Footium: Meet the Team + We’re Hiring!

While some of you will already know bits about our team through previous medium articles, interviews/podcasts and through the discord, we wanted to give you a bit more of an insight into who is working on Footium!

Our Founders

Jordan and James, The Footium Founders, met at an Encode Club hackathon in 2020, and have been focused on building Footium ever since. Over the last year, they have built out a full game engine, an in-game marketplace for player trading and much more!

Jordan Lord, Co-Founder

Jordan is a full-stack developer with blockchain development experience, as well as previously being a game developer for Multiverse Inc during a work placement that saw him work in Shenzhen, China. Having graduated with a First Class in Computer Science from the University of Bristol, Jordan went on to work as a Software Engineer at Netcraft, a large cyber security firm, while he developed Footium in his spare time.

Jordan is an avid Derby County fan (We feel sorry for him sometimes too), going to matches when he can but always listening on the radio if he can’t. His favourite goal is Jack Marriot’s vs Leeds in the play-off semi-final back in 2019, a late winner which saw Derby through to the playoff final and started a barrage of ‘Stop Crying Frank Lampard’ chants in the Derby dressing room.

James O’Leary, Co-Founder

James is a Smart Contract Developer with a passion for gaming. After finishing college James went on to study Economics at the University of Oxford. Alongside his studies, James became a Blockchain Lecturer at the Oxford Foundry whilst also being the Co-President of the Oxford Blockchain Society.

James has also been focusing on the game economics within Footium to ensure a rewarding experience for players! James is a Coventry City fan having been born in the city, however, his favourite goal is Wayne Rooney’s overhead kick against Manchester City in 2011.

Sam Jackson, Community Manager

Sam is our Community Manager who has an strong background in Marketing and PR. After graduating from University, Sam created his own Marketing Agency and worked as a Marketing Consultant for businesses across the UK. Taking a keen interest in blockchain and in particular NFTs, Sam started building communities and growing engagement across a number of projects.

After joining Footium full time in October 2021, he is now responsible for handling our amazing community while working closely with the rest of the team to grow Footium. Sam supports Manchester United and his favourite goal got stolen by James (Pulled rank😉). He settled for Marcus Rashford’s knuckleball free-kick against Chelsea back in 2019.

Matthew Lawson, 3D Artist

Matthew is our 3D Artist who has been working on all of the stadium designs that have been going down so well on our social media! Matthew has had a passion for animation and design for a number of years. Matthew has extensive knowledge and experience with 3ds max, Maya and Blender due to his University Education and work experience.

Matthew supports Newcastle United and his favourite goal is Joe Cole’s peach of a volley vs Sweden in the 2006 World Cup.

George Benton, COO

We are extremely excited to be welcoming George to Footium who has just joined as our COO. George has been working closely with Footium as an advisor for over a year providing invaluable insights, so we are very happy to have him on board. George co-founded the UK’s first student-led blockchain society in June 2017 and has worked at various crypto startups in Business Development roles whilst finishing his degree in Economics and Finance at the University of Leeds.

After completing his degree, George joined Encode Club, one of the top Accelerators in the blockchain industry, as Operations lead at the start of 2021. This allowed him to work alongside Jordan and James as they developed Footium due to the idea being born and incubated throughout various Encode Club programs. George is a massive Lincoln City FC fan with his favourite goal being Nathan Arnold’s 90th minute winner against Ipswich in the FA cup, the same year that saw non-league Lincoln go all the way to the quarter-finals!

Chinaza Icheke, UI/UX Designer

Chinaza will join the team as a UI/UX Designer after working within the area for 3 years based in Lagos, Nigeria. During that time, Chinaza has worked with clients from various countries including being a founding designer for an agency in Utah. He is also also the lead design tutor for a Google-backed cohort at Lagos University.

Chinaza supports Chelsea FC with his favourite goal being Troy Deeneys emotional counter-attack goal vs Leicster to send Watford to the playoff final. That goal just never gets old!

Akin Aguda, Front End Developer

Akin is based in Lagos, Nigeria slots right into our starting lineup as a Front End Developer. Most recently Akin has been rebuilding the PUBG e-sports analytics platform Twire and adding a fantasy league into it. Akin is an organiser of the Nigerian Rust community and in his spare time enjoys building game-themed UI as a hobby, you can see an example of this here.

Akin is a keen Barcelona fan and his favourite goal is none other than Lionel Messi’s jinking run against Getafe in 2007.

Simon Givois, UI/UX Designer

Based in Paris, Simon has joined the team to bolster our ranks in the UI/UX Designer position. Simon brings a wealth of experience, having been in the industry for 10 years including working as a Product Designer for Dailymotion and 360Learning before joining us full time at Footium! Simon has already been working closely with Chinaza on the intuitive design overhaul of the Footium game.

Simon supports PSG and his favourite goal is Ronaldinho's lovely goal vs Guingamp playing for Paris!

Samesh Lakhotia, Back End Developer

Based in India, Samesh is a Back End Developer with expertise in MongoDB. Samesh has experience interning for Oracle and Microsoft before joining us. At Footium, he’ll be working on all things backend, including databases, servers and APIs!

Samesh supports Manchester United and his favourite goal is Robin Van Persies’ diving header against Spain in the 2014 World Cup.

Roland Kesler, Operations Associate

Roland joins the team as an Operations Associate helping to keep Footium ticking! Based in Cape Town, Roland has experience at a number of international fintech and edtech start-ups.

Roland is also the co-founder and head of product for FantasyGo which is Africas’ first daily sports platform where players can win cryptocurrency. Roland is a long-suffering Arsenal fan and his favourite goal is Robin Van Persies’ jumping volley for Arsenal against Charlton

Rob Baker, Product Manager

Rob joins the team as Product Manager working on delivering the best possible product on time, with a focus on process, quality & efficiency. Before joining Footium, Rob worked for a number of years as Product Lead for Viker (Mobile Games Studio), designing and leading a number of games from ideation to launch. Rob has over 5 years of experience working as a Product Lead and we are really excited that he is joining the Footium team!

Rob is a Cheltenham Town fan and his favourite goal is Benjamin Pavard’s peach of a goal against Argentina in the World Cup.

Archie Buck, Game Developer

Archie joins the team as a Game Developer, working closely with the development and product teams to help take Footium to the next level!

Archie brings a wealth of relevant experience to the squad after spending six years at Sports Interactive where he worked as a software engineer on the Football Manager series. Prior to joining Footium, he was a Senior Gameplay Programmer at games studio Improbable.

Archie also plays Sunday league football as a central midfielder. He supports Liverpool and Folkestone Invicta and his favourite goal is Steven Gerrard’s half volley vs Middlesbrough.

Want to join the squad? We’re hiring!

We are always looking to add talented individuals to our team, and are currently actively recruiting for the following roles:

• Gameplay Engineer

You can find out more information about each of these roles and apply here: https://angel.co/company/footium-2

If you think you would be a good fit for the Footium team but the roles above aren’t quite right for you, be sure to send an email over with your experience and why you want to work on Footium to: george@footium.club

If you want to find out more information about Footium the best places are our Twitter, our Discord and our roadmap. If you are interested in buying a Footium club from the secondary market, make sure to do so from our official OpenSea collection page.