Kieran Desmond - CTO, Ex Drive Inc, Premier Digital

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Network Power<100 people

Roles

🔥100%

Startup Founder

🗿100%

Geos

🇮🇪100%

Ireland

Work Background

Drive Inc.Chief Technology Officer

Aug. 2020Dublin, Ireland · RemoteAchievements to date: - Developed and launched Ireland's first AI-powered Classifieds Recommendations feature for Sweep. - Helped secure over 500,000 euros in startup credits ( AWS, Twilio, Microsoft, Google ), R&D Tax Credits - Built a globally distributed, multi-timezone remote-first team of developers and QA’s on tight budgets and constraints. - Achieved a team retention rate of 85% and a high referral rate (71% of hires) as a result of referral programs, an engineering recognition program & hackathons. - The group has built 3 core revenue-generating businesses and a number of spinoff projects over 3 years with a team of 5 people on the back of my team development and leadership. We started with 1 business. Manages 4 full-time, and 2 part-time employees; released 7 products Key responsibilities: - Leads remote-first, cross-functional engineering team; delivers high-quality software regularly - Improves team efficiency, reduces cycle time - Hires, and manages Engineering Team - Architects APIs, infrastructure, solutions - Collaborates with CPO, Design Lead on road-map - Manages security and compliance; ensures team understanding of organizational context, goals - Manages stakeholder relations; develops products with internal clients, suppliers - Monitors, and manages Systems 24/7 (Postman Monitors, Alerts) - Mentors developers, conducts code reviews; manages software development (Scrum with Jira) - Clarifies requirements with Product, Design teams; accelerates progress - Handles HR tasks: 1 to 1 meetings, contracts, NDAs, rewards, feedback - Performs hands-on development: Mobile App (React Native), Web Apps (React with NextJS, NodeJS), -Backend (NodeJS, Python), DB maintenance (Mysql, Postgresql on AWS RDS) - Conducts R&D, and strategic planning; evaluates tech like ChatGPT for fit, security, disruption potential - Maintains leadership communication; fosters transparency, accountability, and openness culture - Works with a globally distributed remote-first team

DuoIntroChief Technology Officer

Feb. 2020 - Jul. 2020One Introduction can change everything. Double Opt-in introductions are the gold standard way to build connections & relationships. DuoIntro is a tool that automates Double Opt-in Introductions - make a effortless, GDPR and network friendly way to introduce and be introduced. Responsibilities: Designed an MVP Developed an MVP ( Backend with NodeJS and Express, Frontend with AngularJS 15 ) Worked on User Journeys & Data Analytics Worked with Prospective clients to get feedback Worked in agile sprints to iterate on product quickly

AltaBidCo-Founder & CTO

Nov. 2018 - Jul. 2020County Cork, IrelandAchievements - Helped design built and launched a Javascript Plugin (like Intercomm) to run real-time auctions on your website in only 3 months that enabled live auctions on real-estate. - Plugin was expanded to include to full purchase flow in under 6 months. From uploading documentation to sending contracts. - Product reduced the time by estate agents on paperwork by 38% (survey estimated) and added transparency to the property sale process. Summary As the technical lead at Altabid.com, I successfully liaised with estate agents to pioneer a revolutionary sales tool for the property market: AltaBid. This innovative sales plugin streamlined and digitized the sales process for estate agents, significantly enhancing efficiency. Implementing AltaBid was a straightforward three-step process. Firstly, two lines of code were incorporated into the client's website. Next, properties were added to the AltaBid dashboard. Finally, bidders were vetted, bids processed, and sales concluded, all through the platform. My expertise in AltaBid's development was multi-faceted. I developed a website plugin using Javascript, supported APIs with NodeJS, and constructed an estate agent dashboard utilizing AngularJS. Our cloud-based SAAS solution was poised to disrupt the property market positively. The technology stack was powered by JavaScript, including NodeJS, jQuery, and Angular.js. As a full-stack software developer, I managed everything from server-side to front-end development while liaising with real estate agents to refine product development. My skills encompassed rapid prototyping, lean and agile methodologies, Google Cloud Platform, plugin development (Javascript, jQuery), and API development (NodeJS). My rich experience included API development, integration, stakeholder management, agile methodologies, strategic decision-making, change management, and product management.

