CHRIS ANTHONY
A hands-on Engineering Lead with 20 years' expertise in modern web technologies, specialised in guiding globally distributed engineering teams to deliver best-in-class digital transformations across 7+ sectors including spirits, media, financial services, and e-commerce. Having led transformations for global brands like Diageo, The Times, Sky, and Lloyds Banking Group, I bring proven expertise in scaling platforms that serve millions of users. With a strong passion for AI, I have built a RAG system to revolutionise the ticketing sector in my spare time and am currently developing a Computer Vision system to help farmers in the AgTech space.
Core Competencies
Professional Experience
Over the past 20 years, I have had the privilege of working with some of the world's most recognised brands across diverse sectors, from global spirits companies to leading media organisations, financial institutions, and innovative startups. This journey has provided me with extensive experience in scaling engineering teams, delivering digital transformations, and building platforms that serve millions of users worldwide.
Diageo
Diageo
Multiple Roles
August 2021 - August 2025Engineering Manager
May 2023 - August 2025- Initiated and led development of the company's global headless platform, co-creating the composable architecture vision that now powers over 75% of Diageo traffic for brands including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, and Baileys.
- Pioneered major infrastructure transformation, designing and implementing a scalable composable architecture that consolidated dispersed technologies onto a single SaaS-only stack (Contentful, Vercel, Algolia, Auth0).
- Rapidly scaled a global engineering team to 40+ internal developers, selected and onboarded multiple external agencies, creating a supportive environment that empowered innovation and growth.
- Led AI adoption initiatives, introducing Generative AI to expedite migrations, improve quality, and remove inefficiencies across the department whilst organising regular hackathons to foster innovation culture.
Technical Lead
Dec 2022 - May 2023- Defined comprehensive platform governance including 15 Quality Attribute Requirements, documented best practices, automated technical assessment, and a suite of automated quality gates.
- Implemented global headless CMS platform, reducing time-to-market by 40%, achieving 100% compliance across legal and regulatory standards whilst delivering significant annual development savings.
- Established 'Bedrock', a foundational TypeScript mono-repo (8 applications, 22+ packages, 5 Contentful extensions) as the cornerstone for code reuse and developer productivity across multiple teams and agencies.
Principal Engineer
Aug 2021 - Dec 2022- Architected and led development of flagship brand sites including TheBar.com and Malts.com, establishing technical patterns and architecture standards for the global platform.
- Designed scalable composable architecture foundations, defining integration patterns and technical standards that would become the blueprint for Diageo's digital transformation.
- Initiated and led development of the company's global headless platform, co-creating the composable architecture vision that now powers over 75% of Diageo traffic for brands including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, and Baileys.
- Pioneered major infrastructure transformation, designing and implementing a scalable composable architecture that consolidated dispersed technologies onto a single SaaS-only stack (Contentful, Vercel, Algolia, Auth0).
- Rapidly scaled a global engineering team to 40+ internal developers, selected and onboarded multiple external agencies, creating a supportive environment that empowered innovation and growth.
- Led AI adoption initiatives, introducing Generative AI to expedite migrations, improve quality, and remove inefficiencies across the department whilst organising regular hackathons to foster innovation culture.
- Defined comprehensive platform governance including 15 Quality Attribute Requirements, documented best practices, automated technical assessment, and a suite of automated quality gates.
- Implemented global headless CMS platform, reducing time-to-market by 40%, achieving 100% compliance across legal and regulatory standards whilst delivering significant annual development savings.
- Established 'Bedrock', a foundational TypeScript mono-repo (8 applications, 22+ packages, 5 Contentful extensions) as the cornerstone for code reuse and developer productivity across multiple teams and agencies.
- Architected and led development of flagship brand sites including TheBar.com and Malts.com, establishing technical patterns and architecture standards for the global platform.
- Designed scalable composable architecture foundations, defining integration patterns and technical standards that would become the blueprint for Diageo's digital transformation.
The Times
The Times
Software Engineer
June 2021 - August 2021Drove front-end development for digital transformation initiative serving 2M+ daily readers, specialising in web performance optimisation and modern development practices. Delivered significant Core Web Vitals improvements across the platform.
Drove front-end development for digital transformation initiative serving 2M+ daily readers, specialising in web performance optimisation and modern development practices. Delivered significant Core Web Vitals improvements across the platform.
The Very Group
The Very Group
Principal Software Engineer
February 2021 - June 2021Led development of highly available, scalable enterprise solution to replace existing Digital Customer Experience platform serving 4M+ customers. Architected new microservices-based commerce platform with 99.9% uptime targets.
Led development of highly available, scalable enterprise solution to replace existing Digital Customer Experience platform serving 4M+ customers. Architected new microservices-based commerce platform with 99.9% uptime targets.
