Gary Hawkes

Head of Engineering

He/Him

Software QA Lead and tester who loves to see people grow, processes continuously improve and help organisations understand and support Quality Engineering. Recently promoted to Head of Engineering (Jul 2026).

🎂 MoTaBirthday | August 16, 2019

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Moments (71)

Achievement unlocked: Engineering team receives my first full team presentation

So after weeks of discussions with the Exec Team and my leads, today I finally presented a full team restructure to the team. I've been at Ito 8 years, so the team know me well and I've always been...

4 Sep

1,000 songs in your pocket changed how the world listened to music...

1,000 songs in your pocket changed how the world listened to music. The MoTaverse changes how tech professionals grow their careers.Sixteen features, sixteen stories, one thread running through al...

26 Aug

Head of Engineering Lesson 2 - Don't walk into accidental isolation

The really difficult challenge I've had is moving from being close to Quality Engineers and all the relationships across the piece, to managing lead engineers and working with the exec team.So I'm ...

20 Aug

Head of Engineering Lesson 1 - Communicating with the Exec team

So in this new role, as I learn the challenges, I thought I'd share them as I go. I have new surroundings working with an exec team and working with my team of leaders. Communicating with my n...

6 Aug

Insights (8)

Why Quality teams are built on character, not just skills

What a darts team taught me about building high-performing quality teams

14 Jul

The evolution of a hiring manager

What we should have been hiring for all along

5 May

Sessions (26)

Roundtable: AI did the work. Did anyone do the thinking?

Using AI isn’t the same as doing good work.

21 Aug

Oh the anxcitement! Chaos-driven development, AI coding skills, and a new look profile page

A lively MoTaverse walkthrough episode covering AI chapter momentum, new profile pages, community learning, chaos-driven development, AI skills, and big personal wins for the community.

31 Jul

Glossary Terms (3)

Bugnetism Where a quality engineer looks at a piece of software and bugs just jump out. Specialist A specialist is someone who chooses to focus on a set of skills they are passionate about to become a respected mentor and advisor in those skills. Generalist A generalist is someone who is passionate about their profession and working with people within it. They have sought understanding multiple areas of that profession without seeking to specialise in any of them, so can help specialists with how to approach situations that can impact others.

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