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Conchango Recruitment

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  • Do you passionately believe that the end user should be placed at the core of the project universe?

    If yes read on...

    Position

    Senior User Experience Consultant

    Interactive Media Team

    Paul Dawson – Head of IM

    Based in London, and client site as and when required

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location


    Established in 1991, Conchango has been voted Europe’s Number 1 Web Design Agency for 2006 (http://www.conchango.com/Web/Shared/Documents/forrester%20website%20design.pdf) and has an impressive list of blue chip and international brand clients including M&S, Tesco, Boots, HMV, Lloyds TSB, Bank of Ireland, Kensington Mortgages, Chevron, Virgin Mobile and Virgin Atlantic to name a few. Conchango provides clients with competitive advantage by helping them improve business results through innovative use of technology.

    www.conchango.com

    http://blogs.conchango.com/

     

    This role will provide the opportunity to work in a fast moving, creative and challenging environment building world class interactive digital solutions. This person will typically be working as part of a multi-skilled team including project management, strategic, technical and creative design personnel looking at all aspects of the solution.

    We need people that passionately believe that the end user should be placed at the core of the project universe.  That person will be able to relate and engage the end users on all projects, encouraging honest and realistic input and feedback on legacy systems, concepts, designs and prototypes.

    We need people that can, and will, think on their feet.  This person is happy to be exposed to new industries and business situations.  This person is refreshed and excited by the challenge of an exponential learning curve. 

    On a daily basis you will be expected to produce quality work that pushes the boundaries and decisions that you are required to make may not be covered by a detailed chapter in a guru’s lifestyle brochure.  You will need to be capable of creating an experience that meets and exceeds the rule of best practice but also creates a new and improved benchmark for our others in our industry.

    We need people that can ‘walk the walk’ and ‘talk the talk’ with the smartest marketing executives and technology specialists. This person will need to understand and sympathise with technical boundaries but is able and willing to think outside of these constraints; pushing and driving the entire team to design, develop and deliver a truly satisfying user experience.

    Duties and Responsibilities

    ·         User Experience Expert - able to design the information architecture and user interaction for complex and highly branded interactive digital solutions.

    ·         Client facing - able to communicate effectively at a high level in client organisations, be able to document and present work on their own.

    ·         Strong project skills - able to put together presentable user & process flows and wireframes and to contribute to other project documentation such as functional specifications.

    ·         Excellent end user interaction - able to work with end users in test or interview environments to carry out research, or testing on paper or working prototypes.

    Essential Qualifications and Experience

    ·         Experience in the field, or a formal background in one or more of the following;

      • Cognitive Psychology
      • User Interaction Design
      • HCI & Usability Principles
      • Ergonomics
      • Research or Testing Methodologies

    ·         A great track record and a passion for creating digital experiences

    ·         A detailed understanding of the principles, techniques and legislation associated with accessibility of interactive media

    ·         An excellent understanding of the technology required to build interactive applications on the web or other media

    ·         An understanding and empathy with branding and marketing

    Desirable Skills

    ·         Experience in the Retail, CPG, Financial Services or Energy market

    ·         Detailed understanding of RIA technologies

    ·         Knowledge and experience of internet trends

    ·         Knowledge of UML

    Required Competencies

    • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
    • To be able to establish rapport and good working relationships with clients
    • Ability and willingness to learn new technologies
    • Good documentation skills
    • Team player
    • A “can-do” attitude
    • Ability to multi-task and prioritise
    • Travel throughout the UK is an integral part of the job as you will be working on customer sites during elements of each project

    If you would like to be notified in the future about vacancies here at Conchango then please subscribe to our RSS feed or click the button below to have notifications sent straight to your inbox.

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    Regards

    Michelle & Danni

    Conchango UK Recruitment Team

  • Fed up working with old technologies?

    Now you don't have to...

