SUMMARY

A PMP, Six Sigma, and ITIL certified, senior project/program manager with strong project management, organizational, problem solving, academic, technical skills, and hands-on experience, who has simultaneously managed multiple business process improvement and technology projects in cross-functional (matrix) organizations. A communicator and decision maker, working well horizontally and vertically, individually and as a team member.

Combines project management, business analysis, quality assurance, and Six Sigma with years of international work experience within a variety of industries (accounting, banking, financial services, travel, retail/wholesale, media, publishing, manufacturing, telecom, transportation, etc.) to deliver optimal solutions to support business growth.
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Program & Project Management · Business & Technology Management · Strategic Project Management
PMO · Six Sigma · ITIL · Business & Process Analysis · Workflow Optimization · QA & UAT Testing

Scope & Time & Cost Management · Risk Analysis · Resource Management · Portfolio Management · ROI
Earned Value Analysis · Project Quality Management · Change Management · Increasing Productivity · SDLC
Business, Process, System & Data Analysis · Workflow Optimization · QA/UAT Testing · System Implementation
Web Development & e-Commerce Projects · Client Server & Mainframe Projects · Portals & Document Management
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As Program/Project Manager and PMO member delivered unique business and technology solutions that increased productivity, reduced costs, aligned IT/IS with business needs, and ensured company growth.

• Implemented information technology and various information systems in a 1200 user environment that had no previous information technology exposure by applying project management methodology. Reengineered existing processes, and created new business processes to increase efficacy, efficiency, and to support business operations. Reduced costs by 30%, number of documents by 40%, and increased productivity of affected departments by 60%.
• As Program Manager in the largest privately owned travel company in the US, managed the most visible large-scale company projects from concept to implementation, speeded up project activities and reduced project costs up to 20%. Also, improved efficacy by 10% by reorganizing and coordinating multiple projects.
• Established a PMO office. Defined and introduced project management methodology and concepts of strategic project management. Created supporting workflow procedures, business processes and provided PM support to team members. Provided directions for project selection and ranking and ensured that business needs were translated in a clear description of functionality before project initiation.
• Managed business improvement projects and technical (web development, client server and mainframe) projects that enabled more business channels, and as a result significantly increased revenue to the company.
• Conducted requirements’ workshops with business users and created functional specifications for a multi million-dollar project. As liaison between business analysts, subject matter experts, development and testing teams, improved process of gathering requirements by more efficient coordination and requirements prioritization. The results were shortened timelines by 5-10% and reduced consulting fees. Applied Rational RUP. Organized and conducted QA testing in a way that shortened original testing timelines by 10%. Applied Six Sigma principles.

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Senior Project Manager Confidential, Montvale, NJ 11/2007 –10/2009

• Successfully managed (application development, migration, and integration) projects to facilitate monitoring of independence requirements legally mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley and the SEC. Acted as internal consultant, project, product, and deployment manager. Reported project status to leadership, executives and business sponsors.
• Managed enterprise risk management project and development and implementation of products that were used to perform internal quality performance reviews.
• Managed SharePoint portal project that included developing and implementing a new MS SharePoint 2007 site, as well as migrating and integrating old sites into the new portal.
• Facilitated agreement on solutions for business needs, and resulting solutions implementations. Successfully integrated business and technology implementations into the work experience of the business users.

• Managed project related work between various business, vendor, and technical groups (development/QA, support, reporting, communication, documentation, training, user acceptance testing, etc.) Team members were employees and outside consultants including offshore developers and testers.
• Created project estimates, worked on project financials (budget, costs, and forecasts), project planning, as well as on project monitoring and controlling. Effectively managed project execution and change control process.
• Communicated issues and risks. Managed issue escalation and risk management process.
• Conducted “Lesson Learned” sessions to avoid repeating problems, and to increase performance in future projects.
• Provided a PMO expertise in various project/program management areas as needed.
• Helped establish a Project Management Forum dedicated to educating and promoting project management across the firm.

IT Project Manager Confidential,New York, New York 07/2007 – 11/2007

• Managed asset and trade management project for a US subsidiary. The project included in-house development and testing, vendor solution, data migration and integration with other systems.
• Planned, scheduled, monitored, and controlled project activities. Reported progress to executives and sponsors.
• Performed business analysis, and provided a PMO expertise as needed.

