Chris Sprucefield

What did i do? 
Electrical and electronics repair,maintenance.
NIST level Instrument calibration and certification.
Software development.
Calibration and measurement methodology development.
Procurement and evaluation.

Worked on aerospace projects.
Metrology / Calibration at international level (“NIST-1”).
Software development (reworked the entire production line from PDP11 to PC)

Analog and digital electronics principles
Circuit theory and signal processing
NIST traceability and ISO/IEC standards
Metrology and calibration methodologies
Measurement uncertainty and error budgeting
Environmental factors affecting precision measurement
Software architecture, debugging, and version control (Git)
Measurement automation systems and communication protocols
Quality control and documentation standards
Technical specifications and sourcing compliance (RoHS, REACH)
Preventive maintenance and ESD safety procedures

89-06 to 90-05, Sweden, IMS Data AB, Computing consultant

What did i do? 
Senior Unix and systems consultant.
Project management.

90-05 to 91-05, Sweden, Computron Systems, CTO

What did i do? 
Systems design,
Education,
Software development,
Unix consulting.
How to deal with venture capital.
Inventions and IP rights (Patent, copyright)

Skills and knowledge required:
ISP and IT service management
Unix application deployment, configuration, and support (e.g., SAS environment)
Software and application development (C, C++, Python, Labview, Assembly)
Systems integration and automation scripting
Network architecture design and configuration (LAN/WAN, VPN, routing, switching)
Server management and cloud service administration
Custom (bespoke) hardware design, prototyping, and supportEmbedded system development and testingSystems and
performance optimizationTroubleshooting across software, network, and hardware layers
Client consultancy and technical support
Payment system development and integration (APIs, gateways, encryption)
Project coordination and cross-domain collaboration
Documentation, quality control, and service delivery reporting

91-05 to 99-07, Scotland, W10 Ltd, CEO

What did i do?
ISP Services, IT Services, Unix application services (SAS) and application development.
Networking, consultancy, engineering, bespoke hardware design and support.
Payment solutions development.

Continuation of the past experience, with additional
“live fire” experience in legal and compliance. 

Skills and knowledge required:
ISP and IT service deployment and management
Unix/Linux system administration and optimization
Application development and automation scripting (C, C++, Labview, Python, Shell)
Unix-based SAS configuration, maintenance, and integration
Network design, configuration, and diagnostics (LAN/WAN, VPN, BGP, MPLS)
Systems engineering and architecture design
Bespoke hardware design, prototyping, and testing
Embedded systems development and firmware support
Fault isolation, system repair, and preventive maintenance
Cloud infrastructure management (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Technical consultancy and client solutions delivery
Payment gateway and transaction system development
Secure API and protocol integration (REST, SOAP, JSON, XML)
Compliance testing and quality assurance
Documentation, reporting, and project coordination

99-07 to 06-05, Scotland, PayCard Ltd, CTO

What did i do?
BOD member and senior shareholder.
Architecture, design and development of payment systems for credit cards, secure information transactions and back-end transaction systems, for decentralized systems with disaster recovery and disaster resilience, for b2b as p2p transactions, ranging from micropayments to high-value for use in both online, in-store retail and offline environments.
Consultant to Swedish government on information security.

Patent holder.

Skills and knowledge required:
Executive leadership and board governance
Strategic decision-making and corporate oversight
Technical and business risk assessment
System architecture and secure design for payment platforms
End-to-end payment system development (credit, debit, P2P, B2B)
Secure transaction protocol design and cryptographic integration
Disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity planning (BCP)
Distributed and decentralized systems engineering
Database design and high-availability architecture
Software development and system integration (C/C++, Java, Python, …)
Government and enterprise-level consultancy
Information security advisory and compliance guidance
Patent research, authorship, and intellectual property management
Cross-sector collaboration and standards advocacy

06-05 to 11-07, Ireland, Omnific Ltd, CEO

What did i do?
IT solutions and media production ranging from individuals to large international corporations.
Security advisor to Swedish national police board, ICAO, US and Swizz state.
Hardware and software design and consultancy.

Patent holder.

Skills and knowledge required:
IT systems architecture and solution design
Full-cycle software and hardware development
Media production for corporate and public sectors
System integration and performance optimization
Cybersecurity advisory and strategic risk management
Security assessment and compliance consulting
Cross-platform software deployment and automation
Client consultancy for enterprise and government agencies
Incident response planning and vulnerability analysis
Technical documentation, presentations, and training delivery
Intellectual property creation and patent development

11-07 to 13-06, Northern Ireland, NYSE Euronext, Systems engineering
(“downgrade” due to swapping country)

What did i do?
Unix SAE, handling the NYSE Unix environment.
Managing physical servers as virtual, network ,troubleshooting, software system design, maintenance, preventive maintenance. Emergency response and resolution.

Skills and knowledge required:
Unix/Linux systems administration and engineering (SAE-level)
NYSE-grade environment management and uptime assurance
Virtualization and server consolidation (VMware, KVM, Solaris Zones)
Network configuration, diagnostics, and optimization
Software system architecture and deployment
Preventive maintenance planning and system health monitoring
Incident management, emergency response, and rapid fault isolation
Root cause analysis and post-incident review
Security patching, system hardening, and compliance management
Scripting and automation (Shell, Perl, Python)
Performance tuning and capacity planning
Documentation, reporting, and operational coordination

13-07  to 14-05, Malta, Phoenix, IT Manager
^{(“downgrade” due to swapping country take II)}

What did i do?
IT Management, troubleshooting and System maintenance.
MSSQL, MySQL, Unix, communication, system analysis.
Software and reports development.