    Position

    .Net Consultant

    Technology Team

    Iyas AlQasem, Director of Technology

    Egham, London, Client Site

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location

    Conchango is the leading UK provider of technology solutions for business opportunities. We are a Microsoft Gold partner in 7 competencies, and are the only UK independent consultancy to belong to Microsoft’s exclusive Partner Advisory Councils for four disciplines. We have also won European and Global awards from Microsoft for implementations on the Microsoft platform.

    We are looking to further deepen our Microsoft development team with consultant developers with a passion for the technology. Primarily this role will provide .Net expertise on a number of our client projects. The successful candidate will

    ·         bring passion to our team,

    ·         work independently and part of a team,

    ·         assist in the analysis and design, construction, testing and implementation of .NET Win Form and Web Form applications,

    ·         be involved in the construction of the Presentation, Business and Data layers,

    ·         assist in architecting Microsoft Application solutions,

    ·         provide consultancy on Microsoft technologies

    ·         take an active role in communities (internal interest groups) to assist in:

    o    working to improve Conchango’s development service offerings and

    o    input into improving practices and procedures.

    Essential Qualifications and Experience

    The ideal candidate will have at commercial development experience building enterprise applications on Microsoft technologies including commercial work with the .NET framework.

    Required skills

    • Commercial development experience building Web Form applications and or Win Form applications on the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 / 1.1 / 2.0
    • A Detailed understanding of Internet technologies.
    • Knowledge of N-Tier architectures, scalability and integration issues.
    • Detailed working knowledge of Relational Databases (SQL Server 7/2000/2005, Oracle 8)
    • Detailed knowledge of XML
    • An understanding of Web Services,
    • A thorough understanding of development practices such as source code control and change management, documentation.
    • Understanding and exposure to XP development techniques such as unit testing, test driven development, continuous integration
    • Understanding of development methodologies and processes
    • Familiarity/awareness of Object Oriented architectures and approaches

    Desirable Skills

    • Experience of Agile software development methods.
    • Knowledge of any the following .Net Server products such as ; Biztalk, Content Management Server, Commerce Server, Host Integration Server, SharePoint Portal Server
    • Knowledge of Security issues and coding best practices

    Required Competencies

    ·         A passion for delivering quality software solutions in a fast paced environment

    ·       Excellent investigative and problem solving abilities

    ·       Professional Development approach

    ·       Take ownership and responsibility

    ·       Eye for detail and quality

    ·       Flexible

    ·       Self starter

    ·       Works well within a team or individually

    ·       Must be able to manage own time successfully

    ·       Excellent communication skills, at both a technical and non technical level.

    ·       Ability to Communicate and present to clients.

    ·       Desire to broaden knowledge and expand skills


    If you would like to be notified in the future about vacancies here at Conchango then please subscribe to our RSS feed or click the button below to have notifications sent straight to your inbox.

    Windows Live Alerts

    Regards

    Michelle & Danni

    Conchango UK Recruitment Team

  • Testing, testing, one, two, three...

    Calling all Experienced Web Testers, come and join Conchango!

    Position

    Senior Test Analyst

    Technology

    Iyas AlQasem

    Egham or London or Client Site

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location

    The test analyst is a key member of our project teams, working closely with business analysts, developers, projects managers and the client to ensure that solutions delivered by Conchango are of the highest quality.  Due to an increasing demand in testing activities including movement into business intelligence and infrastructure projects, this team are looking to expand.

    Duties and Responsibilities

    Working on various projects taking both a test lead role and test analyst role as dictated by project requirements, the role will include:

    ·         Working with business analysts and technical leads to review project documentation such as functional requirements and technical specifications.

    ·         Creating and reviewing test strategies and plans, working with project teams, clients and third parties to agree a consistent approach to testing and to identify risks and dependencies.

    ·         Identifying test conditions from project documentation and developing test cases and test scripts to cover those conditions.

    ·         Manage and perform testing, recording results and where appropriate performing initial root cause investigation.

