Resume

Don Murray, P.Eng.

Don Murray, P.Eng. - PDF

Summary:

Dedicated Agile coach since 2013, and Agile practitioner since 2003, with deep expertise in implementing Scrum, Kanban, and Lean in software-intensive and non-software contexts. Software engineer with over 25 years of practice as a Scrum Master, architect, and developer in government auto insurance, telecommunications, oil & gas, SCADA, and equity trading. Experienced team leader, engineering mentor, and valuable team player; skilled trainer, communicator, and facilitator.

Highlights:

  • Agile coach with expertise in initiating impactful changes across organizational boundaries.

  • Trained 300 people on Agile and DevOps at Shaw as part of an enterprise Agile transformation.

  • Guest lecturer on Agile and Scrum, Information Design - Mount Royal University.

  • Coached adoption of BDD to decrease lead time while reducing defects on a system of over 900k set-top boxes.

  • Responsible Member – Software Engineering on Shaw’s Permit to Practice Engineering from 2014 to 2021.

  • APEGA Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) since 1997 and EngGeoMB P.Eng. since 2021.

Experience:

President and Owner, Hacken Agile Software Engineering Inc. (2021 – present)

  • Repairing the world of work by providing remote Agile coaching.

Scrum Master (contract), Manitoba Public Insurance (2021 – 2023)

  • Coached teams working in HR, finance, payroll, IT (Microsoft 365, Remedy, desktop support), and modernization.

  • Introduced flow metrics (cycle and lead time, WIP limits, item ageing) and enterprise-wide prioritization of work.

  • Developed high-trust relationships within and between teams.

  • Mentored Product Owners and Scrum Masters in Communities of Practice to maximize their understanding of Agile.

  • Pragmatically applied Scrum and Kanban practices in a SAFe organization.

Senior Agile Coach, Freedom Mobile (Shaw Communications) (2020 – 2021)

  • Coached senior leaders across the enterprise by understanding their goals and obstacles and offering context-specific guidance for their Agile transformation.

  • Developed Agile transformation plan and playbook for Shaw.

  • Guided the outsourcing of professional work products provided by APEGA-licensed firms.

Principal Consultant Engineer, Shaw Communications (2019 – 2020)

  • Facilitated the creation of self-sustaining, self-organizing teams that maximized the benefit of what they produced.

  • Coached teams for effectiveness in the face of disruptive change.

  • Provided Agile and Scrum consulting expertise to teams throughout Shaw.

  • Acted as a trusted advisor, collaborating with teams and individuals to discover ways they could continuously improve.

Principal Software Engineer, Shaw Communications (2013 – 2019)

  • Developed and provided a 9-hour introduction to Agile and DevOps for 300 people throughout Shaw.

  • Provided Agile coaching for multiple Scrum teams.

  • Introduced acceptance criteria, unit testing, and peer code reviews.

  • Developed Behaviour Driven Development framework for embedded JavaScript running on cable set-tops.

  • Scaled development to two cross-functional Scrum teams.

Senior Software Engineer, Shaw Communications (2009 – 2013)

  • Developed an Agile software engineering practice worth following based on a hybrid of Scrum and XP.

  • Introduced unit and integration testing, tooling for visual work tracking and peer code reviews.

  • Practical application of Agile in embedded software.

  • Arranged CSM and TDD training with Ron Jeffries and Chet Hendrickson.

Senior Software Architect, Shaw Communications (2009)

  • Transitioned the team from an ad-hoc process to Scrum.

  • Introduced weekly regression testing.

  • Mentored Engineers in Training.

Software Engineering Architect, Pason Systems (2007 – 2009)

  • Designed inter-site communication standards using JMS and HTTPS.

  • Expert in Linux, Perl, Regular Expressions, cfengine, and autonomics.

  • Performed design reviews, and code reviews.

  • Created and chaired weekly team meetings to improve collaboration.

  • Created branch management policies for parallel development, and release management.

  • Encouraged feature-based Agile releases based on user stories, emergent design, TDD, and refactoring.

  • Met weekly with other architects to share innovations and improve knowledge transfer.

  • Encouraged developers to continuously improve, and continuous improvement of the development process.

  • Created high-level designs for software update mechanism; system life cycle management; centralized management of a distributed fleet of Linux systems on land-based drilling rigs; 802.1x network using PPP over Ethernet.

  • Researched and selected CentOS 5 as a replacement for legacy Red Hat 7.2 installations.

Senior Software Engineer, Pason Systems (2001 – 2007)

  • Designed and developed a method for automated and unattended remote system upgrades over a VSAT network; a method for performing unattended transformations of 8GB MySQL databases; application for mass imaging Linux hard drives.

  • Designed back-end software components for backups, management of removable hard drives, and system upgrades.

  • Converted application deployment system from tar files to auto-generated RPMs.

  • Created coding and unit testing standards.

  • Key developer in conversion from DOS/QNX-based product to Linux servers with Windows 2000 clients.

  • Firmware programming for an Intel 8051 microcontroller in a hook load sensor.

  • Configured and administered a new CVS server, replacing Visual Source Safe.

  • Provided after-hours technical support for applications on drilling rigs.

Senior Programmer Analyst, EFA Software Services Ltd. (2000 – 2001)

  • C development (object-oriented), unit testing, QA, and maintenance for a high-performance equity trading engine.

  • Responsible for peer code reviews and technical documentation.

  • Created Perl productivity tools for developers.

Senior Systems Engineer, Neles Automation (now Schneider Electric) (1999 – 2000)

  • Designed and developed a real-time multithreaded Publish/Subscribe network layer in C++.

  • Co-engineered middleware interface for Colorado Springs Utilities.

  • Enhanced Chevron Pipeline’s leak detection application, to minimize false alarms.

  • On-site support of Colonial Pipelines' batch tracking and metering applications.

  • Project Leader for Marathon SCADA upgrade. Responsible for estimates, scope, and developer supervision.

Systems Engineer, Neles Automation (now Schneider Electric) (1996 – 1999)

  • Designed and implemented engineering calculations in C for hydraulic profiling application.

  • On-time delivery of temperature and pressure correction calculations for Kenya Pipeline Company.

  • Successful upgrade of an 18GB Sybase database, and Y2K remediation for Chevron Pipeline.

  • Coordinated monthly software releases of Liquid Management System applications.

Design Engineer, Engineered Air (1994 – 1996)

  • Designed finned-tube heat exchangers for HVAC equipment, and certified steam heating coils.

Education, Certification, and Memberships:

  • Applying Professional Kanban I (2022), Professional Scrum Master I (2021), and Certified Scrum Master (2010-2023).

  • Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba (1989-1993).

  • APEGA – Professional Engineer since 1997.

  • Calgary Agile Methods User Group (CAMUG).