Senior Project Manager / Scrum Master at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
New York, New York 10014
United States

May 2011-Present

Agile Project Manager/Scrum Master May 2011- Dec 2012 Kaplan Inc., New York, NY •Part of the Agile Centre of Excellence team to migrate the IT and Kaplan Business teams to adopt Agile best practices. •Scrum Master for the Business Intelligence (Data Warehouse & Reporting) and Core Web Services teams, delivering projects to enterprise wide IT/Business teams. Agile COE •Performed Agile Management / Leadership activities high-profile individuals and teams to embrace Agile seamlessly. •Provided expert guidance to form cross-functional teams of diverse skillsets and functions to self-organize effectively. •Helped Business Product owners to create and manage roadmaps, release and sprint backlogs; constantly and consistently convincing them of the Agile values of increment and iterative delivery. •Coordinated with Business teams and organized, scheduled and facilitated User Story Workshops to create stories with varied level of details for Roadmaps, Release Backlog and Sprint Backlogs. •Helped Product Owners with the prioritization and maintenance of Backlogs in time for the Sprint Planning meeting •Coached teams with Story estimation techniques and embrace them without apprehension whatsoever. •Introduced and implemented Information Radiators like Sprint Scrum Board, Release and Sprint Burn-down charts, Velocity, for all the teams. •Help Scrum Masters facilitate Sprint Review and Retrospective meeting and to follow up on the action items identified. Scrum Master for Data Warehouse and Web Services teams •Functioned as the Scrum Master for the Pilot teams in implementing Agile Practices. •Facilitated Sprint Planning, Daily Standup, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective meetings •Facilitated Backlog Grooming Meetings with Product Owners and selected team members to update and prepare the Sprint Backlog for iteration planning. •Organized and lead the Sprint planning meetings; encouraged discussions among team members so that stories were clearly understood and scoped, estimated stories using story points with sizing them whenever necessary, tasked them out, and ensured overall transparency, accuracy and consistency in maintained. •Estimated stories using Story Points and helped teams with the estimation using Planning Poker. •Facilitated the Daily Standup Meeting and used it effectively to help protect the team from distractions and interruptions, to remove roadblocks/impediments and to impact empowerment and productivity. •Created and maintained the Scrum Board as an information radiator to track progress of the sprint. •Lead the Sprint Review /Demo Meeting; Presented Sprint Metrics and Release trends that included Velocity, Cumulative Flow Diagrams, Burn-down charts, to encourage teams maintain a sustainable pace. •Sent out individual invitations to Business teams’ representatives in addition to the general agenda to ensure proper attendance for completed story review and signoff. •Maintained the teams’ Wiki pages; Folders for each Sprint containing Sprint Metrics, Story details, Review presentation and charts – for cross team visibility and collaboration and to manage inter-team dependencies. •Ensured team follows meticulously all workflow steps like Architecture approval, code review, test case automation and documentation completed for every story. •Updated the Enterprise level Wiki; Changes to architecture design and database tables, addition to the Test Case and Web Services Repository.

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Lead Business Analyst - Forms, Reports, Correspondence, Documents at Hewlett Packard at State New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission,
Trenton, NJ 08666
United States

June 2009-April 2011

Lead for the development of Web Forms, Reports, Paper and email correspondence, Documents and Contracts across all Motor Vehicles Commission Business modules. Re-engineered the existing legacy processes and systems to the latest web based techology. Reports: Reengineered over 1500 reports, 200 Forms, 45 Douments/Contracts/Agreements, and 75 correspondences. Delivered 200 Reports, 100 forms, 50 contracts and 64 emails that could be accessed/delivered/downloaded online.

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Senior Business Systems Analyst / Project Manager / Scrum Master at Delta Dental of Virginia
Roanoke, Virgina 24018
United States

