Chris Barker 🐝
Principal Software Engineer (Mobile Apps), Speaker & Author
Hi, I’m Chris & I am a self- confessed Apple fan boy, revelling in a love affair for all things code with a particular passion for mobile app development.
A lifelong Spurs fan who loves to swim for recreation – (I’ve built my distance up to a mile…..but the Channel is a long way off yet!). I also share my joy for video gaming with my daughter, and she officially thinks I’m awesome!
In my spare time when I’m not playing video games, I enjoy attending local developer meet-ups and am currently the co-host of NSManchester. I have also spoken at a number of developer meet-ups and conferences. I also recently visited Malaga (Spain) to talk at their local mobile developers meet-up about accessibility in iOS apps.
In 2019 I signed up with Packt Publishing to write my first technical book Learn SwiftUI which was published in April 2020, in addition to my first publication I have co-authored a further two books with Packt.
Current Key Skills
- Swift
- Objective-C
- Kotlin
- Java
- Xcode
- Android Studio
- OO principles
- Git / GitFlow
- Scrum
- Agile
Jaguar Land Rover
Principal Software Manager (Mobile Apps)
September 2021 – Present
N Brown Group
Senior iOS Developer / iOS Tech Lead
October 2017 – September 2021
In 2017, I joined N Brown as Senior iOS developer as part of their newly formed Mobile App Squad. From the start I was heavily involved in the initial MVP project and was given the opportunity to work as part of a brand new squad in order to help shape the roadmap for our first in house mobile app.
In February 2018, we successfully delivered the JD Williams iOS app shortly followed by our other brands including Fashion World & Jacamo. In September 2018 we migrated our exiting outsourced Simply Be iOS app over to our own internal platform.
Upon a successful role as interim iOS Tech Lead, I was offered the full time position in 2019 where I also stood in for as an interim tech lead for the Android squad.
Since my appointment as iOS Tech Lead, we have on-boarded 2 further brands into our internal framework and are still maintaining a further 4 brands with an average App Store rating of 4.9.
Mobile Apps (N Brown Group)
2017 – present
JD Williams
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Simply Be
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Fashion World
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Jacamo
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Home Essentials
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Ambrose Wilson
Tech Lead & Senior iOS developer (Swift)
Openshadow Ltd (now MyStudioFactory – Paris)
Lead iOS Developer / CTO
September 2014 – September 2017
In 2014 an opportunity presented itself to move away from .net development and into iOS app development, where I took up a position of mobile app developer at Openshadow.
The fast paced environment, coupled with the rigorous deadlines of clients such as L’Oreal and Louis Vuitton, resulted in a rapid expansion of my working knowledge of mobile app development.
In 2016 I became their Lead iOS Developer. From here the position evolved into the role of CTO, overseeing all client projects for both iOS and Android platforms.
Working at Openshadow allowed me to secure a solid understanding and appreciation of agile development for multinational clients who have ever changing high demands.
Client Apps (Openshadow Ltd)
2013 – 2017
Louis Vuitton (LV Pass)
Lead iOS developer (Objective-C & Swift) & Android developer (Java)
L’Oréal (UV Patch)
Lead iOS developer (Objective-C & Swift)
L’Oréal (Shade Genius)
Lead iOS developer (Objective-C)
L’Oréal (Studio Pro)
Lead iOS developer (Objective-C)
RATP (monRER A)
iOS developer (Objective-C) & Android developer (Java)
British Trees (Woodland Trust)
Android developer (Java)
Personal Apps
September 2013 – Present
Howfen Radio
iOS (Swift/SwiftUI)
SpursWeb
iOS (Swift) Android (Kotlin)
GrandOldTeam
iOS (Swift) Android (Kotlin)
DubCNN
iOS (Objective-C & Swift)
Squares – Fruit Edition
iOS (Objective-C)