James Stocks
Stafford, UK ∙ stocksy@stocksy.uk ∙ linkedin.com/in/jamesstocksinfra
Head of Infrastructure with over twenty years’ experience across networking, systems and information security in the public and private sectors. I lead an infrastructure team supporting around 150 production servers across two data centres, and am accountable for the company’s migration to AWS. I have a consistent track record of bringing environments into compliance with demanding standards, including ISO/IEC 27001, PCI DSS and the PSN Code of Connection, and of keeping services running smoothly through periods of significant organisational change.
Leadership: team building and recruitment, line management, stakeholder management, budget management, post-acquisition integration, supplier management.
Security & compliance: ISO/IEC 27001, PCI DSS (SAQ-D), information security policy, patch management, business continuity and disaster recovery planning, vulnerability scanning (Nessus, OpenVAS, OpenSCAP).
Platforms: Windows Server, Active Directory and IIS; Debian and Red Hat Linux; Apache, PostgreSQL, Apache Cassandra, RabbitMQ; Proxmox and VMware; OMD/Checkmk monitoring; Subversion; Microsoft 365.
Cloud: leading an on-premises to AWS migration programme delivered with Terraform and GitHub.
Networking: IP routing and switching, DNS, PKI, TLS, IPsec, MPLS, load balancing, firewalls; extensive Cisco background.
Automation: Ansible, PowerShell Desired State Configuration, configuration management and infrastructure as code.
Promoted to lead the infrastructure function following Cox Automotive’s acquisition of Codeweavers, succeeding the former Head of Infrastructure and company director.
Grew the team from two to five engineers, responsible for recruitment, line management and professional development.
Responsible for tracking and managing c. £300,000 annual data centre operating spend.
Accountable for the migration of around 150 servers in two on-premises data centres to a new AWS platform, leading the team delivering the build as infrastructure as code with Terraform and GitHub, and the decommissioning of legacy infrastructure.
Oversaw the retirement of Microsoft SQL Server in favour of PostgreSQL.
Led post-acquisition IT integration, including migration from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 and the transition of staff from locally managed endpoints to Cox Automotive corporate devices.
Retained hands-on ownership of core infrastructure, including Active Directory, firewalls, switching, monitoring and configuration management.
Led the business to its first successful PCI DSS SAQ-D assessment, driving remediation across infrastructure, policy and process.
Achieved and maintained ISO/IEC 27001 certification through ongoing audit cycles.
Introduced new information security policies and a formal patching regime, and fully documented business continuity and disaster recovery procedures.
Responsible for office physical security systems, including UniFi wireless and CCTV, and Paxton Net2 access control.
Maintained a mirrored production platform of around 150 servers across two data centres: .NET applications on 56 bare-metal Windows Server/IIS hosts behind an Apache load-balancing tier, with PostgreSQL and a 36-node Apache Cassandra cluster on Debian Linux.
Supported around 80 Windows Server development environments and a non-production platform for the engineering teams.
Brought server configuration under proper management using PowerShell Desired State Configuration for Windows and Ansible for Linux, replacing manual changes with repeatable, version-controlled builds.
Administered Active Directory, firewalls and network switching across both data centres.
Ran supporting services including OMD (Checkmk/Nagios) monitoring, RabbitMQ messaging, Subversion source control and Proxmox virtualisation.
Led the company’s remote support capability, working with colleagues in the UK and South Africa as the escalation point for a large MSP and its customers.
Oversaw 24/7 support and maintenance of a multi-vendor network spanning Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
Core development team member maintaining and improving Capgemini’s enterprise integration platform.
Designed and implemented systems allowing the platform to operate in highly restricted, audited networks such as those in the financial sector, using PKI and IPsec to provide secure customer access.
Used Nessus, OpenVAS and OpenSCAP to verify patching and hardening.
Shared responsibility for the LAN and WAN supporting thousands of staff across the Council and its remote sites: security, design, capacity planning, routing and switching, MPLS and VoIP in a predominantly Cisco environment.
Delivered solutions while maintaining compliance with the PSN Code of Connection and PCI DSS for an organisation holding large volumes of sensitive data.
Saved the Council £100,000 in twelve months by adopting open source alternatives to proprietary products.
Implemented configuration management with Ansible, intrusion detection and prevention, high-availability firewalls, web filtering, monitoring, load balancing and email systems.
Core network overhaul: two-year project replacing the Council’s core with a high-availability Cisco 6509-E VSS design, gigabit access layer and 10-gigabit data centre network.
Public and staff WiFi: designed and deployed WiFi for up to 5,000 users across 50 sites, helping the Council gain PSN accreditation at the first attempt.
Expanded the Council’s WAN and LAN, replacing legacy ISDN links with SDSL, and specified structured cabling and managed contractors.
Introduced VMware ESX virtualisation, which became the Council’s standard server platform.
A-Levels, King Edward VII Sixth Form College: Chemistry, Biology, Information Technology 2001
GCSEs, King Edward VII Upper School: ten at grades A–C 1999