Will Jessop
About Will Jessop
Will Jessop serves as the Chief Technology Officer and has extensive experience in software engineering and system administration, having worked at notable companies such as Engine Yard and 37signals. He has led significant improvements in engineering processes and system scalability, contributing to high-profile projects including the Biden campaign.
Work at Impactive
As Chief Technology Officer at Impactive, Will Jessop led a comprehensive overhaul of the engineering department and product pipeline. He introduced an eight-week development cycle and established a new process for work assignment. His leadership focused on enhancing the quality of the codebase by implementing improved code review processes and end-to-end testing for critical paths. This initiative resulted in a notable reduction in bugs and outages, contributing to the overall efficiency of the organization.
Previous Experience in Software Engineering
Will Jessop has extensive experience in software engineering, having worked in various roles prior to his position at Impactive. He served as a Senior Application Support Engineer at Engine Yard from 2008 to 2010, where he worked remotely. Prior to that, he was a Senior Software Engineer at 29degrees Limited in Manchester, England, from 2007 to 2008. His career began at MEN Media as a Software Engineer from 2005 to 2007, also in Manchester. He further developed his skills as a System Administrator at 37signals from 2010 to 2016.
Achievements in Database Optimization
Will Jessop played a significant role in optimizing database performance during critical campaigns. He was instrumental in handling traffic for the Biden campaign in 2020 and the midterms in 2022 by optimizing Postgres database usage and re-architecting systems for scalability. His focus on database performance was also evident during his time at Tanda, where he guided architectural direction and upgrade processes.
Technical Contributions and Upgrades
Throughout his career, Will Jessop has executed several technical upgrades and migrations. At Stuart, he successfully executed seamless Rails upgrades. At Engine Yard, he led customer migrations to AWS and the Terramark cloud. His contributions have consistently focused on enhancing system performance and reliability across various platforms.