CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

ad36q0@r.postjobfree.com 301-***-**** Atlanta, GA 30311 Secret Clearance

Summary

Experienced Project and Release Manager; effective in leading and directing software development applications and infrastructure projects from inception to launch. High-achieving management professional possessing excellent communication, organizational and analytical capabilities; with more than 15+ years of progressive management experience and repeated success in developing project initiatives, directing project plans and achieving revenue performance targets. A results-driven PM and RM who performs financial analysis and forecasting, while devising innovative solutions to resolve business and technology challenges.

Skills

CI/CD

Cloud Migration

Risk Analysis

Quality Assurance

Requirement Analysis

DevOps

Agile Methodologies

Release/Project and Change Management

SDLC

Version Control

Client Relations

Deployment Automation Tools

Experience

Cognizant (client - Cox Communications)

Sr Release Manager / Project Manager

02/2022 - Current

Document and manage solution code & environment dependencies

Develop and maintain Trial & Launch Entry / Exit Criteria

Develop yearly Release Schedules and orchestrate the Release Plan to move projects from Development thru to Production

Facilitate Technology resolution of Testing and Market Trial defects

Supported 60+ Major Releases, ensuring timely delivery with a 97% success rate

Led over 30 Release Readiness Reviews ensuring successful Business Go/No-Go decisions resulting in successful Production launches

Supported various methodologies to include Agile, Scrum and SAFe Agile.

Used JIRA for managing dependencies, feature requirements and stakeholders and Defect tracking

Used Change Management to automate change processes to integrate best practices into existing workflows

FINEOS

Cloud Operations Deployment Coordinator/Sr Release Manager

02/2019 - 02/2022

Enhanced the delivery of cloud deployments and collaborated with development teams and other personnel to streamline application services

Demonstrated experience with AWS Cloud migration and governance in order to move Healthcare companies claims processes from on-premise into the Cloud

Facilitated 20+ emergency releases into successful Prod deployments

Determined client’s technological needs and suggest solutions that meet them

Used Control-M as an automation tool in order to manage and schedule batch processing jobs as well as scheduling and processing business workflows over platforms and applications

Supported the use of Cryptography using Public-key encryption for TLS (Transport Layer Security)

Used TLS to encrypt communications between FINEOS and customer to facilitate privacy and data security

Ensured that issues and risks are identified, understood, and dealt with in a manner that mitigates risk to scope and schedule

Mentored Junior Release Managers ensuring skill levels and quality of support are top-notch

Worked with Cloud engineers in the creation, testing, and implementation of software applications.

Reviewed release scope and deliverables with key stakeholders

Worked with Change Management Team while facilitating deployment planning meetings to collect data and information pertaining to the release

Conducted Go/No-Go and CAB (Change Activity Board) meetings

Supported annual internal SOC1 and SOC2 compliance for auditing purposes

Managed and supported security patching

Managed the overall cost of the releases and activities and consistantly remained on budget 95% of the time.

Managed the cost of 3rd party items (AWS, New Relic, JBOSS, etc..).

BRMI (client - Defense Logistics Agency)

Director, Release Management

12/2017 - 02/2019

Planned, scheduled and coordinated 25+ software releases, achieving a 98% uptime and increased efficiency by 30%.

Met with customers to ensure CR (Change Request) are captured to depict business and functional requirements

Oversaw the QA team formulating the creation of test cases and helped enhance QA processes which reduce release related bugs by 25%

Owned the Release Management lifecycle which included scheduling, coordinating and the management of releases across the enterprise for multiple applications across various portfolios

Oversaw the implementation and tracking of Regression, Integration, Performance and End-to-End Testing

Managed the BI Team of 30 individuals to include ETL Developers, QA Personnel, BA's and Engineers to successfully assess defects

Conducted weekly status meetings with internal teams, customers and IT Leadership personnel

Planed the roll-out process and the sequence of new systems and platforms

Interfaced and communicated with Test Manager, Dev Managers, IT Ops and the PMO on a daily basis

Led the effort of defining the IT strategic direction for release management tools for IT to ensure the process requirements are built in

Familiarity with CI/CD using “Ui Path” for Robotic Process Automation.

PeopleNTech Atlanta, GA

Sr Project Manager

08/2017 - 12/2017

Coordinated internal resources and 3rd party vendors for the flawless execution of projects on time, within budget and scope 100% of the time

Worked with client to define project scope and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders and ensuring technical feasibility

Set deadlines, assign responsibilities and monitor and summarize progress of project

Prepare reports for upper management regarding status of project

Managed changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques

Measured project performance using appropriate tools and techniques

Oversaw the implementation and tracking of Regression, Integration, Performance and End-to-End Testing

Work with the QA Lead developing test cases to ensure they are mapped to appropriate business requirements

Lead teams in managing Agile and Waterfall Projects for Software, Infrastructure and Security related initiatives.

Discover Technologies (client – DCMA)

Sr Release Manager / Project Manager

01/2016 - 06/2017

Supported the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency); by managing the overall coordination of the Production Release Process

Managed the compilation, assembly and delivery of source code into finished products or other software components for IWMS (Integrated Workload Management System)

Worked with Requirements Coordinator and Program Manager, incorporating defined capabilities and epics into the release plan

Facilitated and verified customer acceptance/signoff on deliverables

Reviewed artifacts with Configuration Manager and Test Coordinator to ensure production readiness

Implemented Deployment Readiness Reviews as a new R&D Initiative prior to pushing software and infrastructure changes into Production

Reviewed reports from Configuration Manger to ensure Development and Integrated Development Environment are properly synchronized in order to provide a stable framework for development, deployment, audit and accountability for software components

Identified opportunities to make tactical improvements to the release management process while continuing to drive to an Agile deployment model with CI/CD

Documented and communicates all changes for a release in release notes

Created release management standards and policies to bolster team efficiency by 20%

Set yearly and multi-year release schedule to coincide with the mapping of the organizations business and functional goals

Facilitated Go/No-Go Reviews and participated in CAB (Change Activity Board) reviews.

