Project/Program Manager

Location:

Atlanta, GA

Posted:

August 04, 2014

Contact this candidate

Resume:

Alana B. Kellam

*** ****** ****** ****. *******, GA. 30346

678-***-**** **************@*****.***

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

> Hands on Program/Project Manager

> Planning / Business Strategy

> Budgets & Forecasting of over 25 million per year

> Over 50 Software project full life cycle implementations-Scrum/Agile &

Waterfall Methodologies

> Client Services & Timely management of software releases

> Project Budgets forecasted for the year, and matched monthly against

actuals and estimations

> Yearly/Monthly Forecasts--Business scope and user stories were tied to a

correlating estimate/budget of work.

> Business scope broken down into user stories were planned into various

releases and sprints for the year

> Risk & Issue Management/ Corporate Governance

EXECUTIVE HISTORY

7/2011-current Atlanta, Ga NCR Oracle Program Manager

. Managed up to a 25 million dollar budget per year with several projects,

and 50 direct and indirect reports

. Responsible for using best practice PMO methodology to create a project

plan to fit the stakeholders/sponsor's needs and deliver on desired

outcomes.

. Implemented IT governance Accountable for delivery of work from all

suppliers for multiple programs, including risk, quality, change

management, schedule, and financial management

. Project metrics, including gathering, reporting, trend analysis,

creation, and metrics. Risk assessment--Ability to identify risks, issues

and problems, generate solutions and choose appropriate alternatives

using basic root cause analysis

. Developed integrated baseline project plans applying estimating models,

identifying resources and skills required, documenting assumptions,

refined plans and managed performance against them. Recommended best

solutions based on understanding of business issues

. Defined and worked within the confines of goals for future organizational

performance and decided on the task and use of resources needed to attain

them; communicates goals to employees throughout all levels, and used

influence and sound judgment to motivate employees to achieve

organizational goals, ensured operational and strategic direction and

accountability.

. Linked unit operations to strategic objectives, exercises authority for

unit policy and procedures and operational decisions for departments;

influencing organizational and community relations to develop and achieve

strategic goals in the management of customer relations.

. Responsible as assigned for major components of nearly all facets of the

Budget Group's activities; participated in the conceptual development of

the various budget processes and specifications for all projects.

. Administer NCR's budget process and conducted budget planning and

development leading to the formulation of the initial operating budget;

evaluate budgetary proposals, analyzed performance and formulate the

basis for the development for alternative scenarios of the future

prospects of both income and expense.

. Prepare and develop significant analyses on various budget planning

proposals for the strategic planning process and budget development

process;

. Participate in the planning and implementation of the annual initial

operating budget, including salary increase planning and processing,

tuition income forecasting and analyses, and budgetary allocations and

reallocation; prepare executive summaries and detailed control schedules

for the various phases of budget processes;

. Responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring the budgetary

and strategic planning activities; Participate in the design of systems

and instructions for the preparation of budget plans requests, and

proposed operating budgets by individual budget administrators; Worked

collaboratively with key stakeholders to forecast and initiate a

budgetary platform that is both cost effective and strategically in line

with the future short and long term objectives;

. Participated on ad hoc committees for the development and refinement of

budget related processes including computer systems development that

aligned with mission-based budgeting initiatives.

. Managed relationship with top business management as the key driver of

strategic plan for build out of business system capabilities

. Managed project scope by assessing requirements changes, determining and

conveying impact on budget, time and risk. Clarified, identified, and

tracked requirements and issues, removed barriers, resolved minor project

issues and escalated to immediate manager where required. Documented

project activities, deliverables, tools, and findings for future

projects.

. Responsible for engagement profitability and customer satisfaction by

structuring and managing deals through completion.

. Managed Global, multi-phased Oracle project focusing in managing

engagement risk and delivery quality. Decisions made regarding acceptable

and unacceptable risks for the engagement. For each acceptable risk,

responsible for managing, crafting, & executing the mitigation plan.

. Pre-Sales: Responsible for working with services sales executives and pre-

sales architects to size engagements, structure proposals and statements

of work, develop and deliver client presentations to support sales in

selling new work.

. Project Initiation: Established the processes to support engagements,

including setting up charge codes, defining the project calendar, and

defining deliverable acceptance and reporting procedures. Project

initiation also included validating scope, conducting project kickoff and

holding Satisfaction discussions with stakeholders.

. Project Status Reports: Tracked the performance of the engagement weekly

and monthly, as well as the quality of project deliverables at key

project milestones. Reported on the effectiveness of the engagement

against the baseline plan. Project status reported to the client as per

the client's need, and complex projects typically reported on internally

on a monthly basis. Program metrics and evaluation plan.?

