Dossier | Frederick J. Ayres

Experience Professional engagements

Lloyds Banking Group Jun 2023 — Present

Senior Internal Audit Analyst — Resilience Lead

City of London, United Kingdom

Leading assurance across critical automated controls, operational resilience, and third-party risk within one of the UK's largest financial institutions. Shifted the team's methodology from reactive compliance to proactive "Single Points of Failure" analysis within digital architectures. Designated Resilience Lead for integrated audits spanning high-risk infrastructure, operational continuity, and third-party engagements.

Infrastructure Resilience

Trading Platform Migration — Tier-1 Data Centre

Assured the operational transition of a capital markets trading platform between data centre facilities. Verified physical integrity and failover synchronisation. Performed forensic-level reviews to identify "Race Conditions" and timing vulnerabilities within high-velocity trade flows during cutover. Assessed SLA monitoring and stressed exit planning.

M&A Due Diligence

Acquisition ODD — £390M Financial Services Target

Led the Business Continuity audit for a £390M acquisition of a financial services entity. Assessed the "survivability" of critical assets during integration, ensuring no degradation of service during the complex transition of client assets. Identified integration risks that could have materialised as client-facing failures.

Supply Chain Crisis

Critical Supplier Insolvency — Blast Radius Analysis

Tracked the governance and operational impact of a critical supplier entering administration. Modelled the "Blast Radius" of the failure across dependent operations and validated the activation of emergency exit plans. Assessed contagion risk across business lines.

Commercial Resilience

Vendor Lock-in & Stressed Exit Assessment

Conducted forensic contract reviews to identify vendor lock-in risks across critical suppliers. Assessed the operational reality of "Stressed Exit" plans — verifying the ability to physically migrate data and services away from failing suppliers in a contested environment.

RSM UK Jan 2022 — Jun 2023

Technology Risk Consultant

Leeds / London, United Kingdom

Operated within a dynamic Technology Risk practice managing a diverse portfolio across Finance, Legal, and Construction. Gained institutional exposure to the security frameworks of major logistics hubs and strategic risk planning for global trade corridors.

Critical National Infrastructure

Nuclear New-Build — Cyber & Operational Resilience

Led Cyber and Operational Resilience planning for a principal contractor on the UK's largest energy infrastructure project. Mapped supply chain failure points and stress-tested the "Physical-to-Digital" interface of critical engineering components.

HFT Infrastructure

Tier-1 Data Centre Reviews — UK & Netherlands

Executed forensic on-site security and resilience reviews of major colocation facilities in the UK and Amsterdam. Assessed the physical integrity and security protocols of High-Frequency Trading environments and critical financial infrastructure.

Global Trade Corridors

Major Port & Logistics Hub Assessments

Gained institutional exposure to the security frameworks of major European logistics hubs and strategic risk planning for trade corridors across the Gulf and Asia-Pacific. Applied cross-jurisdictional risk assessment methodologies.

Independent — Geopolitical Trading 2016 — Present

OSINT-Driven Commodity & FX Execution

Personal Capability

Built proprietary trading algorithms in C# for Commodity and FX markets, triggered by geopolitical events identified through real-time OSINT monitoring. Leveraged a decade of involvement in open-source intelligence communities — including live AIS vessel tracking, conflict monitoring, and sanctions activity — to identify market-moving events before they reached mainstream news cycles and execute positions before broader market reaction. One example: using AIS tracking data to identify an IRGC seizure of an oil tanker in real time, going long on crude before the event broke major news hours later. This capability bridges the gap between intelligence analysis and commercial execution — and enables the direct auditing of "Black Box" algorithmic trading strategies.

Domain Expertise Demonstrated capability & active development

Demonstrated

Physical Asset & Infrastructure Risk

Direct hands-on experience assessing the resilience of nuclear new-builds, Tier-1 data centres, HFT environments, and capital markets infrastructure. Physical-to-digital interface analysis across CNI assets.

Operational Due Diligence & M&A

Led survivability assessment on a £390M financial services acquisition. Experienced in stressed exit planning, vendor lock-in analysis, and business continuity under integration pressure.

OSINT & Geopolitical Intelligence

A decade of active open-source intelligence practice — live event monitoring, AIS vessel tracking, conflict and sanctions activity analysis. Proven ability to identify market-moving geopolitical events before mainstream reporting.

Supply Chain & Third-Party Risk

Modelled contagion from critical supplier insolvency. Forensic contract review for vendor lock-in. Assessed the operational reality of exit plans in contested supplier environments.

Active Development

Commodity Markets & Trade Finance

Strong macro-level understanding of commodity flows, pricing dynamics, and trade corridor vulnerabilities — developed through independent OSINT-driven trading in crude, FX, and agricultural commodities. Building toward formal sector experience.

Sanctions & Export Controls

Active monitoring of OFAC designations and EU sanctions packages through OSINT practice. Understanding of how sanctions regimes affect asset liquidity and trade flows. Formalising through continued study and the SCR (GARP) certification track.

Gulf & EMEA Regional Dynamics

Deep and ongoing study of GCC trade architecture, Vision 2030 infrastructure programmes, ADGM/DIFC regulatory evolution, and the UAE's role as a global re-export hub. Supported by cross-jurisdictional consulting exposure through RSM (Doha, Singapore, Rotterdam).

Education Academic foundations

MSc Cyber Security, Threat Intelligence & Digital Forensics 2020 — 2021

University of Salford

Distinction

Dissertation: Analysis of ISO 27001 implementation barriers within SMEs. Strategic focus on geopolitical threat analysis, digital supply chain security, and systemic risk.

BSc (Hons) Computer Science 2017 — 2018

York St. John University

2:1 (Upper Second Class Honours)

Dissertation: Analysis of human risk vectors and cognitive vulnerabilities in unsecured digital networks (Social Engineering). Elective specialisms in Cybercrime & Digital Forensics and Artificial Intelligence.

Certifications In progress & planned

In Progress — Q1 2026

Google Cloud Digital Leader

Governance of distributed infrastructure. Cloud-native security and resilience frameworks.

Planned — 2026

Sustainability & Climate Risk (SCR — GARP)

Physical risk modelling for supply chains. Climate-driven commodity volatility and transition risk.

Planned — 2026

Certificate of the BCI (CBCI)

Formalising institutional crisis management expertise. Business continuity at enterprise scale.

Affiliations & Intelligence Networks & practice

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Member. Engaged in high-level discourse regarding global security, trade policy, and geopolitical risk.

Project Owl — OSINT Community

10-year active member specialising in live event monitoring and open-source intelligence. Proven track record of leveraging high-velocity data to inform tactical decisions.

Honourable Artillery Company (HAC)

Reserve Officer Candidate. Preparing for selection with 1st Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) Brigade. Focus on operational discipline, STA, and specialist patrols.

Ampleforth College Network

Old Amplefordian. Formative military training under a former member of B Squadron, 22nd SAS — an experience that shaped an enduring approach to discipline, resilience, and operating under pressure.