Nextgen Informational Services

Sr Technical Project Manager

08/2014 - 12/2015

Managed 6 projects worth $21.2 million dollars within AT&T's Business, Network and Corporate Solutions IT (BNCS-IT) Centralized Project Management Team (BNSCPMT); as well as POC for developing testing standards and managing testing aspects for all BNSCPMT AT&T IT Projects

Supported the Executive Product Manager in delivering their Product aspirations in a timely and cost effective manner

Managed project schedules, budgets, assets, requirements and testing

Managed 23 project staff and ensured all project personnel understood the scope and objectives of the project

Monitored the progress of the project, making any necessary adjustments, while reviewing the quality of the completed work

Met with clients to take detailed ordering briefs and clarify specific requirements of each project

Delegated project tasks based on junior staff members' individual strengths, skill sets and experience levels

Met budgetary objectives and made adjustments to project constraints based on financial analysis

Managed and reviewed UAT (User Acceptance Test) test objectives and scenario creation to ensure alignment with business and system requirements

Managed local and offshore QA teams to implement quality procedures and standards and specifications while assessing and ensuring customer requirements are met

Worked with AT&T Testing tools to monitor system performance

Newbrook Solutions, Inc. (client – DIA)

Project Manager/Lead Sr Release Manager

06/2010 - 08/2014

Within the Defense Intelligence Agency’s IT PMO, led the development of software applications using a secure cloud-based data store within the agency’s cloud environment

Used Change Management to develop a PIP (Process Improvement) initiative, one of which saved the government over $1.2 million dollars

Managed schedules, budgets, assets, client expectations and overall project organization to ensure requirements and project deliverable dates were met

Planned and prioritized all deliverables and resources working across project(s) based on scope of work and project goals

Monitored project risks and scope creep to identify potential issues and proactively identify solutions to address them in advance

Communicated and documented project status and strategic recommendations to clients and senior management on a regular basis

Developed and monitored continuous improvement processes, aiming to reduce the number of defects and improve levels of quality

Responded to ad hoc request in a timely fashion in support of mission critical tasks

R&D activities undertaken to develop new products and improve existing services

Instrumental in writing SLA (Service Level Agreement) between DIA and other agencies

Supported Newbrook Solutions with capture management activities by assisting the company to win additional business

Participated in and led SCRUM sessions with the project development team

Incorporated DevOps to deliver applications and services at high velocity

Familiarity with GIT and TFS; worked with the project team and development teams for source code management, requirements, project management, testing and release management

Worked closely with various vendors to initiate and support new business development

Mentored more junior Release Managers

Maintained ownership of the Release Management lifecycle which includes scheduling, coordinating and managing releases across the enterprise for multiple applications

Conducted cross-program planning to oversee dependencies and solve conflicts

Raytheon Systems Company (client – NRO)

Project Manager/Senior Systems Engineer

08/1999 - 06/2010

Led the implementation of geospatial tools/applications supporting national security initiatives at the National Reconnaissance Office

Worked as Systems Engineering and Integration (SEI) Project Lead overseeing Enterprise Wide projects from initiation through production

Served as the Interim Chief of the Systems Engineering and Integration Division, managing 17 project/program managers

Led, planned and coordinated activities for single and multiple technical projects of various sizes and complexities

Completed requirements analysis, assessed impacts, and integrated projects into an operational baseline

Responsible for project planning, scheduling, risk assessment and risk mitigation, resource management, and quality management

Managed Software Application and Infrastructure related projects

Oversaw the purchase, delivery and installation of hardware for installation of servers to build out a data center floor

Formulated presentations and briefings and clearly provided project status to all levels of the organization

Used independent decision-making skills with regards to commitment of project resources, planning, implementation, and progress of projects

Provided use cases and constructed straw man schedules for projects

Worked with the Test Team to conduct various levels of application testing prior to deployment

Formulated Rough Order Magnitude estimates (ROMs), Basis of Estimates (BOEs) and Cost Proposals for new projects.

Education and Training

University of Maryland, University College Adelphi, MD

Masters of Science in Management Information Systems

05/1999

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD

Bachelors in Business Administration

05/1987

Industries

Federal Government, Healthcare, Travel, Banking, and Telecommunications

Additional Skills and Expertise

MS Office, MS Project, ASDS (Automated Standard Delivery System), Visio, Track It, HP QC, JIRA, Confluence, Icescrum, Perl, K2 Deployment Tool, Chef, Jenkins, PVCS, ChangeGear, Cloud Computing (AWS), Service Now, Remedy, CI/CD, DevOps, Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Root Cause Analysis, JBoss, Azure, Control-M and GIT

Professional Development

Certified Scrum Master

Six Sigma Specialist

Total Quality Management Certified

Fundamentals of Leadership Course

Program Leadership/Program Planning Course

Ethical Leadership Course

Frontline Leadership Course

PMP Boot Camp (PMP Certification Preparation)

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