Aurore Liziard

647-***-**** – Toronto, Ontario – ac9yvu@r.postjobfree.com – linkedin.com/in/auroreliziard

RE: Project Manager

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am passionate senior project management professional who is committed to implementing effective solutions in organizations to improve quality and achieve efficiencies. I manage employees and lead project teams that implement innovative information systems, including network, software and data security. My experiences over the last 10 years, typically centred around project portfolio management and in reviewing business process to structure staff organization.

Here are some focal highlights:

Project Management:

During my career, I have lead projects with different methodologies: waterfall and agile. I strongly believe in following the project management principles such as initiate, plan, execute, controls and close with an emphasis on project inter-dependency management.

In 2018, when VINCI Construction France changed the financial ERP system, 15 software needed to be updated to integrate the new data. All business areas of the company were affected (HR, Sales, Financial, Construction, Material. I had to gather and analyse their requirements and translate them into practical project plans. I lead 35 staff comprised from multiple business units (technical, application support or product team) using agile methodology and ensured initiatives were executed accordingly to project timelines. I produced documents throughout the project such as business case, charter plan, budget reports and presentations for project meetings and for reporting to senior management.

In leading a portfolio of 200 projects (between $10M and $2MM), I ensured that teams had the knowledge and tools required to effectively complete project tasks and achieve objectives. I have experience in the end to end project life cycle including requirements gathering, creation of project plans and schedules, obtaining and managing resources, managing budget, and facilitating project execution, deployment, and closure. I am proficient in using several cloud-based project management applications including Team Foundation Server, MS EPPM, SharePoint, Jira, and Trello.

As an IT Manager, I coordinated the digital transformation which included developing an effective change strategy. I created a digital task force to analyse initiatives and projects from subdivisions. I defined IT training courses for users. Thereby employees knew their IT environment and where to go for the tools. I instituted digital steering committees to discuss and decided which initiatives aligned with business transformation strategy.

Relationship Management:

I proved my competency in balancing hard and soft skills early in my career. For example, in 2007 at VINCI Construction France, I was selected to meet with SVPs at our most important subdivision where I was tasked with identifying the business requirements to develop a commercial dashboard software. I successfully negotiated delay and quality requirements within the client's timeframe and budget. ($ 90M for 4 months).

More recently as an IT Director, I coordinated the digital transformation. I develop a project strategy in collaboration with key stakeholders, gaining agreement to the project plan and timelines, and managing the project to its successful completion. One of the topics was to create a time tracking mobile software. I negotiated with the HR subdivisions during committees to find an agreement on tracking rules such as travel or extra hours. I presented status overall the project. I communicated risks when a requirement impacted technical issues, but also explained mitigation plans including impact to other products and customer service.

In 2018, I negotiated with the unions and the SVPs when I wanted to extend the opening range of the call center during the weekend. After 3 months of meetings, we found an agreement suitable for all parties.

Mentorship & Coaching:

As the head of the Software development, I lead 30 team members. I coached them on Agile methodologies by developing and teaching training courses. I also led the ITIL transformation in our IT department and developed a training strategy to teach ITIL foundation by practices. Every month there were new study cases and new best practices to apply. As an IT director, I used this methodology to improve our reporting to stakeholder management. Every quarter, we took a business area and through regular meetings we improved our reports and information. The chance to motivate others to do their best work is one of the things I love the most.

Procurement and Vendor management:

I closely worked with vendors for 10 years, managing contracts negotiation and relationship. I lead the process all the way from RFP creation/evaluation to awarding contract.

I created a software on Sharepoint to follow contracts and evaluate contractors.

In 2017, I managed a tender to upgrade our 750 network lines and I negotiated successfully with network vendors, reducing costs by 6%.

Technical Delivery:

Throughout my career, I have used my analytical, computer and project management skills to lead and plan software product deployments, strategic operations and IT infrastructures.

In 2007, I created the 1rst software eco-system at VINCI Construction which involved reorganising data in 22 different software to one so that data could be managed by one single software. We gained 23% in maintenance time after this homogenization. More recently, in 2017, I rebuilt 3 legacy software with an API Model (application authorization, reference data, hierarchical of 6-level organization subdivisions).

