CHRIS ANTHONY
CHRIS ANTHONY
Engineering Manager with proven track record delivering digital transformations for global brands including Diageo, The Times, Sky, and Lloyds Banking Group. Currently Founding Engineer at an AI startup transforming AgTech and PropTech. Seeking hands-on Engineering Manager role combining technical expertise with team leadership. Available for remote or hybrid opportunities.
Management & Leadership
Team Leadership
40+ engineers at Diageo, 13 direct reports at Tombola
Experience
7+ years across enterprise and scale-ups
Hiring & Scaling
Scaled teams from 15 to 40+ engineers
Performance
200+ interviews, regular 1:1s, career development
Style
Empowerment & motivation
Preferred Split
50-70% management, 30-50% hands-on
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.
Stealth AI
Stealth AI
Founding Engineer
September 2025 - Present · 1 moLeading technical architecture and development as founding engineer at an innovative AI startup set to transform AgTech and PropTech spaces, working collaboratively with a small team of 3.
Leading technical architecture and development as founding engineer at an innovative AI startup set to transform AgTech and PropTech spaces, working collaboratively with a small team of 3.
Diageo
Diageo
Engineering Manager (Primary Role)
August 2021 - August 2025 · 4 yrsEngineering Manager
- Managed 40+ engineers across globally distributed teams with direct reports, conducting regular performance reviews, 1:1s, and career development sessions to drive team growth and retention.
- Scaled engineering organisation from 15 to 40+ developers through strategic hiring, full-cycle recruitment, and comprehensive onboarding programs while maintaining team culture and productivity.
- 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.
- Owned engineering budget and vendor management, selecting and onboarding multiple external agencies while establishing governance frameworks and quality gates achieving 100% compliance.
- Implemented performance management and engineering metrics framework, improving delivery predictability and team velocity while fostering innovation culture through AI adoption and regular hackathons.
Technical Lead
- 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
- 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.
- Managed 40+ engineers across globally distributed teams with direct reports, conducting regular performance reviews, 1:1s, and career development sessions to drive team growth and retention.
- Scaled engineering organisation from 15 to 40+ developers through strategic hiring, full-cycle recruitment, and comprehensive onboarding programs while maintaining team culture and productivity.
- 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.
- Owned engineering budget and vendor management, selecting and onboarding multiple external agencies while establishing governance frameworks and quality gates achieving 100% compliance.
- Implemented performance management and engineering metrics framework, improving delivery predictability and team velocity while fostering innovation culture through AI adoption and regular hackathons.
- 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 2021 · 2 mosDrove 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 2021 · 4 mosLed 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 2021 · 3 mosDeveloped 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
Engineering Founder
April 2020 - April 2022 · 2 yrsFounded 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 Full Stack Developer
July 2018 - September 2019 · 1 yr 2 mosProvided technical leadership and mentorship to engineering team, directing implementation strategies across multiple workstreams while conducting code reviews and establishing best practices.
Provided technical leadership and mentorship to engineering team, directing implementation strategies across multiple workstreams while conducting code reviews and establishing best practices.
The Virtual Assistant Ninja
The Virtual Assistant Ninja
Engineering Founder
May 2017 - March 2020 · 2 yrs 10 mosDesigned, 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
Full Stack Developer
November 2015 - May 2017 · 1 yr 6 mosDeveloped 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 2015 · 7 yrs 10 mosDevelopment Lead
- Directly managed 13 engineers, conducting performance reviews, career development, and regular 1:1s to maintain high team retention and productivity.
- Recruited, interviewed, trained and onboarded all 13 direct reports, building a high-performing team from scratch while establishing team culture and development practices.
- Led 13 skilled client developers across multiple projects via scrum methodology, ensuring delivery of core desktop and mobile products with 50k+ daily active users.
- Managed full performance management cycle including appraisals, promotions, and compensation planning while mentoring junior developers and coordinating on-call incident resolution.
- Championed development standards and team processes, tracking sprint velocity and delivery metrics while presenting risks/issues at stakeholder meetings.
Senior Developer
- 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.
Developer
- 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 specialisation, creating engaging consumer experiences.
- Directly managed 13 engineers, conducting performance reviews, career development, and regular 1:1s to maintain high team retention and productivity.
- Recruited, interviewed, trained and onboarded all 13 direct reports, building a high-performing team from scratch while establishing team culture and development practices.
- Led 13 skilled client developers across multiple projects via scrum methodology, ensuring delivery of core desktop and mobile products with 50k+ daily active users.
- Managed full performance management cycle including appraisals, promotions, and compensation planning while mentoring junior developers and coordinating on-call incident resolution.
- Championed development standards and team processes, tracking sprint velocity and delivery metrics while presenting risks/issues at stakeholder meetings.
- 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 specialisation, creating engaging consumer experiences.
TH_NK
TH_NK
Javascript Developer
February 2007 - November 2007 · 9 mosContributed 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.