    ·         Defect tracking and management, working with development teams to identify root cause and resolve issues, working with clients during UAT defect resolution.

    ·         Update project manager with status of testing / issues on a regular basis (both informal communication and written reports)

    ·         Liaising with clients and providing testing advice and support.

    ·         Managing the configuration management and deployment procedures for releasing code to test and live environments.

    Essential Qualifications and Experience

    The ideal candidate will come from a software testing background having made a decision to specialise in software testing.  Ability to learn quickly is of more relevance than knowledge of a specific technology set as the successful candidate will work on a variety of technologies.

     Required skills

    • Commercial experience in manual software testing.
    • Experience of the software testing lifecycle including functional testing, integration testing, UAT.
    • Experience of identifying test conditions, creating test plans and test cases/scripts from project documentation.
    • Experience of performing testing and working with development teams on issue resolution.
    • Good experience of testing and development processes and techniques.
    • Good understanding of common technologies such as internet applications, databases, browsers etc.
    • Ability to communicate effectively at technical and business levels, negotiation skills.
    • Thorough and accurate with good attention to detail
    • Able to work effectively and to tight deadlines.
    • Experience of relational databases to the point of being able to form queries.

    Desirable Skills

    • ISEB foundation certificate in software testing.
    • Experience of non functional testing such as performance, load or security testing.
    • Knowledge of key internet technologies such as HTTP, TCP/IP, DNS, Firewalls etc.
    • Knowledge of any of Sharepoint, Commerce Server or content managements would be beneficial.
    • Experience of testing Data Warehouse or infrastructure solutions.

    Required Competencies

    ·         Enthusiastic and quick learner

    ·       Must be able to manage own time successfully, prioritise effectively and meet tight deadlines.

    ·       Methodical and structured approach

    ·       Take ownership and responsibility for quality

    ·       Self starter

    ·       Works well on their own or within a team

    ·       Excellent communication skills, at both a technical and non technical level.


    If you would like to be notified in the future about vacancies here at Conchango then please subscribe to our RSS feed or click the button below to have notifications sent straight to your inbox.

    Windows Live Alerts

    Regards

    Michelle & Danni

    Conchango UK Recruitment Team

  • Application Support Consultants with skills in .Net, J2EE or BI required....

    ...to look after some of our cutting edge solutions for our blue chip clients.

    Position

    Application Support Consultant

    Technology Service Delivery

    Linda Pakuls

    Primarily Egham, although London Office and Client Site as required.

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location

    Application support is organized into pools of expertise and the analyst will be assigned to one. Support is provided to client installations and an analyst may be expected to understand and support several installations.

    Application support analyst is responsible for responding to issues escalated by client named contacts when an incident has occurred that impacts service to the client’s users. The level of service offered varies by contract, but is typically level 3, following the standard ITIL problem management process to control the problem, provide work around or quick fix to Incident Management for restore of service, root cause identification and permanent fixes.

    The role encompasses the standard ITIL change management, processing corrections from problem management, proactive preventative maintenance and coordinating small works enhancement cycles that evolve the application for the client.

    Job level is determined by experience and skills, and the ability of the analyst to identify and resolve the incident within SLA and how much support he/she would require to do that.

    Principal Accountabilities

    1.    Problem Management

    Find the root cause or errors and potential errors and devise corrections and/or work around until a correction can be implemented, within the published SLAs. Keep client informed of progress and record status progress in the problem management log through to closure.

    2.    Change Management

    Co-ordinate the creation of scope for each evolution of change from the corrective fixes from problem management, proactive improvements to prevent incidents and small works prioritised enhancements from the client, maintaining a balance between the need for change and the potential failures from change.

    3.    Release Management

    Co-ordinate the release of changes to ensure a reliable production environment delivering high quality services to clients.

    4.    New Installations

    Manage the handover between project teams and support teams, and learn about new project delivery and client environments as projects deliver solutions.