. Billable Utilization & Client Invoices: Reviewed and approved consultant

and partner billable hours and expenses each week, and reviewed and

approved client invoices before they were sent. Defined the acceptance

criteria for each project deliverable, worked with the team to establish

delivery dates for each deliverable, and oversaw the review of client

deliverables to ensure they met all client acceptance criteria as defined

in the SOW.

. Developed and maintain a strong working relationship with the client

project team and sponsors.? Proven success managing complex projects on-

time and on- or below-budget. Ability to organize, prioritize, and meet

competing deadlines with available resources.?Relationship-oriented.

Customer-focused. Willing to go the extra mile to delight clients. Highly

motivated and with excellent follow-through, multi-tasking, and problem-

solving skills.?Demonstrated responsibility in a self-directed manner.

. Developed work plans, schedules, project estimates, resource plans and

status reports to layout the progression and scope of the project.

Conducted project meetings and is responsible for project tracking and

analysis. Provided project status reports to management as necessary.

. Planview, JIRA, and Sharepoint tools utilized

8/2008-5/2011--Atlanta, Ga Blue Cross/Blue Shield Health Insurance Sr.

Program Manager

. Supervised multiple projects, Accenture Consulting firm teams, and

Cognizant Consulting teams. Proficient at defining and managing large

project infrastructure, work plans, tightly managing scope and

deliverables, owning project budgets and profitability, as well as

managing local, remote and offshore design, technical, and client teams.

. Managed 6 very large, multi-track web applications implementation

programs, as well as healthcare claims, medical records, clinical

documentation, billing & patient accounts, Medicare, Medicaid, Payer,

Provider, and Member projects.

. Managed vendor relationships, drove operational excellence, negotiated

contracts, and partnered with internal teams to positively impact

customer experience. International vendor management and corporate

representation. Managed project budgets of up to 10 million dollars, with

40 indirect reports.

. Facilitated the vendor proposal and review process as the team required.

. Liaised with contract owners/team members, and helped determine vendor

and contract needs (budget, term, proposed vendor(s).

. Monitored the contracts through the development process and facilitated

the process efficiently, provide communication and status of the process

from draft through execution.

. Thorough experience as the Subject Matter Expert on corporate and

Business Operations contract process, and responded to department

questions and assisted with contract issue resolution and vendor

reconciliation.?

. Managed a consulting engagement project with a budget responsibility of

approximately $10 million dollars +, 20 or more project team members (3

direct reports), overlapping Web Apps implementations on a monthly basis.

. Contractual Agreements (experience writing, contributing to, or otherwise

working with SOWs, procurement, contracts, etc.

. Assisted in implementation in several healthcare applications---TriZetto,

HIPAA 5010, QNXT, Facets, Payer, Membership, eligibility, and (Metavance,

Javelina) claims products, Lumenos, ESI, ICD10, HMO to PPO, and EDI

applications

. Daily status reports given to members of upper management regarding every

project for each project manager controlled the resources and efforts of

primary functional areas of the IT PMO Responsible for overseeing the

accomplishment of the objectives of Aetna and the IT organization.

. Completed all project related documentation including but not limited to

SOWS, Project Plans, Project Charter, training documentation, rep alerts,

policies and procedure updates.

. Auditing & project risk assessment

. Resource Management by utilizing Planview application (people, funding,

material, support) to keep project moving towards completion and provided

leadership in motivating subordinates to accomplish Aetna's IT's goals

and objectives. Developed a strong team through training and effective

organizational development practices.

. Implemented the policies, practices, and procedures of Aetna and

Information Technology organizations. Fiscal responsibility for IT

budgets. Established relationships with business users. Hired, trained,

coached, and evaluated performance of direct reports.

. Scoped, planned and managed projects through the entire life cycle, with

a hands on approach, ensuring delivery to time, cost and quality. This

includes ensuring that the solution is capable of enabling the business

to achieve benefit realization (identification of benefit triggers) as

well as demonstrating understanding of the organizational impact of

change.

. Created a project environment that enabled peak performance by team

members, and ensured delivery of projects that delivered ahead of

schedule.

. Analyzed risks, established contingency plans, identified trigger events

and responsible for initiating mitigating action.

. Developed win strategies, themes and discriminators to maximize the odds

of winning different programs.

. Developed proposals in accordance with RFP specifications.

. Scheduled proposal development and submission timelines.