Throughout my career, I have demonstrated exceptional resiliency in the face of new problems/challenges while adapting quickly to change, strong leadership qualities as well as outstanding IT project and people management skills. I have achieved consistent and remarkable results under pressure in all stages of projects lifecycle by fulfilling expectations and deadlines. I have been recognized as a key element of the collaborative working success of the delivery of complex IT programs with cross-functional teams.

For a more detailed presentation of my skills and background, please review the enclosed resume and feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience. Thank you in advance for your consideration and I look forward to your call.

Sincerely,

Aurore Liziard

Aurore Liziard

647-***-**** – Toronto, Ontario – ac9yvu@r.postjobfree.com – linkedin.com/in/auroreliziard

PROJECT MANAGER

Strategic Planning – Scrum Master – Over 10 years’ experience

Bilingual (English/French)

Strategic, analytical and highly adaptable professional with over 10 years’ experience in providing leadership in developing, deploying and evaluating IT systems aimed at improving quality and efficiency in a matrix environment.

Skilled in optimizing team performance by leading, training and mentoring individuals and teams to successfully meet business objectives. Expert knowledge and experience in Software Delivery Life Cycle (SDLC), Project Management methodologies and principles, Agile best practices including Kanban, PMP and Scrum. Passionate about addressing challenges and implementing effective solutions.

Project Management

Coaching Leader

Decision Making

Problem Solving

People management

Agile Best Practice

Relationship Management

Budget and Financial Reporting

Vendor Management

REVELANT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

VINCI Construction France – Paris, France – 2003 to 2018

IT Manager 2016 to 2018

Accountable for leading organizational transformation and modernization of information systems. Developed and managed budgets over $10MM.

Managed the 15 software update to integrate data from the new ERP ($1.1MM for 18 months).

oEngaged and communicated with a wide range of stakeholders (including business divisions, senior management, unions, vendor and technical teams) during different phases of the project to gather requirements and report on delivery status.

oConducted project kick-off meetings, defined project objectives and scope, tracked risks, assumptions, and managed detailed project schedules using Microsoft Project.

oManaged scope changes and resources. Identified risk, issues and defined mitigation strategies.

Provided oversight, governance, and change management across 250 projects.

oDelivery on time of projects increased by 25% by using Agile Methodology of sprint cycles.

oEnsured financial and contractual compliance for project ranging from $25M to $2MM.

oDeveloped workplans to deliver products on time and within budget

oLed cross functional project teams to be self-directed with strong accountability, decision making, conflict resolution and transparency.

oAnalyzed and prioritized projects within portfolio to deliver products aligned with business direction of organization.

oManaged and coached 8 direct reports and a team of over 100 staff across the organization.

Lead the implementation of a powerBI report to show the potential commercial backlog ($50M for 3 months)

oCollaborate closely with Project Managers and Senior Executives to track KPIs.

oManaged the project from beginning to end ensuring that project management principles were respected such as project plan, project charter, budget and staff allocation.

oCxO and SVPs used it during executive meetings and were made business decisions faster than 15%.

Spearheaded transformational strategy to implement IT governance

oWorked directly with business stakeholders in delivering technical solutions and reorganized IT operations as value-added contributors.

oImproved organizational operations by instituting executive steering committee, updating communications, providing support for local digital ideas and aligning IT initiatives.

Rebuild 3 legacy applications with an API model ($1MM/year) which led to the decrease of third party maintenance by 10% resulting in financial savings.

Migrated successfully a construction site audit forms application to MS Azure ($100M for 4months).

Developed and deployed time tracking mobile application (IOS, Android) for 7000 construction site users ($530M for 9 months).

Planned and managed multiple technology infrastructure improvements to increase efficiency and reduce costs such as streamlined SQL platform, deployed the same WIFI system everywhere or upgraded virtualization platform.

Optimization IT Program Manager 2010 to 2015

Reviewed all current IT functions to identify opportunities to increase performance and optimize the global process. Analyzed existing processes, recommended solutions and executed continuous improvement activities.

Led projects reviews across a portfolio of 150 projects in a cross-functional environment.

oEnsured all project deliverables conform to PMO project management standards and procedures (PMBOK) by instituting steering committees, compliance committees and reporting of project status to senior leadership.

oProvided support and advice to project managers to harmonize processes across projects, monitoring projects for risk, effective planning, budget allocations, progress reports, and implementation of appropriate actions.

oResearched vendors for pricing, equipment availability and staffing. Negotiated costs with the vendor during procurement processes. Evaluate RFP proposals against evaluation criteria.

oDeveloped and implemented project policies/procedures through the software development life cycle to maximize project management efficiency, effectiveness, and quality by 10%.

