Picture of Alex Reed

Alex Reed

About Me

Having achieved a First Class Honours degree in Software Engineering, I am now a Graduate Software Engineer at the BBC.

I have proven experience developing bespoke software and digital tools to solve real problems. I thrive in high pressure situations, and my personable nature and communication skills allow me to get the best out of people. I’m a very fast learner with an analytical mind and a fine attention to detail, and I pride myself on my ability to deliver outcomes that work.

During my time at university, I learned and strengthened my knowledge of a number of languages, including C++, C#, Java, Python, JavaScript, Dart, SQL, HTML, CSS, PHP, and Dafny. I gained an understanding of not just how each language works but how they can be used individually and together to provide solutions for complex, real-world problems. Having learnt these languages with ease, I know that I could easily adapt and pick up any new language in very little time.

Technical Skills

Good foundation

Python
Java
Dart
SQL

Intermediate

C++
JavaScript
C#
CSS
PHP

Advanced

HTML
VBA

Experience

Graduate Software Engineer

BBC

Sep 2023 - Present

  • As part of the Software Engineering Graduate Scheme, I am working for six months each in four different teams over the first two years of my time at the BBC.
  • In my current team, I am working on maintaining and developing the APIs and infrastructure that power most of the BBC's core websites and apps. This primarily utilises JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, and AWS.

Design and Marketing Co‑ordinator

Screentek International / Identity Furniture

Dec 2015 - Aug 2020

Freelance Photographer

Alex Reed Photography

Apr 2017 ‑ Jan 2020

Owner

Alex Reed Event Timing

May 2015 ‑ Jan 2020

Education

Software Engineering, BSc (Hons)

University of Central Lancashire

Sep 2020 ‑ Jul 2023

  • First Class Honours
  • I was honoured to be given the School Award for Exceptional Computing Community Engagement.
  • In my first year, I relished the opportunity to learn C# and C++ for the first time and one of the highlights was when I created a virus and anti-virus in C++ which was a great challenge. I also created a music streaming web app using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP, which I was very proud of and it earned me 100% in the assessment. I particularly enjoyed using my teamwork and collaboration skills in the ‘Computing Challenge’ module when I worked in a small team to design, develop, and market our own ‘hide-and-seek’ game for Android devices.
  • In my second year, I expanded my knowledge of C++ and created a fully objected-oriented version of the game ‘Monopoly’ which utilised polymorphism and full memory management and I was delighted to receive a mark of 100% for this piece of work. Another assignment I enjoyed was one in which I deployed a network using Windows Server/Active Directory and this included user management tools created using Python, HTML, and CSS. I also worked as part of a small team to investigate the security of instant messaging apps and I enjoyed using my leadership, motivation, and communication skills to ensure we worked together effectively and achieved our objectives.
  • My final year focused on the specification & verification of software; the theory and implementation of concurrency (mainly using Java); distributed systems (mainly using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, node.js, and JSON); and artificial intelligence & data science (using Python).
  • In the second year, I was School President of the School of Computer Science. This role allowed me to use my leadership and communication skills as I managed the various course reps and chaired the Student-Staff Liaison meetings. It was an honour to be voted into this role and I’m proud of the changes we achieved.
  • I was also a PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) Leader in my second year, so I ran sessions for first year students to help them with their studies and university life. I enjoyed getting to further strengthen my mentoring and interpersonal skills.

A‑Levels

  • Maths
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Critical Thinking (AS)

GCSEs

  • Maths
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • English Language
  • English Literature
  • German
  • Economics
  • Geography
  • Religious Studies

Contact

Request my CV

Please get in touch to request a copy of my full CV.