. Coordinated proposal activities and conducted fact-finding meetings.

Participated as a member of the contract negotiation team.

. Gathered stakeholder input and ranked the top project risks in terms of

total impact. Managed relationships with project stakeholders, including

internal and external clients and vendors, keeping them informed of

progress and issues in order to manage expectations on all project

requirements and deliverables.

. Resolved issues related to client relations, governmental relations,

project quality, project risk, and project safety. Managed vendor

relations and procurement related to the project(s).

. Hands on with tactical Aetna systems and platforms including mainframe,

distributed and XML/browser based systems.

. Agile-Scrum environment/methodology

. Performed and supervised the acquisition and analysis of data to identify

business problems and opportunities

11/2004-7/2008--Atlanta, Georgia Accenture / AT&T Sr. Project Manager

/ Engagement Manager...

. Lead project teams and responsible for delivering projects on time,

within scope and budget and with quality in accordance with the project

charter for the mobility division, which impacted the Front Door Quad

Applications (OVALS, NSI, AMNQ).

. Managed team of 25 members, and 5 of them were direct reports

. AT&T IT UP Methodology that was a composite of Agile-Scrum concepts and

best practices.

. Budget Management

. Demonstrated proficiency in employing project management techniques

involving planning and managing iterations of work toward defined

objectives, project estimation, status meetings tailored to different

audiences, management of risk pertinent to each phase of a project's

Lifecycle, and management of change during the course of a project.

. Ensured operational success and execution by establishing and managing

project governance and communication on project status on deliverable,

timeline, issues and budget

. Acted as an escalation point to the project team and client management

and expedited resolution of key issues through cross functional

collaboration and executive engagement

. Ensured requirements, design reviews, configuration review, project and

deployment plans were properly developed and executed by adhering to

AT&T's implementation methodology

. Developed a baseline understanding of the product suite in order to

validate key design options and manage it from end to end.

. Engaged customers on additional requirements and business needs and

proactively define, scope and sell follow on project work

. Developed win strategies, themes and discriminators to maximize the odds

of winning different programs.

. Developed proposals in accordance with RFP specifications.

. Project Manager in upgrade of Oracle ERP Financial suite of applications

. Developed policies and procedures to facilitate use of the modules within

the Oracle Financials application and managed software support staff

. Provided production support to end-users internationally. End User

Assistance/Training...Lead and managed remote teams.

. Managed the code migration and release process weekly in an Agile-Scrum

environment

. Daily system maintenance of Oracle Financials, as a large-scale

integrated multi function ERP application with significant experience and

knowledge in new computing architectures and implementation.

. Conversant with all phases of Software Testing Life Cycle (STLC),

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) in Requirements gathering,

Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Testing, and development

of Configuration Documentation

. Served as project manager and prioritized assignments according to

implementation schedule, in order to exceed/maintain client satisfaction

while offering process management and change management solutions, proper

testing methods and as well.

. Agile-Scrum environment /methodology. Delivered solutions to client

groups that leveraged technology to bridge between content management and

collaboration solutions, or are applicable to both solution areas. Strong

vendor management, client management and negotiation skills.

. Responsible for leading and managing an information technology initiative

for large customers, to include designing and advising on solutions to

address IT leadership, governance, risk management and collaboration

challenges. Engaged senior executive leadership in major change

initiatives and best practice risk and decision-making processes,

facilitating cross team coordination and communication, and implementing

industry methods and best practices for strategic planning, change

management and portfolio/program/project management, in a financial

system and IT environment.

. Managed all contractual, technical, financial, and administration

functions associated with the project. Responsible for the effectiveness

and efficiency of the work group, managing performance to meet task,

resource and time requirements while serving as a resource for others in

work group.

1/2000-9/2004 Atlanta, Georgia State of Georgia PeopleSoft Project

Manager (Indep.Cont)

. PeopleSoft Financials & HR modules supported (AP, AR, GL, Payroll, & Time

and Labor)

. Continual liaison between the State of Georgia's Department of

Correction's state prison facilities and OIT department developers,

responsible for accurate problem documentation, JAD sessions,

troubleshooting of the more complex process improvements, production

problems and resolution of systems issues until the implementation's

completion.

. Change Management

. Managed the end-to-end activities (manual and automated testing) to

achieve a certain product, or outcome. This involved identifying and

controlling devices within the application, documenting all the

surrounding business processes, as well as interfaces with 3rd parties.

. Developed effective partnerships and instilled confidence in business

partners through effective communication and proven project results.

PeopleSoft 9.0 in a COBAL/DB2 mainframe environment