PremierDigital.ieBusiness Owner

Nov. 2018 - Feb. 2020County Cork, IrelandAt PremierDigital, we were your comprehensive solution for website design, development, and maintenance. Our subscription-based services ensured the development, maintenance, and optimization of your online presence through your website and social media. We successfully championed stress-free digital success for our clients. As a dynamic digital consultancy, we facilitated SMEs to boost sales by honing in on customer identification and refining sales and marketing strategies. Our strategic proposals and key insights empowered clients to outperform in their strategy, ultimately leading to increased sales. We also excelled in mobile application development using the Ionic Framework for multiple clients and gained valuable experience in React.js. Our skills spanned across Ionic Framework, Android, OS X (deployments), PHP (Laravel), CouchDB, Firebase, MySQL, API Architecture & Development, and Payment Processes (Stripe). We expertly navigated tools like GSuite, Slack, Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Hotjar for heatmap and landing page optimization. Our rich experience encompassed coaching, training, team management, infrastructure maintenance, stakeholder management, and teamwork, ensuring comprehensive digital solutions for all our clients. Visit our past work: http://premierdigital.ie.

Referral.WorksFounder & CTO

Sep. 2015 - Oct. 2018Cork, IrelandAchievements: - Secured 10,000 euros in pre-paid bounties, working with a pool of companies looking to get referred candidates to interview. - Architected, Designed & Built an MVP which we used to get over 20 referrals for that job pool. - Secured over 50,000 euros in funding from the New Frontiers Program in CIT & Enterprise Board and 20,000 euros in credits for Amazon Web Services. I spearheaded a paradigm shift in hiring and business practices through the power of referrals. Our trailblazing platform innovatively automated and tracked referrals, enabling management of referral groups and requests for business or talent introductions from your network in mere minutes. As the development lead, I successfully created a Job Referral Marketplace, akin to AirBnB for referrals, with a strong ambition to revolutionize the recruitment market. We successfully raised €80,000 in seed funding and developed a compelling business case & strategy that achieved initial traction. My skills encompassed ReactJS, Ionic Framework, AWS, Agile methodologies, NodeJS, Firebase (NoSQL), and AngularJS. My experience extended to pitching & public speaking, team management, leadership, SAAS approaches, remote team management, company process development, recruitment, and personal development. With these skills and experience, I was at the forefront of bringing about substantial change in the recruitment industry.

Digital Skills Foundation InternationalCo Owner

Jan. 2015 - Sep. 2018As the Director of the EMEA region for Digital Skills Foundation, I was responsible for engaging with new and existing SMEs, Corporations, and professionals across diverse industries in Europe, Southern Africa, and the Middle East. I championed the Digital Skills Foundation in this territory, cultivating the brand's growth as a leading organization in training and empowering individuals to leverage digital skills to enhance their brands and businesses. I spearheaded a partnership with the EU Commissions - EU Skills for Jobs Initiative, a digital skills-focused organization designed to drive the adoption of digital skills for the EU workforce and reduce the digital divide in EU society. Our vision materialized into the creation of a centralized, online EU university to work alongside this group. About DSFI: Digital Skills Foundation International (DSFI) was a global organization devoted to empowering individuals with the requisite skills to thrive in the digital age. We understood that platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, Google+, Blogger, and others were essential to enhancing your professional career and personal brand. Therefore, we dedicated ourselves to teaching and certifying individuals on effective utilization of these platforms. Our focus was on building basic knowledge of digital media to promote careers, personal profiles, and businesses. Through our live training courses, online tutorials, corporate sessions, and speaker series, we concentrated on delivering essential knowledge in a concise format and at an accessible price.

JCI CorkPresident

Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014CorkJCI is a Non-Profit Organisation of young professionals, entrepreneurs and active citizens - involved in Community, Business & Networking and Personal Development based events and Projects (www.jcicork.ie). As President, its my role to put in place a driven and dedicated team. I also help in the organisation and promotion of the Branch and its activities as well as collaborating with JCI on and National Level. I also collaborate with Patrons like the Chamber of Commerce and Cork Innovates to create value for the Cork Community. Its my goal this year to double branch membership. Increase JCI Cork's awareness and create a platform for 2015's board to build apon.

OtteraDirector of QA, Security & Compliance

Oct. 2012 - Jun. 2014CorkOttera is a web and mobile Platform which allows medical, nursing and dentistry teams to take control of and manage their own training and assessment efforts, all in a simple, structured and secure way. We have been working side by side with individuals ranging from undergraduate medical, dental, and nursing students right up to Consultant Neonatologists, Anaesthesiologists, Radiologists, Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Breast Surgeons, Dentists, Nurses and Junior doctors. The problems we have noticed are: It a takes a team lead/lecturer a fair amount of time to organise, deliver and most importantly assess their teams/class training efforts. And when training is organised, it rarely takes into account the fact that people learn at different speeds. Finally when there is a lot of training activities going on it is extremely laborious for a Team Lead to monitor their teams performance before, during and after the training is delivered. Quite simply it is very difficult for them to 100% prove the competence of each and every team member as a result of the training. My Main Responsibilities: IT & Security, QA and Compliance & Risk

UCC Ignite ProgrammeEntrepreneur

Sep. 2012 - Jun. 2013Western Gateway CorkDelighted to be a part of https://www.linkedin.com/redir/general-malware-page?url=Ottera%2ecom team

Ottera Technology LtdInvestor

Apr. 2012 - Aug. 2016I have invested my expertise, time and money into Ottera from the beginning at its formation as a founder.