Consulting Engagements 11/2005 – 12/2006
Senior Project Manager Cendant - Parsippany, New Jersey (06/2006 – 12/2006)

• Provided project management expertise in all PM areas by managing the most visible and complex projects. Team members were employees on various US locations and outside consultants including offshore development team.
• Planned, scheduled, monitored, and reported on activities related to the project. Managed project dependencies.
• Worked with management on project estimates (costs, schedules, etc.). Prepared cost benefit analysis, managed project budget, maintained expenditures, and controlled project financials. Used Clarity and Clarity Workbench.
• Managed cross-functional teams and produced project management deliverables for all project lifecycle phases.
• Planned, scheduled, monitored, and reported on activities related to the project. Conducted status review meetings.
• Coordinated business analysts and performed business analysis / QA as needed.

Senior PMO/QA Analyst FISA, New York City Agency - New York, NY (04/2006 – 05/2006)

• Provided PMO expertise in different PMO areas (communication plan, change management – implementation of Rational ClearQuest, variance, deliverable and performance metrics, etc.)
• Provided QA expertise by organizing and leading testing process, selecting and configuring testing tool, etc.

Senior Project Manager American Law Media - New York, NY (11/2005 – 03/2006)

• Managed complex web site migration project (requirements gathering, business process management, web site design, application development, data migration, technical integration, QA testing, user training, etc.) with business users and team members scattered throughout the country. Followed Rational RUP process framework.
• Controlled project requirements, scope, and change management issues.
• Provided project management expertise by implementing and following project management processes, and best PMO practices.

Confidential, Ramsey, New Jersey 10/1995 – 07/2005

• Managed the most visible web, e-commerce, migration, and integration projects (e.g. custom developed rules based system and booking engine for company’s commercial web site) with cross-functional teams from concept to completion. Managed teams of contractors, in-house professionals, and business users. Facilitated status meetings and performed deliverable reviews. Acted as both an internal consultant as well as a product and solution manager.
• Staffed projects and assigned project roles and responsibilities to cross-functional team members, coordinated technical reviews, and managed testing and deployment schedules and resources.
• Prepared cost benefit analysis, developed project plans that included project charter, scope statement, WBS, project schedule, time and cost estimates, issue, and risk analysis. Identified resources and necessary skill sets to complete projects. Performed procurement management (SOW, contract administration, etc.).
• Created project budget, maintained expenditures, performed cost tracking (EVM) and issue management.
• Conducted project reviews during the whole project life cycle. Developed project reports and updates.
• Ensured adequate testing to meet quality needs. Continually performed risk analysis during project duration.
• Initiated and created change and communication management procedures to meet company needs.
• Conducted pre/post project sessions to evaluate present state, and recommended improvements for future projects

Systems Analyst, Team Leader

• Conducted requirements’ workshops with business users, documented user requirements (use cases, storyboards, scenario diagrams, etc.), and created functional specifications for web projects. This included company custom based solutions and integration with third party vendors and legacy systems. Followed RUP methodology.
• As a team leader, implemented intranet portal & document management system from concept to completion.
• Planned, organized, and conducted QA testing for web based, ERP, client server and mainframe systems.

Project Manager Confidential,Zagreb, Croatia, Europe 1994 – 10/1995

• Managed a team of business analysts and testers, subject matter experts, and outside developers for various projects (Stock IS, Swap IS, etc.). Planned, scheduled, monitored, and controlled work tasks.
• Conducted risk identification and qualitative risk analysis sessions in order to effectively manage risks.

DP Manager Confidential,Zagreb, Croatia, Europe 1989 - 1994

• Implemented information technology and various information systems in a 1200-user environment by applying project management best practices. Organized and managed IS/IT functions. Hired, trained and supervised staff of 25. Provided leadership in day-to-day operations of the IT function. Purchased hardware and software, managed maintenance and support.

Systems Analyst -Financial Clearinghouse (Financial Services), Zagreb, Croatia, Europe
IS Project Manager -Croatian Railways, Zagreb, Croatia, Europe
Systems Analyst -Ericsson Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia, Europe
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• Project management software (MS Project, ProjectCentral, Niku), Visio, MS Office Suite, Oracle ERP (HR, FCO), CaliberRM, StarTeam, QuickTest Pro, ClearQuest, collaboration and document management system (Microsoft SharePoint Portal), Data/Process Modeling - ERWin, BPWin, PowerDesigner, RUP, functional knowledge of UML.
• Databases and programming languages (MS SQL Server, SQL Informix, HTML, Front Page, Java Script, Total, LINCII, LDA, PL/1, Mantis)
• IBM, Unisys, Unix and PC operating systems (MVS, JCL, SPF, MCP/AS, MARC, Unix, Windows XP)

Member of the following Associations · Project Management Institute (PMI) · IEEE
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• Diploma equivalent to Master of Science in Electronic Engineering.