     Profile

    1.     Technology

    This varies by the solutions platforms and would currently be one of the 3 key pools of expertise:

    Business Intelligence

    • ETL, RDBMS, T-SQL, MDX, Data-Modeling
    • SQL Server, DTS and Analysis Services (2000),  
    • SSIS,  SSAS, SSRS (2005)
    • Reporting tools: Proclarity, Panorama, Business Objects, Crystal
    • A working knowledge of one or more of the following databases: Oracle, DB2, MySQL or MS SQL Server, together with good SQL skills.
    • Understanding of object oriented concepts and UML notation.

    Desirable BI knowledge

    • Cognos
    • Hyperion

    Web solutions - .Net

    • A working knowledge of one or more of the following relational databases: Oracle (v8 or later), DB2, MySQL or MS SQL Server (v7/2000 or later), together with good SQL skills.
    • Understanding of object oriented concepts and UML notation.
    • Version control systems such as CVS, Visual SourceSafe, or equivalent

    ·         Commercial development/support experience of WebForm and WinForm applications on the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 using C#.

    ·         Commercial development/support experience of applications utilising Biztalk 2004 and Commerce Server 2002 and Internet technologies

    ·         Knowledge of N-Tier architectures, scalability and integration issues.

    Desirable .NET knowledge

    ·         XML/XSLT.

    ·         Web Services.

    Web solutions – J2EE

    ·         Solid core Java programming skills – J2SE 1.3.x, 1.4.x and 5.0

    ·        Experience with J2EE development (1.3 or 1.4) including: EJBs, Servlets, JSPs and JDBC.

    ·        MVC frameworks such as Struts

    ·         Web technologies including: Javascript, CSS, HTML, XHTML, XML

    • A working knowledge of one or more of the following: BEA WebLogic Server, IBM WebSphere, JBoss, Tomcat or equivalent platform.
    • A working knowledge of one or more of the following development tools: JBuilder, Eclipse / WSAD, Netbeans, JDeveloper, or equivalent IDE
    • Version control systems such as CVS, Visual SourceSafe, or equivalent
    • Project build tools such as Ant and Maven.
    • A working knowledge of one or more of the following databases: Oracle, DB2, MySQL or MS SQL Server, together with good SQL skills.
    • Understanding of object oriented concepts and UML notation.

    Desirable J2EE knowledge

    ·         Sun Java Certification

    • Deployment knowledge for one of the previously detailed J2EE application platforms.

    ·         XML/XSLT parsers, XPath, XMLBeans

    ·         Jakarta libraries such as Log4J, Commons, Axis and JUnit

    ·         JMS and message queues such as IBM's MQ Series or equivalents.

    ·         Knowledge or experience in integrating J2EE solutions with legacy mainframe systems.

    ·         Knowledge of J2EE vendor platform suites:  BEA, IBM, or Oracle.

    ·         Knowledge or experience of Java based commercial e-commerce solutions, e.g. Blue Martini, Interwoven, Broadvision, ATG Dynamo.

    ·         Experience with developing solutions that incorporate content management systems technology, e.g. Tridion, Interwoven, Blue Martini

    ·         Hands-on experience with Unix based systems (Solaris, HPUX, BSD, Linux) including Perl and bash scripting

    ·         Knowledge of object-relational mapping tools an advantage..

    2.     Experience                               

    • Experience in applications development: 0-2 years for level 1, 3-5 years for level 2, 6-10 years for level 3
    • Experience in applications support: 0-2 years for level 1, 3-5 years for level 2, 6-10 years for level 3
    • For BI: strong experience in data modeling or data administration. Be able to troubleshoot data mapping and corruption issues.
    • ITIL experience and understanding preferable

    3.    Skills

    • Ability and willingness to learn new technologies, on own initiative.
    • Logical approach and excellent problem solving skills.
    • Good technical writing and presentation skills an advantage.
    • Excellent customer-facing skills.
    • Good listening and communication skills.
    • Ability to multi-task and prioritise.
    • Be able to learn, understand and re-use existing components – which may be developed in-house, purchased or open source.

