Gareth Huscroft
Business Analyst & Systems Architect — 15+ years working on problems that aren't always well-defined, in a heavily regulated industry where mistakes cost more than time and money.
Profile
For more than 15 years, I have worked on problems that are not always well-defined and have required structured problem-solving and extensive consultation to clarify. Much of this has been in a heavily regulated industry where mistakes won't just cost the business time and money but potentially cause real physical harm to clients.
I have often crossed boundaries between technology and governance. In my roles as BA and system architect in aged care, I have worked across the full solution lifecycle, from inception through to support.
Technically, I work with Python, SQL, C#, Salesforce and Power BI. I hold an Internal Auditor certification from SAI Global and have hands-on experience with ISO 9001 — I can not only write policies, but develop the auditing frameworks around them to ensure compliance.
Outside work: I am a volunteer rider for Blood Bikes Australia, a private pilot, and a developer-at-heart who runs a self-hosted home server stack and occasionally publishes code on GitHub.
Skills
Five areas I move between day to day, from raw data to the people who have to use what I build.
// REPORTING & DATA ANALYSIS
- Power BI, Power Automate, SSRS
- MS Access, Excel / Power Query
- Raw SQL / RDBMS
- Salesforce.com
- JSON / XML / CSV
- Liaising with users to gather requirements
- Identifying suitable reporting platforms & visualisations
- Workato
- Identifying integration requirements across disparate systems
- Documenting integrations, managing data transformations
// SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
- C#, SQL, Python
- PHP / HTML / CSS
- Salesforce.com, Procura
- CodeIgniter / Bootstrap
- Access / VBA
- Windows — all systems
- Linux
- Embedded operating systems
This site runs in a Docker container on my home NAS.
- Detailed user guides
- Work instructions
// STRATEGY & PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- Balanced Scorecard
- KPI identification & development
- Audit tool development
- Internal auditing
- Traditional Waterfall
- Agile
- Hybrid (Waterfall + Agile)
// SUPPORT & TRAINING
- Multi-platform end-user support — computer, mobile, printer
- Multi-channel — face-to-face, group, phone, email/remote
- Designing training packages
- Developing course materials
- Delivering training, face-to-face or remote
- Assessing training outcomes
// HARDWARE & NETWORKING
- Printer setup, configuration, diagnosis & repair
- Diagnosis & repair of desktops, servers, laptops
- OSI model
- IP addressing / subnets
- Network design & installation
- Network diagnostics
Employment history
From printer repairs to designing the data backbone of a healthcare group.
HomeCaring (Caring Group)
A new role archetype combining business process acumen with software engineering and AI tooling proficiency — using AI-augmented development tools to design, build, integrate and support enterprise-grade digital solutions across the organisation, delivering the output of a small development team as a single practitioner.
- Primary technical custodian of LuminaCare, HomeCaring's proprietary care planning and workflow platform
- Drives integration, automation and AI capability across the broader technology ecosystem
- Embeds standards, documentation and governance into everything built, ensuring solutions are understood, maintainable and transferable
G E Huscroft
In late 2022, alongside my role at Australian Unity (then myHomecare), I began contract work for the prior owners of Sue Mann Nursing & Community Care.
- A family office managing their personal investments, where I provided IT support in both office and residential environments
- A series of high-end retirement villages in the Hunter region, providing strategic planning, project management and Salesforce design and development — including designing and building a data warehouse pulling from Xero, Salesforce, Smartsheet and Freescout via Python into MS SQL for Power BI reporting
- A pastoral company in NSW, providing business analysis, project management and IT support
Australian Unity (formerly myHomecare / Sue Mann Nursing & Community Care)
- Worked closely with AU teams to migrate the myHomecare Procura instances to the new solution built by Australian Unity
- Wrote a Python script against the outgoing phone provider's API to download all call recordings to a secure location, avoiding a substantial vendor quote for archival
- Using Workato, integrated new HRIS platforms with existing systems, reducing manual data transcribing between them
- Alongside two other data specialists, redeveloped the Data Warehouse — this version had data validated against source and was fully documented
- Owned a full end-to-end build for "Care Conversations" (annual field-staff performance reviews): requirements gathering, data structure, web app, C# CLI for notifications, ETL into the warehouse, report tables, Power BI reporting, documentation and training
- Managed the transition from an in-house client database to an industry-standard CMS, on time, under budget, with no downtime for staff, employees or government claiming
- Ongoing design, development and support of plug-in modules (C#, PHP, Access DB) extending the industry solution as a point of difference for the organisation
- Oversaw the transition from on-premise IT to Infrastructure-as-a-Service with no downtime, mitigating risk and enabling advanced disaster recovery planning
- Designed, developed and certified a Medicare online claiming system for a Department of Veterans Affairs program
- Designed and developed integration between Salesforce and the industry CMS, reducing manual data entry
- As part of the integration team, successfully folded acquired businesses — different systems, policies and processes — into one consolidated organisation with common systems
