Andrew Patterson

Senior Technical Specialist with over 15 years’ experience delivering multi-site IT expansion and transformation projects across retail stores, distribution centres (CDC environments) and corporate/treasury office locations. Proven track record leading end-to-end digital delivery for new site openings, live-site migrations and infrastructure upgrades across geographically dispersed locations.

Combines strong technical infrastructure expertise with project delivery, stakeholder management and budget planning capability. Experienced operating with high autonomy, balancing operational IT accountability with large-scale expansion programmes. Recognised for delivering business-critical projects against publicly announced deadlines while maintaining service stability across retail and enterprise environments.

• NVQ Level 3 – Information & Communication Technologies
• CompTIA A+ (Hardware & OS)
• CompTIA Network+
• Cisco Introduction to Switch & Router Configuration
• ITIL Foundations
• Situational Leadership (Ken Blanchard)
• Coaching & Change Management Training

End-to-End Digital Workstream Ownership | Multi-Site Expansion & Transformation | Go-Live Planning & Cutover Governance | Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Leadership | Risk Assessment & Mitigation | Vendor & Contractor Management | Recruitment & Technical Mentoring

Cisco & Aruba Networking | VLAN & Routing | Infrastructure Lifecycle Strategy | Cloud Transition & Modernisation | Retail, Distribution (CDC) & Corporate IT Environments | Endpoint & OS Support

CAPEX & OPEX Forecasting | Digital Budget Oversight (up to £2M Workstreams) | Resource & Travel Planning | Software Licence Optimisation | £125k Recurring Cost Reduction | SLA Governance

ServiceNow | Jira | Confluence | Change Management | Incident & Problem Management | High-Autonomy Multi-Site Operations

Senior Technical Specialist – Project & Service Delivery 

IKEA Ltd
2007 – Present

Responsible for digital delivery and IT service operations across 12 sites on the Island of Ireland, supporting over 1,000 users.

Project & Expansion Delivery (Primary Focus - 70%)

• Owned the digital delivery workstream within major expansion programmes (£10M+ total investment), overseeing digital budgets of up to £2M.
• Led end-to-end digital delivery for new site openings, live-store transformations and relocations across the Island of Ireland.
• Delivered complex live-site migrations without operational downtime.
• Managed digital CAPEX budgets of approximately £150k per large unit and annual OPEX budgets of approximately £90k.
• Coordinated third-party infrastructure vendors and contractors to meet fixed go-live milestones and publicly announced deadlines.
• Influenced go/no-go decisions during critical cutover and transition phases.
• Delivered global pilot initiatives, including cloud-based infrastructure transitions.
• Led cost-optimisation initiatives across infrastructure and service delivery, delivering savings of approximately £125k while maintaining operational stability.
• Balanced concurrent project delivery alongside full operational IT accountability across 12 active sites.
• Travelled extensively across geographically dispersed locations (70+ nights during peak delivery periods).

Service Operations & Infrastructure Leadership (30%)

• Own IT accountability for 12 operational sites across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
• Provide escalation-level technical leadership and complex issue resolution.
• Lead lifecycle strategy and preventative maintenance planning.
• Oversee Cisco and Aruba network infrastructure.
• Ensure SLA adherence and operational stability across multi-site environments.
• Onboard and coach newly appointed Technical Support Specialists, conducting structured monthly performance and development reviews.
• Participate in recruitment processes, contributing to interview panels and hiring decisions.
• Allocate and coordinate workload across regional colleagues to balance project and operational priorities.
• Represent the regional technical function in cross-market and stakeholder forums.
• Act as recognised escalation point across multiple sites beyond direct assignment.

IT Sales & Support Technician IT Officer 

Roca Systems – Belfast
2005 – 2007

• Delivered on-site IT support to public and private sector clients.
• Conducted network surveys and managed infrastructure upgrade rollouts.
• Diagnosed and resolved hardware and connectivity issues.

IT Technician South Eastern HSC Trust - Placement
2004 – 2005

• Provided onsite and helpdesk IT support to 2,000+ users.
• Troubleshot and repaired IT equipment across clinical and administrative environments.