    4.    Culture

    • Team player
    • A “can-do” attitude.
    • Ambitious
    • Change agent
    • Uses initiative
    • Self-motivated
    • Pre-pared to travel around UK

    If you would like to be notified in the future about vacancies here at Conchango then please subscribe to our RSS feed or click the button below to have notifications sent straight to your inbox.

    Windows Live Alerts

    Regards

    Michelle & Danni

    Conchango UK Recruitment Team

  • Do you have a passion for User Interface Development and Rich Internet Applications?

    If so read on...

    Position

    User Interface Developer

    Technology Team/Interactive media team

    Iyas AlQasem, Director of Technology

    London & Surrey offices plus client sites

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location

    Conchango is Europe’s leading Web Agency (Forrester Wave 2006) and the UK’s biggest independent technology and business consultancy. We work on all platforms but particularly dominate the market for Microsoft technology in the UK. We are a Microsoft Gold partner in 7 disciplines, and are the only UK independent consultancy to belong to Microsoft’s exclusive Partner Advisory Councils for four disciplines. We have also won European and Global awards from Microsoft for implementations on the Microsoft platform.

    www.conchango.comwww.conchango.comwww.conchango.com 

    We are looking to further deepen our front-end development team with consultants with a passion for User Interface Development and Rich Internet Applications. This role provides the opportunity to work in a fast moving, creative and challenging environment with some great and well known brands, bridging Conchango’s formidable technical teams and market-leading interactive media design team. This person will typically be working as part of a multi-skilled Agile team including project management, creative, user experience experts, strategic and technical people.

    The successful candidate should

    ·         bring passion, experience and energy to our team,

    ·         assist in the full lifecycle of implementing cutting edge Web and/or  Windows Client Applications,

    ·         be involved in the architecting and construction of the Presentation, Business and Data layers,

    ·         take an active role in communities (internal interest groups) to assist in:

    o    working to improve Conchango’s development service offerings and

    o    input into improving practices and procedures.

     Essential Qualifications and Experience

    The ideal candidate will have commercial development experience specifically working on the client side of applications. An appreciation of good design for applications is beneficial.

    Required skills

    • Hands on HTML/CSS development skills
    • A detailed understanding of the capabilities and limitations of emerging web technologies:

    ·          JavaScript

    ·          XHTML

    ·          HTML DOM

    ·          XML

    ·          CSS 2.0 / Browser Specific Issues

    ·          AJAX Technologies & Frameworks

    • A thorough understanding of accessibility and usability guidelines, their effects on design and build and how to implement them

    Desirable Skills

    • Use of graphics packages such as Photoshop and Illustrator
    • Use of Flash
    • Appreciation of design and page layout
    • Understanding of other delivery methods other than browsers
    • Knowledge of Content Management applications
    • Experience of .NET or Java development
    • Understanding of Relational Databases (SQL Server 2000/2005, Oracle 8)
    • Understanding of development methodologies and processes
    • Experience of Agile software development methods
    • Experience of “Classic” Windows UI Development
    • Experience of Windows Presentation Foundation Technologies (XAML & WPF/e)
    • Use of Microsoft Expression Tools

    Required Competencies

    ·       An eye for detail and quality, even within fast paced environments

    ·       A professional development approach

    ·       Able to take ownership and responsibility

    ·       Excellent investigative and problem solving abilities

    ·       Flexible approach and a self starter

    ·       Works well within a team and individually

    ·       Must be able to manage own time successfully

    ·       Excellent communication skills at a technical and non technical level

    ·       Ability to communicate and present to clients

    ·       Desire to broaden knowledge, expand skills and adapt to new technologies

     


    If you would like to be notified in the future about vacancies here at Conchango then please subscribe to our RSS feed or click the button below to have notifications sent straight to your inbox.

