Andrew Howes

CV

I am passionate about using technology to improve the world around us. Find out what expertise and experience I could bring to your organisation in my CV.

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Highlights

Data Management solutions

I’ve helped organisations make the most out of data management systems, including a two-year project to adopt Dynamics.

Collaborating and training

I have extensive experience helping teams effectively use tools and understand their data.

5+ years of Power BI

I’ve led multiple Power BI projects using data from Dynamics, Azure Storage, Synapse, API endpoints and SQL.

Software engineering

With a Master of Computing degree, I am skilled in C#, Python and Java with exposure to R and JavaScript. I develop open source tool Data Import++.

Professional experience

Value for money

I helped Shelter improve their return on investment for Dynamics by conducting a licensing and storage review.

I delivered a 29% reduction in D365 licensing costs by reducing our additional storage costs, utilising a data lifecycle and reducing unnecessary licenses.

Data import

At Shelter, the team regularly used Data Import++, an open source C# tool to import data into Dynamics.

Missing functionality and bugs reduced productivity in the team, so I took on ownership of the project and released an update that has been well received by the community.

You can check out the improvements here.

Supporter CRM Manager

Shelter, 2023 – Present

I began working for Shelter, a UK housing and homelessness charity, in 2023. As manager of the Dynamics 365 based Supporter CRM, I am responsible for the operation and development of the system. I work with teams across the organisation to understand their needs, address data quality issues, provide training, and implement improvements to the system. 

Achievements:

  • Co-manage work in a team of five using agile practises. This involves breaking down high level goals into manageable and actionable steps, assigning them to team members and monitoring progress. 
  • Currently working with Microsoft, internal teams and software-solution providers to deliver a complex data engineering project to integrate 24 different data sources.  
  • Conducted 3- and 5- year cost and functionality comparisons of various software vendor solutions to enable the directors to make an effective decision on which platform to proceed with. 
  • Created a proof-of-concept local large language model AI chatbot based on housing advice on the Shelter website to demonstrate capabilities, risks and opportunities of adopting AI further. This led to Shelter actively seeking funding to develop and test the system. 
  • Implemented embedded Power BI reporting in the CRM to enable users to evaluate, analyse and compare the effectiveness of campaigns. 
  • Identified and resolved several data quality issues, with one affecting over 300,000 records. Regularly meet with other key data teams to monitor data quality and assign data improvement tasks. 
  • Held dedicated workshops with teams across the organisation to understand and define their requirements, enabling the successful roll out and adoption of significant improvements to the system. 
  • Created a 20-person Super Users group to empower teams across the organisation to adopt features into their processes, and to learn more about data analysis. 
  • Contributed to and became the primary owner of an open-source C# based data import tool that integrates directly with the Supporter CRM, that has over 60,000 downloads to date. 
  • Reduced licensing costs by 29% YoY, by conducting a license review and implementing a data lifecycle. 

Information Systems Manager

FemiliPNG Australia, 2022 – 2023

FemiliPNG Australia (previously Friends of Femili PNG) is an Australian international NGO that supports Femili PNG, a Papua New Guinean non-profit for survivors of family and sexual violence. As the technology lead at FemiliPNG Australia, I spearheaded the identification, development, and implementation of solutions to enhance the organisation’s capacity.  This role enabled me to work with people from diverse backgrounds and technical abilities.

Achievements:

  • Successfully proposed, developed, and implemented a CRM using Model Driven Power Apps. This required in depth stakeholder and project management across a culturally diverse team. 
  • Spearheaded the implementation of a robust data analysis system using Power BI, and Azure Data Factory.
  • Provided in person and remote training and mentoring for in-country staff to use, manage and develop their data skills. This included multi-day workshops, presentations and hands-on tutorials. 
  • Developed detailed and clear documentation to help staff to find information about the platform. 
  • Organised regular data quality and monitoring calls with data entry officers to investigate data discrepancies, answer questions and collaborate on future development of the platform. 
  • Led data wrangling, analysis and mining, including conducting decision tree machine learning analysis to determine which factors most impacted clientโ€™s likelihood of obtaining outcomes.
  • Effectively managed the Azure Cloud budget, optimising resource allocation to best meet the organisations need.
  • Orchestrated the website redevelopment, by collaborating with stakeholders and external developers.

