I am Rita and I joined Anglia Ruskin University in March 2006, after obtaining a First-Class Honours Degree in Business Information Systems at the University. My first role was as a Business Intelligence Developer, before moving onto an Application Analyst role and finally on to my current role of Senior Solutions Developer.
During these 16 years I have worked with SITS: Vision, which is a system designed for higher education to help manage all aspects of the student journey. In the beginning I was involved with support and report writing before moving into development. I have and continue to contribute to many interesting projects at various stages of the student lifecycle. I enjoy my current role as a developer and being part of the ASTRA development team.
Sharon
I am Sharon and I work in the SITS Development team.
I started at the University in 1994 as a Switchboard Operator and soon progressed through a multitude of roles such as Faculty Admin and Assessment until I eventually ended up in IT Services in 2010 as an Application Analyst. In 2020 I started my current position as a Senior Solutions Developer (SITS, known as ASTRA at ARU), working with an amazing team and haven't looked back. The reason I enjoy this role so much is that I am always learning and striving to make things better so no day is ever the same.
Currently, I am the only person in my team with children (although many of us have lots of pets) but the team are so supportive and understanding of the challenges I have juggling a work life balance with a family.
Abdel
Hi, I am Abdelrahman, and I work in the Solutions Development team.
I started working at ARU IT Services 2 years ago in the operations team specifically desktop and digital services.
In 2022 I completed my master’s degree in Computer Science and started my role as an Associate Solutions Developer.
I like working at ARU because it allows me to develop and deliver solutions and experiences that staff and students will benefit from. Having experienced both student and staff use of digital services now, I am able to bring this into the work I do. I feel supported and encouraged to perform well and the team are great.
Nadiim
I am Nadiim and I am a Senior Solutions Developer in the Core Development Team.
I joined ARU in 2015 after completing my Masters degree; starting off as an Assistant Applications Analyst and progressed to Senior Solutions Developer over the years. I specialise in C# development for identity management systems as well as data integrations.
I like working at ARU because it allows me to hone my developing skills while making a difference to staff and students.
Being in the Core Development Team means I get to work with various other teams both within and outside of IT and means I luckily work with some very knowledgeable people who don’t mind taking the time to give support when needed.
Adam
I am Adam and I head up the Solution Development teams.
After around 16 years of working in the private sector, for some blue-chip companies, I started working at ARU in 2014 as a senior solution developer and progressed my way up to now looking after the development teams we have.
We look after 3 principal areas within Solution Development:
Student Information
Digital Experience
Core Development
Using a variety of technologies, tools, and practices - C# .Net, SQL, Node, React, Scrum/Agile, SharePoint, Power Platforms, to name a few, we develop and deliver technical solutions to assist in the day-to-day running of ARU, ranging from very large systems to very small and discrete integrations.
I really enjoy working at ARU, for the variety it gives, the people we work with, and the vibrancy of a busy university with many students, both on and off campus.
Everyone here is passionate and committed to their job, delivering great and innovative solutions and value, which makes it a great place to work.
Ben
Hi, I am Ben, I started working at the University in 2008 and joined the IT department in 2014. I enjoy working at ARU, I am part of a close-knit team and outside of this collaborate with a broad mix of staff and students on different projects that keep things interesting.
Working in ASTRA development I enjoy applying problem solving to real life scenarios and get satisfaction from knowing the job I have done has helped colleagues or improved the student experience.
Matt Adams
I am Matt and I lead ITS Architecture and Technical Business Analysis teams.
In the past I have worked in a wide range of industries both in the public and private sector and have been working for ARU for just over a year. I have recently been promoted to Enterprise Architect for the University.
During the past year we have been developing the architecture function, aligning with standard architectural frameworks where it is applicable to the function. We are the design authority for solutions implemented at the university, both student and staff systems.
The variety of work we get involved with is one of the most appealing parts of the role, with no day the same.
During my time here it is very evident that Anglia Ruskin values the individual, and specifically the balance between your work and home life. I have also been pleasantly surprised by the supportive culture within the IT services team.
