Jamie Sefton

Founder · Engineering Leader · Glasgow, UK

Jamie Sefton

Founder of PawLoop & Engineering Leader

I founded PawLoop to make running a dog walking business simpler, bringing schedules, client details and invoicing into one place. I draw on 15+ years of building products and engineering teams to turn complex problems into practical software.

About Me

I'm the founder of PawLoop, UK-built software for independent dog walkers. It brings recurring bookings, client and dog records, billing and payment tracking together, so walkers can spend less time on admin and more time with the dogs. I'm from Liverpool and now based in Glasgow, Scotland.

Founding PawLoop brings together my interest in useful products and my experience in engineering leadership. I work from the needs of the people using the software, then make the technical and product decisions needed to build something simple and dependable.

Across 15+ years, I've built and led engineering teams that shipped products used by millions of people. I've helped organisations scale from startup to enterprise, navigate exits and technology transformations, and develop teams that can keep improving what they deliver.

15+
Years Experience
Enterprise
Scale Products
6+
Industry Sectors

Experience

PawLoop

Founder

August 2026 – Present

  • Founded PawLoop, a UK-built software platform that helps independent dog walkers run their businesses from the first booking through to a paid invoice.
  • Built one place for recurring and one-off walks, client and dog details, care notes, billing, payment tracking, and expenses.
  • Designed the product around the day-to-day needs of UK dog walkers, with mobile access and client-facing tools that reduce routine admin.

Enigmatic Smile

Head of Engineering

January 2024 – August 2026

  • Scaled the engineering organisation from start-up to scale-up, introducing leadership roles, delivery processes, and a long-term engineering roadmap.
  • Built and managed cross-functional teams across Mobile, Frontend, Backend, QA, and DevOps, expanding the team with 11 new hires in 6 months.
  • Implemented professional development frameworks to support career growth and retention, fostering a high-performance, learning-driven culture.
  • Directed strategic and technical planning for next-generation infrastructure and services, with a focus on scalability, automation, and quality.
  • Increased delivery efficiency by introducing agile processes and cross-functional collaboration, reducing cycle times and improving release predictability.
  • Established a culture of engineering excellence, introducing standards for code quality, CI/CD automation, and robust QA practices.
  • Partnered with business stakeholders to align engineering priorities with company strategy, enabling faster time-to-market for new products and features.

Freelance

Backend Engineer

June 2022 – Present

  • Designed and implemented a comprehensive business suite covering employee management, time tracking, and payroll processing, enabling operational efficiency for SMEs.
  • Developed bespoke online booking systems for both internal operations and customer-facing platforms, tailored to specific business needs.
  • Built hardware integration tools connecting EPOS systems with custom game-scoring sensors, bridging software and physical devices for seamless data flow.
  • Created a digital signage management platform, including scheduling, asset control, and a companion Android application to power screen displays.
  • Engineered a status monitoring and alerting tool providing real-time uptime checks, performance metrics, and proactive notifications.
  • Delivered custom integrations for Unify WiFi, including captive portal flows and administration dashboards, enhancing user experience and network control.
  • Engaged with clients end-to-end, from requirements gathering to deployment, ensuring solutions were scalable, reliable, and aligned with business objectives.

RLDatix

January 2021 – December 2023 (3 years)

Engineering Manager

January 2023 – December 2023 (1 year, 11 months)

  • Managed multiple engineering squads through direct leadership of Lead Developers, ensuring high-quality delivery across global product lines.
  • Accountable for overall product delivery across multiple regions, balancing local requirements with global strategy.
  • Partnered cross-functionally with Product Management, QA, and Customer Success to align priorities and drive impactful outcomes.
  • Introduced and scaled delivery processes, from sprint execution to quarterly planning, improving predictability and alignment.
  • Coached and developed engineering leads, fostering growth and supporting a culture of accountability and ownership.

Lead Developer

August 2021 – February 2022 (7 months)

  • Line-managed a squad of 3–5 developers, providing technical direction, mentorship, and career guidance.
  • Ensured squad delivery met quality and performance standards, balancing speed with long-term maintainability.
  • Designed and solutioned new product features for R&D, enabling innovation and technical scalability.

Senior Developer

January 2021 – August 2021 (8 months)

  • Contributed to feature development and regression resolution within a cross-functional squad.
  • Collaborated closely with QA and Product Owners to refine requirements and deliver customer-focused solutions.
  • Championed engineering best practices to maintain code quality, reliability, and performance.

Parallax

October 2015 – January 2021 (5 years, 4 months)

Head of Backend Development

October 2016 – January 2021 (4 years, 4 months)

  • Led the backend engineering team, combining line management with hands-on development across a wide range of client projects.
  • Scaled the team from 2 developers to 10+, taking ownership of recruitment, onboarding, appraisals, and project planning.
  • Delivered large-scale IoT and Smart City platforms, enabling city-wide control and connectivity solutions.
  • Oversaw technical delivery across multiple projects, ensuring quality, scalability, and alignment with client objectives.
  • Introduced team processes and best practices to improve collaboration, delivery predictability, and code quality.

Senior Developer

October 2015 – October 2016 (1 year, 1 month)

  • Focused on backend development for client websites and bespoke systems, collaborating closely with frontend engineers and designers.
  • Built new features and maintained existing client platforms, ensuring functionality, reliability, and long-term maintainability.
  • Contributed to technical solutioning and architecture discussions, laying the foundation for future backend growth.

LITTLE Agency

Web Developer

May 2014 – October 2015 (1 year, 6 months)

  • First engineering hire, responsible for establishing the foundations of the agency's web development offering and scaling capability for future growth.
  • Designed and implemented processes, tooling, and frameworks to support efficient and repeatable bespoke website builds.
  • Delivered e-commerce platforms and bespoke web solutions tailored to client needs, balancing functionality, usability, and performance.
  • Played a key role in enabling the expansion of the development team by setting technical standards and onboarding practices.

Rejuvenate Productions

Web Developer

March 2012 – August 2013 (1 year, 6 months)

  • Completed a placement year as part of university studies, continuing part-time thereafter due to strong performance and client impact.
  • Delivered end-to-end development of bespoke websites, contributing across both frontend and backend.
  • Built custom e-commerce solutions tailored to client requirements, improving usability and business efficiency.
  • Gained early professional experience in client delivery, working within real-world project constraints and collaborating with designers and stakeholders.

Skills

Core Competencies

Engineering Leadership Agile Delivery SCRUM Scaling Teams Product & Roadmap Strategy Security & Compliance PCI DSS, SOC2, ISO27001 Mentorship & Career Development

Technical Toolbox

PHP (Laravel, Symfony, Phalcon) Node.js Python HTML CSS (Sass & Less) JavaScript React Vue.js React Native Microservices REST APIs MySQL MSSQL MongoDB Terraform Helm Kubernetes CI/CD Pipelines Observability AWS

Integration Toolbox

Stripe DOJO WorldPay Rightmove Zoopla WhatsApp OpenAI NewRelic Bugsnag DataDog Freeagent SalesForce Twilio Algolia HubSpot Ooyala

AI & Emerging Technologies

Generative AI Strategy LLM Adoption ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, Claude AI-Assisted Development Workflows Secure AI Usage & Governance Prompt Engineering AI Enablement & Training

Education

BSc Computing (1st Class Hons)

Leeds Beckett University

2010 – 2014

A Levels

Halewood Academy

2008 – 2010