Did you know?

For Femili PNG, I proposed, developed and implemented a Power Apps based Case Management System that digitised the tracking outcomes for survivors of violence. This greatly improved reporting capacity and provided real-time business intelligence to management.

Learn more on my blog.

Andrew teaching a Femili PNG staff member how to use the CRM.

Information Systems Officer

FemiliPNG Australia, 2020 – 2022

In this role I was the organisations lead for data analysis and management. I maintained and improved the systems used for client data reporting and provide timely, insightful reporting.

Achievements:

  • Lead and improved client data reporting using STATA and Excel to produce ad-hoc analysis 
  • Implemented and regularly produced monthly and quarterly strategic monitoring reports that demonstrated performance towards targets for the executive team, board, and funders. 
  • Mitigated an organisation wide spam email attack and migrated the email server to Microsoft Exchange. 
  • Provided IT support, advice, information and cyber security training to staff across the organisation in Australia and Papua New Guinea. 

Cyber Security Intern

KPMG, 2023

KPMG Cyber provides cyber security services that enable organisations to prevent, plan for, and respond to cyber-threats. In this paid internship, I worked on several engagements and internal tools, providing real value to clients and the organisation.

Achievements:

  • Conducted a cyber security posture assessment for a major international SaaS provider. 
  • Integrated new cyber threat intelligence sources into monitoring tools and conducted analysis with Splunk. 
  • Collaborated with colleagues using Git to add new features to a Python program. 
A screenshot of a cyber threat intelligence dashboard. Four charts appear on a black background. They show the most common threats, the location of dangerous IP addresses, the biggest threat actors, and how the threat landscape has changed over time.

Cyber security

At KPMG, I integrated new sources of cyber threat intelligence into their network monitoring tool, improving their capability to detect and respond to advanced cyber threats. Watch my three minute pitch that explains my work.

Education Manager

Flip Out Australia and New Zealand, 2018-2019

Flip Out Australia and New Zealand is the Master Franchisor and head office for Flip Out in the region. In this role, I gained extensive experience in the small business and franchise sector.

Achievements:

  • Implemented franchise-wide financial insights tool to increase visibility of operations.
  • Developed a Learning Management System used by over 400 employees.
  • Presented at conferences, trainings, and workshops.

Academic experience

Master of Computing

Australian National University, 2022 – 2023

Through this degree I developed a deep knowledge of software development techniques and computing practices.

Achievements:

  • Grade point average of 6.9 out of 7. 
  • Expertise in Java, SQL, Python, DAX, R. Studied data management, analysis and software engineering. 
  • Data wrangling and mining courses taught me key data visualisation and analysis skills as well as advanced techniques such as machine learning and regression analysis. 

Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Australian National University, 2018 – 2021

Studying a Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics has provided me with the fundamental building blocks to think critically about complex global problems.

Achievements:

  • Grade point average of 6.7 out of 7. 
  • Key topics of study included developmental economics, behavioural economics, political lobbying, policy and research.
  • Conducted regression analysis of program effectiveness and produced a research essay on spending changes in over 300 charities over a seven-year period. 

Research and data analysis

An image showing a chart of percentage of gross income spent on employee expenses over years and by types of group.

In both my degrees, I developed my data wrangling and analysis skills and put them to use conducting research.

See how I used Python, SQL and RESTful API’s to answer questions about charity trends in my blog post.

Personal experience

Australian Representative

Indonesian Student Cultural Exchange Program, 2016

I was selected by the Indonesian Government to take part in a two-week cultural understanding trip.

Volunteer

Trash Gather 2017 – 2022

I assisted the group to collect and communicate data to inspire change in the public & private sector.