AccentureLeaders of Tomorrow Finalist

Mar. 2012 - Apr. 2012Grand Canal Quay, DublinMy Idea: "Kieran Desmond of UCC created Minerva, an emergency service dispatch and location system concept that enables users to communicate their exact location to the emergency services operator via mobile technology." Source: Irish Times http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0402/1224314225838.html Accenture, in association with the Irish Times Innovation Magazine, is looking for the Leaders of Tomorrow. Participants in the Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow 2012 will have the chance to demonstrate and develop their leadership skills through three rounds of competition against the best and brightest of their peers. The successful finalists will take part in a series of leadership development days and ultimately will present their business idea to a panel of Irish business leaders. The overall winners will take part in the Accenture Leadership Experience Tour to New York City followed by a Incubation Internship with Accenture to develop their business idea. Applicants will retain all intellectual property rights in ideas submitted.

Ottera Technology LtdChief Technology Officer

Feb. 2012 - Sep. 2014As the CTO of Ottera, a healthcare training technology company, I revolutionized the way medical professionals are trained, akin to combining Google Glass with a driving test. I engaged closely with high-profile medical experts and the Head of Medicine in UCC, developing a training technology based on the paradigm of proficiency-based progression, ensuring that professionals demonstrated proficiency before graduation. Along with my co-founder, Glenn Goggin, I led the technical team in creating our groundbreaking healthcare products and services. We conducted a clinical trial with UCC's School of Medicine, proving our solution's effectiveness in reducing critical errors by doctors by up to 46%. This success led to our company's fruitful exit in 2015. I developed a hardware docking system, using Python, that synchronized videos with our AWS infrastructure. Within AWS, we created our own video transcoding system that automatically converted uploaded files into WebM and other web-friendly formats, facilitating HTML5 and cross-platform development. My skill set encompassed secure AWS infrastructure (VPC, HIPAA compliance, ISO27001 knowledge, database security, automated testing (Karma, Junit)), PHP, AngularJS, Python, Full Stack, Cross-platform, and Systems Architecture. My experience covered CI (Jenkins), Jira, Docker, team management, leadership, coaching, MDM (GSuite), continuous deployment (DeployHQ), Agile, and Kaizen Models, equipping me to drive success in the intersection of healthcare and technology.

University College Cork, Ireland (UCC)BIS Tutor in Excel (Finance) & Android Development

Oct. 2011 - Apr. 2012University College CorkRoles: Teach 4th Year BIS Formulae in Excel for Financial Calculations Teach 4th Year BIS Android Development - Interfaces - Client-Server Technology - Database Driven Development

University College CorkVisio and Data Modelling Tutor (Management Information Systems)

Sep. 2010 - Apr. 2011Recently appointed by University College Cork by the BIS dept to be a Visio Tutor for 2nd and 4th year Commerce Students. I will be teaching models like work flows and Entity Relationship Diagrams.

University College CorkWebmaster

Sep. 2010 - Apr. 2011Appointed current webmaster for UCC Cycling Club 2010/2011. Site currently in development. The site promises to have its own messageboards, weather for the Cork Region amongst other useful resources.

Kerry GroupSAP Software Development Team Member/ HCM (HR)

Apr. 2010 - Sep. 2010Kerryconnect ICT Placement Student assisting the SAP Development Team with its work. Creating trackers with Excel Using analysis software (DART) to monitor the progress of ECC/ERP System object Design and Development. Presenting Data - various Functional Streams using PowerPoint. Testing - Assembly , Component and Product Testing Data Conversion XML programming HR processes

Microsoft TalkNA

Jan. 2009

Quay-Coop RestaurantWebmaster

Sep. 2007 - Jun. 2009Redesigned www.quaycoop.com Maintenance of the site. November 2005 (Work Experience Placements)

George Mills and CompanyOffice assistant

Jun. 2007 - Jul. 2007Overall responsibility for technical support Routed calls to other offices where necessary Typed up documents and notes.

George Mills and Co SolicitorsCustomer Service

Apr. 2005 - Apr. 2006Reservations Management Arranged telephone bookings Prepared invoices Managed the post Assisted in the design and development of the ICCL website.

Irish Coastal Cottages LimitedCustomer Service

Sep. 2000 - Dec. 2005Answered customer queries via phone/email. Handled the mail. Some website development