Director/ Senior IT Professional

Desislava Nikolova

*** ******* ******* ****, ***** 904, Toronto, Ontario, M6K 3S2

Tel: 647-***-**** / Email: *********.*******.********@*****.***

CAREER PROFILE

An experienced Senior IT Professional with over 10 years of progressive

experience in the Software/Financial/Hospitality industry. Key areas of

expertise include: Stakeholder & Portfolio Management, Vendor, Contractor

and Offshore Management, Strategic Planning & Operational Alignment,

Enterprise Transformation, Relationship & Service Delivery Management, Team

Building, Coaching & Mentoring, Performance Management & Metrics, Process

Improvement and Implementation, Program and Project Management, Budgeting

and Planning.

A proven track record in linking corporate vision to the delivery of

desired results through people empowerment and the effective use of

resources, processes and technologies. Demonstrated ability to plan,

develop and manage complex IT solutions in excess of $37 million with a

keen focus on Quality Assurance, Client Care and Continuous Improvement.

A strong motivator and team player with effective leadership,

communication, decision making, problem solving and interpersonal skills.

Self-motivated with the ability to excel in a fast-paced environment;

communicate effectively at all levels; manage competing priorities; and

adapt readily to new challenges.

EDUCATION

Cornell-Queen's Executive MBA

2015

Cornell University - S.C Johnson Graduate School of Management, Ithaca, NY

University - Queen's School of Business, Kingston, ON

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hons) in Computer Science and Mathematics

2005

Trent University, Peterborough, ON

ITIL (Foundation Certification in IT Service Management)

CSTE (Certified Software Test Engineer)

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Executive Management Consultant July

2014 - present

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is an American hospitality company

that owns, manages and franchises over 1200 hotels in over 100 countries

and nine brands: Luxury Brands: St Regis, W, Luxury Collection; Upper

Upscale Brands: Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridien; Mid-Market Brands: Four

Points by Sheraton, Aloft, Element.

Engaged as a management consultant to the executive leadership team of

Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou hotel to assist with developing a strategy to

improve revenue per available room (RevPAR) positioning against direct

competitive set. The scope of this project includes an assessment of

Sheraton Hongkou's current Marketing and Communications strategy along with

the potential utilization of their current Management Information Systems

infrastructure. This project will provide a set of impactful marketing

recommendations that will allow Sheraton Hongkou to execute a

differentiated positioning driving revenue and incremental market share.

Key Deliverables:

V Marketing report

V Presentation of key recommendations

Head of Quality Assurance &Testing Practice

Aug, 2012 - July 2014

ADP, Toronto, ON

Direct a global team of 40 QA Analysts through all phases of concurrent

projects, to test, certify and successfully deliver on all development

deliverables.

Build a strong QA practice. Implement and execute appropriate quality

processes and standards. Measure and report on overall QA execution and

overall product/release quality. Identify incremental tools and resources

to deliver quality products.

Provide a consolidated view of release quality and test execution progress.

Measure and improve client satisfaction. Develop action plans focused on

elimination of service gaps between expectations and performance.

Key Achievements:

V Performed an assessment of people, tools and processes used at ADP,

summarized observations and provided recommendations. Created a

roadmap and executed on approved recommendations.

V Transformed the QA function at ADP from a testing function to a

quality assurance and continuous improvement function through training

initiatives, new tools and processes.

V Worked with different vendors to recruit over 20 contract resources

both in Canada and in India to support a large platform migration

initiative and a new product launch. Negotiated on hourly rates with

vendors.

V Took ownership of the overall SDLC from a QA and release

management/coordination perspective.

V Implemented Continuous Improvement and Quality Governance metrics.

V Acted as a driving force for implementing Test Automation from

documenting requirements to creating a road map. Performed quarterly

assessments of the test automation initiative and provided feedback

for improvement.

Director of Quality Assurance & Continuous Improvement July

2010 - Aug, 2012

Operitel/ OpenText, Peterborough, ON

Responsible for planning, strategizing and implementing Continuous

Improvement programs and processes to accomplish strategic goals of the

organization. Identified and promoted industry best practices.

Built and reinforced interdepartmental relationships by driving excellence

in communication. Partnered with project and executive teams to ensure

people and processes delivered on project and corporate objectives.

Collaborated with project stakeholders to support projects with resource

requirements, scheduling and risk management.

Managed annual departmental budgets and carried out needs forecasting.

Provided leadership to direct reporting teams, inclusive of recruitment,

mentorship and management, career development and coaching, performance

evaluation, and compensation reviews.

Maintained the Quality Assurance Roadmap, including processes, systems and

resources to support core products and customized solutions. Leveraged

tools and industry measures for quality readiness through test automation

and code coverage.

Key Achievements:

V Implemented a Multilingual Online Knowledgebase System, featuring

product manuals, release notes, FAQs and tutorials.

V Implemented an Automated Testing Framework leveraged for frequent

release cycles, higher test coverage, reduced testing time and

improved software quality.

V Established a Change Management Advisory Committee to review and

approve release and deployment schedules, changes in the product,

assess for impact of changes against all product features.

Director of Quality Assurance & Client Care

May 2009 - June 2010

Operitel, Peterborough, ON

Established customer-oriented metrics leading to overall quality

improvement and defect reduction. Applied governance practices to review

and approve changes in the product, assess for impact of changes against

all product features.

Administered the planning, execution and delivery of Client Care

programs/campaigns within designated portfolios - ensuring compliance with

business objectives, achieving excellence and strengthening client

relationships.

Implemented new tools and processes within the department to increase

efficiency reduce response times and monitor adherence to Service Level

Agreements.

Maintained the Quality Assurance Roadmap, including processes, systems and

resources to support core products and customized solutions. Leverage tools

and industry measures for quality readiness through test automation and

code coverage.

Managed and sustained vendor partnerships, developed relationships across a

number of areas from professional and academic stakeholders.

Key Achievements:

V Established the QA department at Operitel.

V Implemented a HelpDesk System, consolidating 76 client specific

ticketing systems, improving SLA compliance rates, response and

resolution timelines.

V Designed and implemented an overall QA strategy to support the overall

software development lifecycle of a web based learning management

system (LearnFlex) and an integrated social networking and

collaboration platform (LearnFlex Connect), distributed in North

America, Europe and Asia.

QA Manager Feb, 2009-

April 2009

Operitel, Peterborough, ON

Oversaw the liaison between Software Requirements, Software Development and

Quality Assurance to ensure the quality of the released software products

and services.

Lead Quality Assurance Engineer

Aug, 2005-Jan 2009

Operitel, Peterborough, ON

Responsible for the development of test strategies, test plans, test

scenarios and test scripts. Perform system, integration and user acceptance

testing.

INTERESTS /AFFILIATIONS

Member - TBOT (Toronto Region Board of Trade)

2012 - present

Board of Directors - TASSQ (Toronto Association of Systems and Software

Quality) 2009- present

In my spare time I enjoy travelling to international destinations, learning

foreign languages and reading leadership, marketing, finance and global

economy literature.

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