Managed a project to digitize invoice approvals, facilitate their cycle signature and automate the validation of key criteria. ($950M for 12 months). Software used by 6000 employees including senior leaders.

oCommunicated with stakeholders (including senior management, vendors, technical teams and other scrum teams) to ensure that the developed solution met with business requirements.

oTime savings of approx.10% for senior roles and up to 50% for accounting positions were achieved.

Co-ordinated a 3 year project to development an in-house pricing studies application to manage construction Requests for Proposal (RFP) ($1.5MM /year).

oDeveloped effective communication and marketing strategies as well tools and resources for users to drive successful adoption of application.

oProduced multiple deliverables including financial status reports, annual budget estimates, specifications documentation, and project launch files.

oEffectively introduced SOS (scrum of scrum) and utilized Team Foundation portfolio management to bring status of all the projects under single roof.

oCost of conducting construction project studies decreased by 10%.

Migrated all servers to 2 data center hosted by Equinix ($1.5MM for 18 months)

oDefined the Business Continuity Plan, the Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and IT risk assessment.

oIntroduced Kanban Method for high priority customer issues.

Lead Agile transformation projects in the IT department by developing and facilitating education and training strategies for Scrum Masters and teams (40 people) related to agile best practices, resulting in improved team dynamics and performance.

Managed a project to generate a real-time dashboard on a Microsoft Business Intelligence platform (MS BI) about operational and financing forecasts ($150M for 6 months).

Head of Software Division 2006 to 2009

Managed and coached team of developers, QA, project managers, BI, architects, offering opportunities for training and career advancement (up to 30 employees). Supported the rollout of new software products as well as ongoing maintenance of legacy systems.

Introduced SharePoint 2005 for all intranets (22 subdivisions, 10 000 users) and transitioned to SharePoint 2007 ($1.5MM for 24 months).

oManaged major collective activities, issues, and risks across agile teams in support of the project portfolio.

oWorking with business users to finalize the requirements and then converting them to functional specifications.

oManaged costs, schedules, contractors and quality by overseeing project deliverables.

Designed/developed the software ecosystem across the organization so that all the applications use a unique and centralized definition repository ($900M for 24 months).

oEstablished formal project management methodologies in division and improved team performance through use of Scrum and Unified Process development methodologies.

oReduced application test time by 20% and application bugs by 15% by gathering requirements, writing effective user stories and implementing continuous integration.

Managed a project to develop an in-house procurement software ($1.3MM for 20 months).

oImplemented and facilitated Scrum Agile processes and ceremonies: sprint planning meeting, Daily Scrum, sprint review meeting, and sprint retrospective meeting.

oSupervised the day to day operation of all assigned staff. Encouraged open communication and collaborative problem solving.

oCreated a template report for senior management increasing stakeholders’ satisfaction by 10%.

oManaging vendor relationships from commercial negotiations to implementations.

Developed annual budgets and monthly forecasts on over 15 concurrent and cross-functional projects. Generated reports for senior executives on project status while highlighting improvements.

Implemented a hardware inventory management software (cranes, rolling and portable machines, etc.) ($2.2MM for 18 months).

Additional professional experience 2001 to 2005

Project Manager and Developer with VINCI Construction France; Analyst Programmer with Getronics DECAN, and Analyst Programmer with TF1Video.

OTHER EXPERIENCE IN CANADA

Volunteer Jr Jackman Public School Oct 2018 to present

Lead projects for school events and activities.

oAccountable for fundraising by finding and engaging sponsors.

oCoordinate volunteers in preparation activities.

oReport event progress to the school Council

Create plans and teach students to learn French.

Organize and coordinate pizza lunch for students.

EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS

OSLT in Workplace Communication Skills for Technology – 2019

Humber College, Toronto, Canada

Master of Science (MSc) in Software Engineering – 2001

Institut de Sciences et Techniques des Yvelines, Versailles, France

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Computer Science – 1998

Paris XIII University, Paris, France

Certifications

ITIL Foundation Certificate - APMG International – 2014

Scrum Master Certificate - Scrum Alliance – 2009

Training Courses

PMBOK, Scrum, ITIL, COBiT, CMMi

Management, Risk Management, Service Desk, Data Protection Act

Contact this candidate