunities.

taplio

The Battle

Patrick Kittle

Jameel Ur Rahman Mohamed Shibly

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