Quality Manager
- Audits — design, plan and implement the internal audit program; attend all external audits as subject matter expert
- Committees — secretary of the Internal Continuous Improvement Committee for 8+ years: preparing for executive meetings, gathering KPI data, recording and distributing minutes, planning yearly meeting schedules
- Document control — reviewing documents and policy content, applying corporate document control to new documents
- Continuous Improvement — designed and maintain the CI Register, a web-based feedback register synchronised with Salesforce for advanced reporting
Business Analyst
- Ad-hoc reporting — working with business units to determine reporting purpose, audience and format; increasingly using Python in the reporting toolkit
- Formalised reporting — manage the Power BI reporting suite, developing new dashboards, correcting errors and improving existing reports in close consultation with end users
- Tender writing — preparing, reviewing and submitting government funding tenders, including sourcing and manipulating internal/external data
Information Technology
- IT Manager — maintain network infrastructure, plan capacity, manage the IT team, liaise with vendors, track industry best practice
- IT Support — orientation training for new staff, support across mobiles, desktops, printers and network for field, remote and head office
Database Manager / Developer
- Internal CRM — continued development of the in-house client management system covering all business functions except payroll
- CRM migration — evaluated off-the-shelf solutions, led project management and technical delivery on time and under budget, designed plug-in modules the software vendor later expressed interest in acquiring
- Integration — built integration between external modules, Salesforce, payroll and the CMS
- Reporting — built and maintained data sources for reporting tools and business applications
Comptech Engineering Services
- Started as a Printer / Hardware Technician, progressing to Network Engineer and then Senior Network Engineer over four years
- Designed, developed and built a comprehensive maintenance utility in my own time to automate monthly computer maintenance, reducing costs and the chance of a missed step
- Liaised with clients to understand their needs and design a fitting solution
- Installed, maintained and upgraded network equipment, computer and printer hardware and software
- Designed, installed and maintained the network and systems for a national chemist outlet chain, working closely with specialist pharmacy software vendors
Computer Care Services
- Completed my university degree while working an almost full-time load
- Designed and built a "Fault Database" for a university project — a searchable printer-fault knowledgebase with keyword tags and sample uploads, reducing diagnosis time, misdiagnosis and repeat repairs
- Developed a strong background in hardware maintenance and repair — soldering, building computers, designing and installing networks, advanced diagnosis
- Learned to explain complex hardware/IT concepts in terms people are comfortable with
- Specialised in repair and maintenance of printers, from small home inkjets to large plotters and colour laser printers
- Network design, installation (including cabling) and fault diagnosis
Education
PG Cert Digital Forensics
2010 – 2012Started this course out of interest. And it was interesting!
Course outline ↗Bachelor of Information Science
1999 – 2004A generalist degree aimed at future project managers — software engineering, project management, data science, corporate accounting and HR, plus electives in astronomy, electrical engineering, network engineering and AI.
Cert IV Frontline Management
Completed while at Sue Mann Nursing & Community CareDelivered through Central Coast Group Training.
Course outline ↗Cert IV Network Engineering
2005 — IncompleteEnrolled directly into Cert IV on the recommendation of my degree lecturers. Completed the first semester before landing a network engineer role, with training on the job at Comptech.
Course outline ↗Short courses completed over the years
Salesforce Developer (Salesforce) · Balanced Scorecard Professional · Internal Auditor (SAI Global) · ISO 9001 Standard (SAI Global) · Agile Project Management (PM Partners) · Project Management (PM Partners)
Interests
Board & computer games
I play "heavy" board games for the strategic and tactical planning they demand, and computer games for the hand-eye coordination and quick problem-solving.
Qualified private pilot
Not currentFully qualified with endorsements for retractable undercarriage and constant-speed-unit propellers. Flew club flyouts across most of western NSW — sadly, no longer affordable to keep current.
Unrestricted motorcycle licence
Got my bike licence rather than a second car — also makes up somewhat for no longer being able to fly. Still not cheap once you count the gear, but cheaper than flying.
Software development
I write software in my spare time. Most recently, a Python API running in Docker on my home server that controls my Blood Bike availability, hooked into my home automation (HASS) — with an automation that marks me unavailable at 20:30 nightly in case I forget. Next goal: consolidate three buttons into one toggle.
Volunteering
Blood Bikes Australia
Volunteer rider on the Central Coast — a national group who volunteer their time and motorbikes to transport blood and medical supplies wherever they're needed.
Blood Bikes Australia ↗Australian Air League
15 years as a member from youth into early adulthood — modelled closely on Air Cadets. Started as a junior and worked up through the ranks to second-in-command of Gosford Squadron.
Australian Air League ↗Got a system that needs untangling?
Whether it's a data warehouse, an integration between systems that were never meant to talk to each other, or a reporting suite nobody trusts yet — I'm always happy to have the conversation.