Something will go here one day soon...Gaiety, merriment and dancing, etc.

MARTIN WATSON - I am a committed, reliable and enthusiastic Technical & Sales Support Specialist, having extensive customer-facing and troubleshooting skills, as well as great commercial awareness.  I have comprehensive pre- and post-sales support ability, and training experience at all levels, always requiring in-depth product knowledge. An excellent all-rounder, specialising in office productivity, cost-saving and efficiency!!

MY RECENT KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• Specially selected for a Metropolitan Police Borough Commander's commendation, in the course of my CCTV work, which helped lead to the capture of a serial rapist.
• Exceptional Performance Management Award for the compilation and presentation of crime statistics as part of the South West Trains bid to retain the franchise.
• Promotion from grade 3 to grade 4 and subsequently to grade 5, during my four years with South West Trains. I have a current & clean CRB disclosure.

CAREER OVERVIEW

I have been responsible for support, client training and testing of software & services in various niche markets, including CCTV, data cleansing, Electronic Data Interchange, and comms. I have an eye for detail, coupled with a logical and structured mind. I have provided both technical and sales support in many different areas, and relate well to users at all levels. I also have a very good knowledge and understanding of the use and application of standard products such as MS Word, Excel, Access, etc.  I have the confidence to work unsupervised, as well as the social skills to integrate into a team.

KEY SKILLS

• Managing the time-critical implementation of large and small multi-site projects in diverse industries.  Defining project schedules. Ongoing product testing.
• Providing jargon-free, informed technical support to sales staff, management and clients.
• Presenting user training and advanced ‘train the trainer’ courses and client acceptance testing.
• Analyzing and second-level-troubleshooting client problems and managing client expectations.
• Collecting several management awards for solo performance and also as a member of  ‘Team of the Year’.
• Design and maintenance of my own extensive web site www.martinhwatson.co.uk
• In-depth knowledge of Microsoft Office suite and OpenOffice software suites. Use of MS Project.
• Highly literate & numerate, technical authoring and project documentation, bids & specifications.

I am dedicated to client satisfaction.  I have a calm and logical approach to all challenges, and I excel at simplifying complexities. I pride myself on my ability to manage clients and influence their expectations.  I am tactful but firm, and relate well to colleagues, clients and management at all levels.  My broad background has made me familiar with numerous Best Practices, but I am always ready to consider new ideas. I am always happy to pass on the benefit of my experience, and I listen before acting. 

CAREER SUMMARY

BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE 2009-2012

Co-designing, implementing and maintaining a database and workflow system to allow officers to order CCTV data from trains and stations. Analysis of usage statistics.

SOUTH WEST TRAINS 2005-2009

Forensic CCTV Analyst, reviewing crime data for provision to police forces in a time-critical fast-moving environment, as well as assessing passenger accidents and train operating incidents for SWT management.  Responsible for trouble-shooting and daily system maintenance, as well as system modifications and enhancement recommendations.  Training police officers and SWT staff.

I was initially solely responsible, as Crime Analyst, for the collating and interpretation of data relating to Crime & Disorder across the SWT network. I created a relational database system using MS Access for recording data.  I created detailed reports using MS Excel and Word for the directors and senior managers highlighting crime hotspots and trends.  Each month I presented my findings to regional security groups consisting of senior rail staff, community representatives and British Transport Police.

SAFETYONTHEINTERNET 2002-2005

Establishing my own IT training and consultancy business.  See www.SafetyOnTheInternet.co.uk for full details.  This required adding marketing and business administration ability to my skills.

INTERSOFTWARE LTD 2000-2001

Software house specializing in a deluxe, highly customizable Project Management suite. I was responsible for the development and execution of testing procedures. This involved acquiring detailed product knowledge, and logging of bugs, liaison with developers, end-users and support staff. A highly logical and self-motivated approach was essential in a time-critical environment.

CACI LTD 1997-2000

General consultancy, specializing in the Telecoms industry.  I was working on several concurrent projects of varying duration, the most significant ones were:

Cable & Wireless/NTL, client-based for 10 months.  Project administrator interfacing between CACI project team, IBM system architects, C&W business team and third-party suppliers, for the implementation of a digital messaging system to coordinate C&W field engineers.

Consultant to BT Software Systems, client-based for 7 months.  Project manager coordinating the development, testing, and implementation of internal billing utilities to Y2K compliance.

General Electric (GEIS) 1990-1997

GEIS is the world leader in the provision of electronic commerce business solutions, including global messaging, corporate networking, Email and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

Implementation management and installation of 60-site Financial Clearing System. Implementation of electronic business solutions at the UK sites of multinational companies. Implementation and monitoring of a real-time electronic bidding system. The CEO and his Staff monitored this innovative project closely. 

Provision of a ‘Centre of Excellence’ on products for functionality and suitability. Alpha, beta and QA testing and documentation of software.  Tailoring of product demonstrations to blue-chip clients and prospects.

In-depth technical knowledge of use and abuse of modems and datascope and analysis products.

SD-SCICON 1985-1990

Leading software house, now part of EDS.   I was the Office Automation Specialist.

Supervised 4 technical WP operators to ensure adherence to MOD document management standards. Supplied and installed company-standard IT hardware and software.  Managed internal data migration between IT systems.

Developed application to monitor staff movements by analyzing data from security door sensors. Managed and implemented major network project for Personnel Dept.

Education: John Lyon Public School, Harrow.  Qualifications: Maths A-level French, German O-level+4 others References: First-class references available from former managers. Interests: DIY, Walking, Go (Japanese board game), music, technology, my websitewww.martinhwatson.co.ukMusic, Recent Training:   Personal Track Safety Diversity at Work Other activities: Police Liaison Group member. I design mechanical puzzles, some of which have been produced commercially.

I started this web site in about 1998.  As of Autumn 2016 it is getting its biggest ever refurbishment. 

My goals are to include more current information, more pictures, no dead links, consistent format and typeface, better readability on more screens, and to get rid of characters that display badly.  But no free beer.

It is a bit untidy and experimental ...but just wait...

Text first, then pictures to be replaced.