Tim Rabbetts

(Contact me at: timrabbetts@gmail.com)

Full Stack Developer - PHP | Drupal | AI Integration | DevOps

Profile

• 15+ years of PHP/Drupal expertise, specialising in Drupal 10/11, custom backend development, and scalable architecture.
• Proven success delivering digital platforms for government, finance, and education, including the COVID-19 travel system and Santander Open Banking portal.
• Extensive experience migrating large-scale systems from Drupal 7 to 9/10, including legacy data, custom modules, and bespoke platforms using Migrate, Migrate Plus, and Migrate Tools.
• Expert in DevOps, Docker, CI/CD, and secure coding practices (OWASP, TDD).
• Hands-on AI integration experience using ChatGPT, n8n, and LLM workflows to accelerate development and documentation.
• Strong frontend capabilities using Drupal theme layer, Twig, Tailwind CSS, and modern JS frameworks including React and TypeScript for building headless and PWA solutions.
• Deep backend experience with service containers, event subscribers, plugin systems, and automated testing.
• Skilled in REST and GraphQL API design for decoupled architectures and third-party integrations.

Core Skills

Languages & Platforms

• Expert: PHP 8.3, SQL, JavaScript, Bash, Node.js, React, TypeScript
• Familiar With: Python, Vue.js, Angular, Kubernetes, Terraform, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, Firebase

CMS

• Drupal 7-11 (config API, event subscribers, custom services, plugins, caching strategies, configuration management, views, paragraphs, display modes, layout builder, content migrations, multilingual, multisite)

Symfony & Design Patterns

• Dependency Injection (services, controllers)
• Event Dispatcher (event subscribers, hooks)
• Plugin pattern (blocks, field types, access control)
• Middleware
• Decorator
• Factory
• Repository pattern (entity queries)
• PSR standards compliance

API Development

• REST, GraphQL, SOAP, 3rd-party integrations

AI/ML Integration

• n8n workflows (RAG), ChatGPT API, AI-based documentation and logic generation

DevOps & Hosting

• Linux, Docker, DDEV, AWS, GCP, LEMP stack

Tooling

• Github Actions, Azure Pipelines, Jenkins, Bitbucket Pipelines

Security & Testing

• OWASP, PHPUnit, Simpletest, Cypress, TDD

Professional Experience

Agilisys / Principle Consultant (perm)

Nov 2020 - Present, Remote

At Agilisys, I spearheaded the migration of critical government services onto Drupal 9/10, designing modular, object-oriented PHP frameworks to handle complex multi-step workflows and dynamic business rules. I built a Laravel API to support integrations, embedded AI workflows with ChatGPT and n8n to accelerate testing and documentation, and delivered a decoupled React/TypeScript PWA powered by custom REST and GraphQL endpoints.

Santander / Lead Drupal Developer (contract)

Nov 2018 - Nov 2020

For Santander’s Open Banking Developer Portal, I led development across a complex Drupal ecosystem, architecting custom modules, plugins, and services to handle enterprise integrations. I ensured robust API delivery, optimised performance in a large Drupal 7 platform, and implemented Dockerised environments to streamline deployment across multiple teams.

Catch Digital / Lead Drupal Developer (contract)

Feb 2018 - Oct 2018

At Catch Digital, I guided the migration to Drupal 8, developing OO PHP components and custom Drupal services to support new business features. I established best practices for scalable architecture, delivered bespoke integrations, and ensured maintainability through clean design patterns and configuration-driven development.

Attraction Tickets Direct / Lead Drupal Developer (contract)

Aug 2016 - Jan 2018

Architected a Drupal 8 headless RESTful API for a gateway booking system, significantly reducing development time while maintaining system stability and reliability.

Managed a full Docker infrastructure and implemented an ELK stack, enhancing system operations and monitoring.

Kaplan International / Lead Drupal Developer (contract)

Jan 2016 - Aug 2016

Drove major frontend and backend enhancements for a global multilingual Drupal 7 site, improving performance and user experience.

Developed custom migration tools and integrated new features seamlessly into the existing infrastructure, demonstrating exceptional technical and leadership skills.

Full Fat Things / Lead Drupal Developer (contract)

May 2015 - Dec 2015

Developed and managed a Drupal-based document archive website, showcasing superior skills in responsive web design and user interface development.

Led feature development and codebase enhancements, maintaining high standards of code integrity and functionality.

Userly / Head of Web Development (perm)

Oct 2013 - May 2015

Brought in to rescue a delayed project; offered full-time Lead Developer role after contract.

Led and grew the development team while delivering complex Drupal solutions.

Designed and built Credit Benchmark, a greenfield platform for aggregating and anonymising credit risk data.

Managed the full project lifecycle, including client liaison, architecture, development, and deployment.

Built key features: high-speed node import system, interactive charts, and advanced data validation.

Education

University of Sussex

• BSc Computer Science (2:1)
• 2004 - 2008

New College, Swindon

• A-Levels: Computer Science, Physics, Geography
• 1996 - 1998

Hobbies & Interests

• Purple belt in kickboxing
• Carpentry - built furniture including beds, arcade machines, coffee tables
• 3D printing - hands-on hobby shared with my sons
• Run a home lab of 7 servers - manage networking, storage, patching
• Electronics projects with Raspberry Pi & Arduino
• Basic piano skills
  

Testimonials

David Bishop - Head of Web - Agilisys

Tim has all of the qualities that you look for in a full stack Drupal developer. I hired Tim into the team when we were in need of an experienced senior Drupal Developer who could lead teams to the successful delivery of complex Drupal projects with multiple enterprise level integrations.

Tim is an expert programmer with a passion for getting the job done and is hugely responsible. Tim has been the lead role on some long running large programs of development, adapting to client needs and ensuring a high quality of output on every release.

One of my personal highlights of working with Tim has been our shared passion for inventing our own solutions to problems we find in the real world with Raspberry Pi's and IoT gadgets. Tim brings this creativity to the projects he lead which gives him great capacity as a Drupal architect. I would be delighted to work with Tim again in the future.

Marcin Pajdzik - Contractor - Cloud Solutions Architect

Tim is a professional Drupal/PHP developer who willingly accepts challenging assignments and offers to contribute whenever there is an opportunity. His superior and always up-to-date technical knowledge combined with excellent communication skills makes him an exceptional technical leader. Tim is reliable, innovative and result-driven. If you are looking for someone for your digital project, get in touch with Tim!

Jonathan Brothers - Head of Creative - Wonga

Tim is a great programmer and developer. With keen computer architecture skills and theories, but is also a great people person and team leader. Always ensuring his team are kept motivated through his enthusiasm for the job. Tim has a great personality and demeanour, and truly is passionate and enjoys his work. He is always straight talking and upfront about issues and always keen to find solutions and innovate where possible.

John Newton - Director - Sereno Ltd

Tim is one of the most industrious & knowledgeable Drupal developers I have had the pleasure of working with. Not only are his technical skills first rate, he also excels at managing and prioritising his work-schedule. Tim also has a quality rare in a hard-core coder - he is great with clients! I would certainly recommend him to anyone seeking advanced custom coding development for their Drupal project.

Al Croston - Director - Axis Twelve

Tim joined us on a short term contract for a complex and large project. The very tight timescales, meant it was crucial that new starters were able to hit the ground running. Tim's experience and expertise in Drupal meant that this was possible. This combined with Tim's pragmatic approach, made him a valuable and respected member of the team.