Jola Uzolnik
Hi, my name is Jola, I have joined IT Projects Office in 2021 as an Associate IT Project Manager, and sometime later moved to the IT Project Manager role.
This position is a complete shift in my career as I came from the Hospitality industry. I was previously working in different management roles in various places. This provided me with enough skills and experience to be considered a suitable candidate for the role. And I cannot express how happy I am to be given this opportunity.
I really like working at ARU because I am part of an inclusive and very supportive team, and we are all making a difference in the staff and student experience every day.
ARU offers a wide range of staff development paths, which is another reason that I like it here so much. I have already completed various pieces of training and courses provided by the university, including PRINCE2 for example.
In January 2023 I will begin the BSc (Hons) Project Management Degree Apprenticeship and really looking forward to gaining more skills, and knowledge and opening myself up to even more career opportunities here.
Elsa
I am Elsa and I lead projects within ARU as an IT project manager.
Joining ARU, having worked for more than 12 years in various industry sectors including technology (Microsoft), broadcasting (BBC) and consultancy with large, well-known clients in financial services, telecommunications, Higher Education was a new sector for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed both the unique challenges I have faced delivering projects in ARU as well as the fantastic breadth of work that I have the opportunity to work on.
I am a keen ambassador for agile and continuous improvement practices, learning, setting up best practices and adopting the right methodologies and platforms. I am passionate about giving back and enjoy mentoring colleagues. ARU provides me with opportunities to develop on these fronts along with the satisfaction of working on impactful changes for staff and students.
With a young family, flexibility to juggle work and home responsibilities is a high priority for me. The hybrid working within ARU allows me to balance being at home along with the camaraderie that comes with meeting colleagues in office.
Matt
Hi, I am Matt - I lead the Multimedia Infrastructure team at ARU. I started here in 2011 as a Media Technician, loaning equipment to students for use in their courses. Later, while completing an MSc in IT with the University I transitioned to my current team before going on to the Lead post in 2018. We manage delivery of IT installations in physical spaces, such as classrooms, meeting rooms etc. This meant through Covid lockdowns, we still had a regular site presence to complete works, ready for the inevitable return to site.
The role is highly varied, and means interacting with staff from all areas and at all levels of the business - both professional services and academia.
ARU is a great place to work, as the University really understand how to motivate staff, offering a wide programme of staff social events and wellbeing opportunities. When due to a series of personal issues I needed to request changes to my working practice, an open and honest conversation with my line manager allowed me to try a variety of new working patterns until we found one that was mutually agreeable. The point is, we were allowed to try something, without being sure it would succeed.
We are also empowered to make full use of the services and facilities of the University, including access to wide ranging training programmes (both digital and in-person), the library, gyms, bitesize training sessions, and even whole degree courses - where appropriate and agreed (I recently completed an MSc in Psychology...)
Mladen
Hi, I’m Mladen – currently Lead Cybersecurity Analyst at ARU.
I first started my career at ARU after studying here. As someone who has always had an interest in computers and IT, I had a good perspective of that from the students’ point of view. This helped me a lot when I started on a contract basis as a Desktop Refresh Migration Analyst before joining the Systems team as a Graduate Systems Engineer. By then, I’d seen that I could learn a lot of exciting technology at ARU while working on big projects and making a difference to people’s experience with IT. This continued and I was able to progress to a Senior Systems Engineer role in which I still had the opportunity to work on exciting new projects that had a positive impact on thousands of customers. As this was happening, I moved to a newly created team focusing on cloud systems and end- user technology. I continued enjoying the varied work, learning, and collaborating with good people.
In the course of my career and hobbies that involved learning how different technologies work on a deeper level, I picked up a natural interest in cybersecurity. This, combined with personal development opportunities at ARU allowed me to progress my career to Lead Cybersecurity Analyst. I am glad to say that I’ve always been encouraged to develop and progress at ARU, and remain an asset to the organisation. I can confidently say that it is a great place to learn while doing interesting work.