May 2008-April 2009

•Performed the functions of a Business Analyst in a fully functional Agile-Scrum SDLC, to redesign, enhance and customize DCS2000 – in-house dental insurance administration software for Delta Dental of Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas. •Later functioned as Scrum Master for bringing aboard a new client – Delta Dental of Colorado, that involved a complete release spanning 12 scrum iterations. Electronic Data Interchange •The project was to integrate DCS2000 with Mercury Data Exchange, a clearinghouse; the tasks were the migration to 4010A1 norms, secure data transfer functionality for eligibility enquiry and response, predetermination, claims submission and remittance processing. Electronic Funds Transfer •The project was to automate the process of generating invoices and collecting premiums from Risk Groups and admin fees from Administrative Services Groups. Payments were drafted through ACH. •This project saved nearly 1000 man-hours of back office work /month. •Created an estimated $200,000/year in saving by automating the process of payment to providers through ACH. •Realized an 85% reduction in time taken to pay providers after the receipt of claims. Provider Notification of Overpayment and Recovery •The task was to automate the process of notifying Providers of overpayment and recovery. Client Knowledge Reporting •A reporting web application was developed in ASP.net and SQL backend which included 27 reports. •Analyzed data sets from multiple data sources (SQL Server 2005, and Oracle 9i and 10g), defined unique related datasets for advanced reporting. Used LDAP to manage the provision of access to the report, among Group Administrators, Brokers, Subscribers, Providers and Internal Users. Responsibilities •Helped produce and provide estimates, schedules and status reports during two releases – Orange 08, Maroon 09. •Conducted interviews with business users/stakeholders from Colorado, Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas, to gather requirements for customization and enhancement. •Analyzed all the clients’ requirements, compiled them, determined deltas with the existing functionality and developed generic customized enhancement requirements to meet the needs of all of them. •Created work flow diagrams, process diagrams and design documents using UML notation in MS Visio. •Conducted Joint Application Design sessions with developers to define project scope and functionality. •Created and managed BRD, FDD and User stories; •Worked with Benefit Services Department and analyzed the number of calls registered on each product. Helped reduce the number of calls by 35% (Improvement realized over a 6 months period).

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Project Manager - Doctoral Research Program at Government College of Technology
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641013
India

August 2001-April 2007

• Established a research facility to gain approval to conduct research program for PhD degree. • Independently managed and reported the progress of the first two batches of research students from enrollment to award of degree per University norms. Responsibilities: •Created a detailed project proposal, complete with initial and ongoing resource requirements •Gathered and implemented all requirements during the entire life cycle of accreditation process meticulously adhering to Government procedures and University norms. •Worked with multiple disciplines, customized projects modules, and multiple teams in a Government environment. •Defined complete scope of the individual project modules through interactions with research supervisors, scholars and Government officials. •Resolved conflicts arising from the diversity of disciplines and through detailed scheduling in phases of individual projects based on supervisor, student and institution overall interest. •Effectively proposed for distribution of funds allotted in a phased manner for the subscription of journals, participation in conferences, organizing guest lectures/workshops. •Developed and maintained precise documentation of lessons learned for future preventive and corrective actions. •Helped establish a fully functional research coordination cell, new research centers in individual engineering and science departments and developed a software application for enrollment/approval of research supervisors, admission/enrollment of research scholars, with ability to tracking their progress.

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Project Manager / Research Analyst at Mettur Thermal Power Plant
Mettur, Tamil Nadu 636406
India

October 2002-August 2004

•Created mathematical and analytical models for real time power generation process •Designed artificial intelligence based PID controllers for the process Superheated Steam Temperature control Process •This project involved creation of mathematical and analytical models for the 210MW turbine's Superheated Steam temperature control process from real time data collected. •Created ARX, Artificial Neural Networks, and ANFIS models using Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing, Symbolic Computation and Artificial intelligence concepts. •Managed a team of 12 for approximately 1 year; researched and analyzed the existing real time processes, information systems, and their future direction. •Provided recommendations for enhanced system modeling to facilitate better understanding of the processes. •Identified time and costs pertaining to the recommended modeling solution. •Prepared reports and graphs related to operational costs, utilization trends and forecasting using corporate database. •Managed a high profile dynamic team of Masters and research scholars effectively utilizing their diverse skills. •Facilitated the training through carefully designed courses to enable the scholars to gain expertise required to apply the latest trends. •Performed various analyses and constantly rescheduled activities to meet the demands of the team and the business.

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Project Manager/Infrastructure Establishment at Government College of Engineering
Bargur, Tamil Nadu 635104
India

August 1997-August 2001

•Established AC and DC Electrical Machinery, Power Electronics, Microprocessor and Computer Laboratories for the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department Electrical Engineering Department: Infrastructure Establishment Manager The requirement was to establish new Engineering Laboratories at the new Campus at Bargur. Tasks included planning, procurement, installation and commissioning of all the machinery / equipment, hardware and software, in compliance with Government norms. •Studied and assessed the Government systems and business processes •Performed requirement analysis, and meticulously designed various procurement documents for vendor management. •Participated in project planning and implementation scheduling meetings with Public Works Department officials and College authorities throughout the project life cycle. •Worked in accordance with project plans and scope effectively adapting to changes. •Functioned as the primary liaison between the Government funding authorities, vendors, and over-sight team throughout the project cycle. •Helped Project Manager in the procurement, installation, commissioning and handing over of all machinery and equipment •Actively involved in the planning and utilization of huge government funds effectively, using all cost refundable, time and materials and fixed price contracts. •The completion of the project on schedule facilitated the shifting of the college to the new campus on time.

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