Sky
Sky
React Developer
November 2020 - February 2021Developed features for node/react mono-repo website serving 24M+ customers, creating bespoke React components using Adobe Spectrum design system for cross-team reusability and maintaining design consistency.
Developed features for node/react mono-repo website serving 24M+ customers, creating bespoke React components using Adobe Spectrum design system for cross-team reusability and maintaining design consistency.
Fresh Deals
Fresh Deals
Startup Founder
April 2020 - April 2022Founded and developed serverless progressive web app during the coronavirus pandemic, creating a comprehensive commerce platform that served users with real-time price tracking, reviews and deal notifications.
Founded and developed serverless progressive web app during the coronavirus pandemic, creating a comprehensive commerce platform that served users with real-time price tracking, reviews and deal notifications.
Lloyds Banking Group
Lloyds Banking Group
Lead Developer
July 2018 - September 2019Led digital transformation in Financial Planning and Retirement lab, surfacing pension information to 15M+ users across Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds brands. Improved app performance by 60% whilst supporting board-level IT strategy initiatives.
Led digital transformation in Financial Planning and Retirement lab, surfacing pension information to 15M+ users across Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Lloyds brands. Improved app performance by 60% whilst supporting board-level IT strategy initiatives.
The Virtual Assistant Ninja
The Virtual Assistant Ninja
Startup Founder
May 2017 - March 2020Designed, architected, and developed a suite of SaaS products supporting 1,000+ online retailers. Built platform consisting of three products and eight distributed micro-services worldwide, successfully acquired by Hustle Got Real in March 2020.
Designed, architected, and developed a suite of SaaS products supporting 1,000+ online retailers. Built platform consisting of three products and eight distributed micro-services worldwide, successfully acquired by Hustle Got Real in March 2020.
Bet365
Bet365
Software Developer
November 2015 - May 2017Developed Client Side Sports UI across all platforms for the world's largest online gambling operator serving 45M+ customers globally. Helped lead re-write of legacy ActionScript to HTML5, mentored developers, and delivered performance improvements across the platform.
Developed Client Side Sports UI across all platforms for the world's largest online gambling operator serving 45M+ customers globally. Helped lead re-write of legacy ActionScript to HTML5, mentored developers, and delivered performance improvements across the platform.
Tombola
Tombola
Multiple Roles
January 2008 - November 2015Client Development Lead
Jan 2012 - Nov 2015- Led 13 skilled client developers across multiple projects, ensuring delivery of core desktop and mobile products with 50k+ daily active users.
- Coordinated task allocation via scrum methodology, tracking project progress and presenting risks/issues at regular meetings.
- Managed recruitment, appraisals, and on-call incident resolution whilst mentoring junior developers.
- Championed development standards to ensure all internal policies and procedures were adhered to.
Senior Client Developer
Jan 2010 - Jan 2012- Designed and developed products for both consumer and business use, specialising in mobile development for UK, Spain and Italy markets.
- Mentored junior developers and contributed to problem management and incident resolution.
- Ensured agreed timelines and project deliverables were met across multiple platforms.
Client Developer
Jan 2008 - Jan 2010- Developed core bingo and casino products for Tombola, the #1 Bingo Operator in the UK, Spain and Italy.
- Focused on UI development and mobile platform specialization, creating engaging consumer experiences.
- Led 13 skilled client developers across multiple projects, ensuring delivery of core desktop and mobile products with 50k+ daily active users.
- Coordinated task allocation via scrum methodology, tracking project progress and presenting risks/issues at regular meetings.
- Managed recruitment, appraisals, and on-call incident resolution whilst mentoring junior developers.
- Championed development standards to ensure all internal policies and procedures were adhered to.
- Designed and developed products for both consumer and business use, specialising in mobile development for UK, Spain and Italy markets.
- Mentored junior developers and contributed to problem management and incident resolution.
- Ensured agreed timelines and project deliverables were met across multiple platforms.
- Developed core bingo and casino products for Tombola, the #1 Bingo Operator in the UK, Spain and Italy.
- Focused on UI development and mobile platform specialization, creating engaging consumer experiences.
TH_NK
TH_NK
Javascript Developer
February 2007 - November 2007Contributed to various JavaScript-based projects for creative agency clients, developing and maintaining interactive client-side web applications with focus on user experience and cross-browser compatibility.
Contributed to various JavaScript-based projects for creative agency clients, developing and maintaining interactive client-side web applications with focus on user experience and cross-browser compatibility.
Education
BSc (Hons) Multimedia Computing
HEFC
GCSE
Recommendations
Ben Liger
Senior Developer
"I can confidently say he's one of the most effective and inspiring managers I've worked with. Chris always showed a good balance between technical depth, strategic oversight and keeping the team abreast of technical trends. He not only understood the complexities of the work we were doing, but he actively empowered the team to solve problems creatively and grow in the process. His feedback was always thoughtful, actionable, and motivating. Any team would be lucky to have Chris at the helm."