DARRYL HAYDN JONES

Chief Technology Officer | Director of Engineering | Digital Transformation Leader

Mobile:             +44 (0) 782 57 58 59 0
Email:               dhjones@bonbon.io
Location:          Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Technology leader with 20+ years driving digital transformation across energy, Web3, gaming, eCommerce, and mobile. Proven track record as a CTO/Director and scaling organisations from startup to 100+ engineers, delivering platforms to millions of users, and securing patents in innovative tech.

Hands-on in architecture, cloud, blockchain, and platform development skills, while shaping strategy at board level. Recognised for building high-performing teams, optimising delivery, and bridging business and technology to deliver measurable impact.

Core Skills

  • Executive Leadership: Technology Strategy, Digital Transformation, Board Advisory, Team Scaling, Team Building (0–120+)
  • Cloud & Platforms: AWS, GCP, CI/CD, Microservices, Data Warehousing, High-Concurrency Systems
  • Software Development: JavaScript/TypeScript (React, Node, NextJS), PHP, Ruby on Rails
  • Blockchain & Web3: Solidity, ERC20/ERC721, NFTs, Smart Contracts, IPFS, Hardhat, Truffle
  • Mobile: Swift, Objective-C, React Native – 45M+ app downloads
  • eCommerce & Payments: PCI Compliance, Stripe, Reporting Systems
  • Other: Patent Author (8 patents), White Papers, Technical Evangelism

Key Achievements

  • As the first technical hire I hired and grew a tech company to a size of 40 people (.NET, React, AWS Stack)
  • Led technical strategy and team growth at a company from being employee #4 to a team of 120 within a year.
  • Created Mobile Apps downloaded over 45 million times; one iOS App of mine was world #1 for 2 months and a top ten app in 30 countries.
  • Co-author of 8 patents spanning multi-source media content search, online safety, and mobile app generation.

Employment History and Experience

Heatly (Acquired by United Infrastructure) – 2024-Present

Director of Software Engineering
  • First hire; built engineering capacity from the ground up.
  • Hired and scaled team to 40+ engineers across .NET, React, and AWS.
  • Redesigned and rebuilt platform, migrating to AWS-based C# APIs with a NextJS/TypeScript frontend.
  • Contributed hands-on code while setting technical strategy at SLT level.

Stealth Web3 Startup – 2023-2024

CTO
  • Provided counsel to non-technical founding team; accelerated platform delivery to investor-ready stage.
  • Re-architected JavaScript stack, introduced build pipelines, UAT and cloud hosting.
  • Solidity Contract writing/auditing for sales/portfolio management
  • Supported Founder in investor presentations with New York and Toronto VC firms.

Bonbon Group Ltd – 2016-Present

Managing Director
  • Founded company as launch vehicle for platforms/tools in Travel, FMCG, and machine learning.
  • Delivered medium-large scale platforms via contract CTO and consultancy engagements

Vidatec Limited – 2021-2022

CTO
  • Delivered the Couch to 5k App for the NHS
  • Repositioned technical offering of agency business to improve client value and pipeline.
  • Overhauled PMO and delivery processes, improving quality and staff retention.
  • Positioned company for stronger sales and technical differentiation.
  • Setting technical strategy at SLT level.

Hey Platforms - 2016-2020

CTO
  • Built development team and created patentable music-tech solutions.
  • Migrated infrastructure from on-premise to AWS cloud.
  • Developed 12 mobile apps and 6 new Platform products
  • Supported CEO with fundraising, white papers, and investor materials.
  • Setting technical strategy at SLT level.

Milestone PLC – 2014-2016

CTO
  • Directed technical delivery across multiple divisions of AIM-listed technology group.
  • Migrated platforms from Ruby/Angular to full JavaScript stack, improving cross-team efficiency.
  • Architected Passion Project charitable platform.
  • Setting technical strategy at SLT level.

Bede Gaming – 2012-2014

Development Manager
  • Promoted within 2 months from Senior Mobile Developer to Development Manager.
  • Built and managed 6+ development/QA teams; directly hired 100+ staff.
  • Implemented code standards, peer reviews, and agile delivery processes.
  • Partnered with Product Owners to align roadmaps with company strategy.
  • Setting technical strategy at SLT level.

Xaruva – 2003-2013

Managing Director
  • Built property management software used by thousands of landlords across Scotland on a total managed base of 30,000 properties
  • Created early AJAX-based, object-oriented design before mainstream adoption.
  • Published iOS apps including a global #1 app with 250k+ daily downloads, and 6m total downloads

Palringo – 2007-2012

Lead Developer
  • Early Employee, influential across business
  • Scaled multi-platform messaging platform from thousands to 35M+ registered users
  • Considerable experience at scale (Billions of messages across 200,000 mobile chat groups)
  • Delivered apps across iOS, Android, Web, Symbian, and Java.

About me

Confident and collaborative leader with a passion for technology, people, and innovation. Experienced at inspiring teams, presenting to stakeholders, and aligning technology with business vision. Keen traveller and photographer, having visited 60+ countries.

Academic Qualifications & Certifications

BSc Computer Science (Hons) – The Robert Gordon University
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
AWS Certifications