    Windows Live Alerts

    Regards

    Michelle & Danni

    Conchango UK Recruitment Team

  • Do you want the chance to work alongside 2 SQL Server MVPs?

    Here is your chance...

    Position

    Microsoft BI Consultant

    Technology Team

    Iyas AlQasem – Director of Technology Consulting

    Egham or London and Client Sites

    Department

    Reporting to

    Location

    Conchango is the UK’s leading independent innovator and implementer of business technology solutions for large blue chip clients including M&S, HMV, Virgin Atlantic, Lloyds of London and Chevron. We pride ourselves on our passion for delivery, for technology and for our people. We are Microsoft’s leading independent partner across a variety of areas, are members of their global select Partner Advisory Council for 4 disciplines (including Business Intelligence) – the only independent consultancy in Europe with this accolade, and have 7 Microsoft Gold Certifications.

    www.conchango.com

    http://blogs.conchango.com/

    We have deployed some of the largest and most complex SQL Server solutions, a fact which has been acknowledged by Microsoft and their own consultants. For example, on one occasion Microsoft asked us to run a project for them in the US to demonstrate the capability of Analysis Services in 64 bit SQL Server to scale to a 6 billion row fact table, and on another invited us to run and deliver a leading edge Service Oriented BI project for the 7th largest company in the world.

    Conchango was the only non-US consultancy invited by Microsoft in Redmond to join its inaugural Business Intelligence Partner Advisory Council (PAC). We are now the longest serving PAC members and are high scoring presenters at PASS. This means we have very early visibility of Microsoft’s direction in SQL Server and BI, and play an active role in influencing this, and have access to the most up to date releases, and we are getting good visibility of Katmai already.

    This is an opportunity to work alongside some of the best Microsoft BI implementation consultants. They include:

    ·       the first SQL Server OLAP MVP awarded by Microsoft back in 1998;

    ·       4 current Microsoft MVPs; including 2 SQL Server MVPs

    ·       the author of the most widely read non-Microsoft blog on SQL Server Integration Services;

    ·       BI teams that have twice won the Microsoft’s best BI project implemented on SQL Server

    We are looking for a Microsoft BI Consultant with experience in delivering data warehouse and business intelligence solutions with blue chip organisations. This is an excellent opportunity to progress existing skills with a leading Microsoft Gold Partner with excellent career prospects and would suite an experienced developer who wants to move into Consulting as a career or an existing consultant..

    Duties and Responsibilities

    • Participation in development teams to deliver data warehouse and business intelligence solutions utilising the Microsoft BI platform and other leading BI technology;
    • Data modelling based on business requirements, and optimisation of data models for business intelligence implementations
    • Maintenance of existing data warehouse and business intelligence implementations (involving SQL Server 2000 tools)
    • Communication with technical and business staff in technical and plain English language;
    • Documentation of all work carried out (e.g. data models, configurations, and setup);
    • Occasional business analysis;
    • Assistance in preparation of project proposals, including client and vendor meetings;
    • Input into the Conchango best practice for BI projects.

    Essential Qualifications and Experience

    • Solid experience as a SQL Server 2005 BI developer

    • Development experience in team environment with mid to high-end projects from inception through delivery with competency in most of the following areas;
      • Logical and physical database design experience.
      • SQL Server 2005 RDBMS database development including T-SQL programming.
      • ETL implementation using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)
      • BI presentation delivery utilising SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) or other BI tools including ProClarity

    • Client facing and thinking strategically from client’s perspective to deploy correct solutions.

    Desirable Qualifications and Experience

    • Knowledge of the complete Microsoft BI platform would be advantageous, including:
      • Business Scorecard Manager
      • Performance Point
      • BI capabilities of Office 2007
      • SharePoint 2007
    • Leading BI & Performance Management technologies, including any of:
      • Panorama
      • MicroStrategy
      • Business Objects