Skills and knowledge required:
IT management and operational oversight
System administration and preventive maintenance
Troubleshooting of hardware, software, and network systems
Database administration and optimization (MSSQL, MySQL)
Backup, recovery, and performance tuning
Software development and automation scripting
Report generation and data visualization
System analysis and requirements definition
Technical documentation and workflow improvement
Cross-team communication and coordination
User support and training delivery

14-05 to 18-04, Malta, StreamAMG, Head of Infra/Engineering
^{(functionally 1 shy of CTO, as they did not have one)} 

What did i do? 
Systems and Infrastructure engineering covering Linux, Windows, Networking.
Monitoring and web technologies development.
Application development and software debugging/troubleshooting.
Virtualization, physical servers, networking, software development, databases, streaming technologies, media transcoding, CDN, Cloud technologies.
NOC system and data collection design.

Skills and knowledge required:
Systems and infrastructure engineering (Linux, Windows)
Network configuration, optimization, and troubleshooting
Application and software development (C/C++, PHP, Python, Shell)
Software debugging, profiling, and fault isolation
Virtualization and server management (VMware, KVM, Hyper-V)
Cloud deployment and infrastructure automation (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Database administration and tuning (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL)
Web technologies development and API integration
Monitoring and observability setup (Prometheus, Grafana, Nagios)
CDN and media streaming platform configuration
Transcoding systems development and optimization
NOC (Network Operations Center) system design and data collection architecture
Performance tuning, preventive maintenance, and scalability planning
Documentation and cross-department collaboration

18-04 to 18-11, Malta, EmberLabs, CO / R&D

What did i do?
Research and development
Custom electronic systems, IoT
and software design.
Atlassian support.

Skills and knowledge required:
Research and development planning and execution
Electronic system design and prototyping
Embedded systems and IoT hardware integration
PCB layout, testing, and validation
Firmware and embedded software development (C, C++, Python, …)
Sensor interfacing and data acquisition system design
Software architecture and cross-platform development
Cloud connectivity and IoT data pipeline implementation
Systems integration and debugging across hardware/software layers
Atlassian administration and support (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket)
Workflow automation, issue tracking, and project configuration
Technical documentation and version control management

18-11 to 21-02, Malta, Casumo, Corporate IT Manager

What did i do?
Internal IT, Security, and production support

Skills and knowledge required:
IT infrastructure administration and maintenance
User and system support (hardware, software, and network)
Troubleshooting and incident resolution
Endpoint and server management (Windows, Linux, macOS)
Network monitoring and fault isolation
Security auditing and threat mitigation
Access control and identity management (AD, LDAP, MFA)
Backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity operations
Patch management and vulnerability remediation
Production environment monitoring and escalation handling
Performance tuning and capacity planning
Documentation and asset management
Cross-team coordination and communication

21-03 to 22-09, Malta, Swintt, CS and IT Ops Manager
^{(Effectively CTO and COO combined)}

What did i do?
Execution of all IT and CS operations.

Skills and knowledge required:
Strategic planning and executive management
IT and corporate systems oversight
Operations leadership and cross-department coordination
Budgeting, resource allocation, and cost optimization
Technical project management and execution
Policy and process development for IT and CS operations
Infrastructure planning, scalability, and modernization
Cybersecurity governance and compliance enforcement
Vendor negotiation and contract management
Performance monitoring and KPI-driven management
Crisis response, business continuity, and risk mitigation
Team leadership, mentoring, and organizational development
Executive communication and stakeholder reporting

22-11 to 23-03, Malta, Ancient Gaming, CTO

What did i do?

Process improvement
Licensing and budgeting
Production management
Legal and Compliance support

Skills and knowledge required:

Strategic planning and executive management
IT and corporate systems oversight
Operations leadership and cross-department coordination
Budgeting, resource allocation, and cost optimization
Technical project management and execution
Policy and process development for IT and CS operations
Infrastructure planning, scalability, and modernization
Cybersecurity governance and compliance enforcement
Vendor negotiation and contract management
Performance monitoring and KPI-driven management
Crisis response, business continuity, and risk mitigation
Team leadership, mentoring, and organizational development
Executive communication and stakeholder reporting

What do i do?

Fractional CTO leadership and advisory to a range of small to medium-sized clients as well as general IT Consulting.

R&D in IT/AI and bespoke systems / software. 

Skills and knowledge required:
Drawing on all of the above, plus..
Executive technology leadership and strategic advisory
IT infrastructure assessment and modernization planning
Technology roadmap development and implementation
Solution architecture and systems integration
Risk assessment and mitigation strategy
Vendor management and contract negotiation
Budget planning and resource allocation
Mentorship and leadership for technical teams
Cross-functional communication and stakeholder alignment
Project and change management
Business process analysis and digital transformation consulting
Technical due diligence and scalability assessment
Policy, compliance, and governance framework development