Richard James
About Richard James
Richard James is a Technology Lead at Nationwide Building Society, where he has worked since 2019. He has extensive experience in software engineering and management, having held various roles at organizations such as Eduserv, Red River Software, and CAE.
Current Role at Nationwide Building Society
Richard James serves as the Technology Lead (Executive) at Nationwide Building Society since 2019. In this role, he has been instrumental in leading the design and leadership of a 450-person agile hub utilizing the SAFe framework. His focus has been on rebuilding core digital services on cloud platforms including AWS and Azure. James has also executed a significant team expansion, increasing the workforce from 15 to 55 employees within 18 months to enhance the Nationwide public website.
Previous Experience in Software Development
Prior to his current position, Richard James held various roles in software development. He worked at Eduserv as Applications Development Manager from 2016 to 2018 and as a Web Consultant from 2015 to 2016. His earlier experience includes positions as a Software Engineer/Scrum Master at Red River Software from 2013 to 2015 and as a Senior Tools Programmer at Relentless Software from 2011 to 2013. Additionally, he served as a Principal Software Engineer at CAE from 2001 to 2007.
Educational Background
Richard James studied at the University of Brighton, where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Electronics Engineering from 1997 to 1999. He also attended the University of Sussex, obtaining a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from 1995 to 1997. This educational foundation has supported his extensive career in technology and software development.
Innovative Projects and Initiatives
Throughout his career, Richard James has led several innovative projects. He established a shared messaging and bot capability using LivePerson and IBM Watson on AWS/EKS, facilitating multichannel conversational UIs. He also pioneered the use of enterprise JAMstack architecture for the nationwide.co.uk website, which is hosted on Azure and OpenShift. Furthermore, he led the in-house React design system team to standardize user interfaces across the enterprise.
Contributions to Digital Services
Richard James has made significant contributions to digital services, including becoming the first CMA9 to market on Apple Business Chat, which improved member reach during the Covid pandemic. His leadership in executing a rapid team expansion and enhancing the Nationwide public website has been critical in integrating niche consultants, contractors, and exceptional graduate trainees into the organization.