Ben Richards

Telco & Technology

I design custom tools and programs that streamline processes, manage customer estates, and turn complex order data into clear, actionable insights by utilising data visualisation software (PowerBI).

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About Work History Education Skills Hobbies & Projects
Ben Richards
  • 3+ YearsExperience in telco
  • 7+ YearsSelf taught code
  • 11+ YearsMicrosoft Office Products

About Me

I bridge telecoms operations, automation, and software. I’ve handled provisioning and escalations across EAD, EoFTTC, EFM, SoGEA, and Customer Backhaul and proactively create tooling to speed up order flow and improve reporting.

I design processes, build utilities, and create dashboards that reduce manual effort. Stack: Power BI, advanced Excel, JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, .NET. I also run and maintain a Dockerized homelab for home utilities, monitoring and entertainment.

Work History

Backhaul & Lab Specialist — TalkTalk Plc / PXC, Manchester
  • Manage delivery of complex backhaul and access orders, including escalations.
  • Design and maintain new processes and tooling such as the Orca API to streamline order flow.
  • Support exchange closure and optimisation by assisting with migration of circuits from WLR, MPF, and other copper products to FTTP, leveraging Orca for mass API-driven migrations.
  • Help manage the SoGEA workstack in the model office and lab environments, and deliver bespoke requests requiring technical validation and coordination.
  • Lead stakeholder and supplier calls to resolve blockers and drive progress on critical orders.
  • Produce partner reports and run weekly reviews to monitor troubled orders and improve delivery outcomes.
Products: WLR Migrations, MPF Migrations, EAD2 POC, SoGEA POC, Openreach FTTP, CityFibre FTTP POC, Customer Backhaul (10Gb DFX & 100Gb Optical).
Ethernet Delivery Specialist — TalkTalk Plc, Manchester
  • Own day-to-day delivery for complex orders and escalations.
  • Build partner reports and host weekly reviews on troubled orders.
  • Coordinate with Openreach to move orders from blocked to flowing.
Products Layer 2 & 3: EAD, EoFTTC, EFM.
Domestic Appliance Engineer — Moor To Sea Services, Redruth
  • Diagnose and repair white goods; scheduling and field work.
  • Trained by senior engineers and Electrolux/Miele manufacturers.
Chef de Partie — Cove Communities, Truro
Chef de Partie — Bourne Leisure, Cornwall
Comis Chef — Bourne Leisure, Cornwall
Prep / Service Chef — Prepped 2 Go, Warrington
Chef / Kitchen Porter — The Culcheth Arms, Warrington
Cook — McDonald’s
Team Member — WAAP (festival tent builds)
Volunteer — Be One Percent, Burscough

Education & Qualifications

HNC, Electrical Eng - Merit
Warrington Collegiate
BTEC L3 Extended Diploma, Electrical Eng - Merit
Warrington Collegiate
GCSEs - Passed
Culcheth High School
Electrical Safety D.A.T.E.S; Microwave Training - Passed
Electrolux (Luton)
Manchester 1804 Summer School - Award
Two winner certificates
Level 2 Award in Food Safety - Passed
Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance
Other
Full UK Driving Licence.
Professional & Online Certificates ▼
Downloadable Certificates - Provided by LinkedIn Learning & Others

Skills

General

  • Proactive
  • Microsoft Office
  • Communication
  • Team work
  • Independent work
  • Partner-facing
  • Meeting facilitation

Data

  • Power BI (models, DAX, PQ)
  • Excel (Pivots, Power Pivot, XLOOKUP, Other advanced reporting / data modeling.)
  • Reporting and analysis
  • SQL (Reading Database)

Telecoms

  • EAD · Provisioning, Escalations
  • EoFTTC · Provisioning, Escalations
  • EFM · Provisioning, Escalations
  • Backhaul · Process, Billing, Data
  • SoGEA · Orders, Escalations
  • EAD2 · POC, Reporting

Frontend

  • HTML & CSS
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript

Backend

  • Node.js
  • REST APIs
  • Logging & monitoring
  • .NET

DevOps / Systems

  • Docker & Compose
  • Health checks
  • Linux services
  • Backups & monitoring

Tooling

  • Node.js CLIs
  • Git & GitHub
  • PowerShell
  • Linux CLI

Electrical

  • Diagnostics
  • Safe isolation
  • Microwave safety
  • TINA

Hobbies & Projects

Orca logo Orca API JS/Node

  • CSV-driven bulk API workflows.
  • Error logging and audit trails.
  • Simplified order placement.
  • Deterministic, repeatable outputs.

Homelab logo Home Server Docker/Linux

  • GPU-accelerated media stack.
  • DNS and ad-blocking services.
  • Private game servers.
  • Uptime and health monitoring.
  • Automated backups.

Portfolio logo Portfolio HTML/CSS

  • Static, responsive, fast-loading.
  • Clean HTML/CSS with minimal JS.
  • Easy to update and extend.

Discord Bots logo Discord Bots Node/discord.js

  • Slash commands and context menus.
  • Moderation tools (timeouts, purge, filters).
  • Webhooks and scheduled jobs.
  • Custom code for order processing (Game Servers).
  • Logging and error tracking.
  • Dockerized deployment.