Shankar Sivaram

Email :ad483i@r.postjobfree.com

Phone :609-***-****

SUMMARY Experienced IT leader with over 20 years of expertise in Agile project management, IT delivery, system migrations, and technology upgrades. Adept at aligning IT strategies with business goals, driving operational efficiency, and reducing costs. Seeking a Senior Management role to leverage proficiency in Agile Methodology, SAFe Agile Framework, and

cross-functional team leadership. Known for a solid technology development background, successful project delivery, and fostering sustainable organizational growth.

Core Competencies:

● Certified Agile Leadership

● Agile Project Delivery

● Agile Process Implementation

● Strong Banking Domain Experience In Top Tier Companies

● Certified Project/Program Management

● Project Budgeting

● Offshore Management

● Project Planning

● Client Relationship Management

● Team Management

● Technical Proficiency

● Experienced In Data Analytics

● AI and Machine Learning

WORK EXPERIENCE AI AND Machine Learning MIT

Jan 2024 - Present

Hotel Booking Cancellation Prediction: (Using Dataiku)

● Developed and Implemented Predictive Models: Led a data-driven approach to analyze factors influencing hotel booking cancellations, utilizing univariate and bivariate analyses, decision trees, and random forests (with and without pruning) to build predictive models. Achieved high recall values through iterative model optimization and evaluation, resulting in enhanced accuracy in predicting cancellations.

● Optimized Policy Formulation: Leveraged insights from high identified through model analysis to formulate profitable policies for cancellations and refunds at INN Hotels Group. This data-driven strategy enabled proactive management of cancellations, reducing revenue loss and improving customer satisfaction.

● Comprehensive Analysis & Recommendations: Conducted detailed analysis using confusion matrix to evaluate model performance, identifying true positives, true negatives, false positives, and false negatives. Drew actionable conclusions and provided strategic recommendations to INN Hotels Group, empowering them to make informed decisions and mitigate the impact of booking cancellations effectively.

SMS Spam Detection: (Using RapidMiner)

● Advanced SMS Spam Detection Model: Led the development of a robust classification model to distinguish between 'spam' and 'ham' SMS messages at Cyber Solutions. Conducted comprehensive data exploration and preprocessing, leveraging advanced text mining techniques such as tokenization and stemming to optimize data quality and model performance.

● Optimized Model Selection & Training: Evaluated and implemented various machine learning algorithms including Decision Trees and Random Forests for text classification. Conducted rigorous model training and hyperparameter tuning to enhance accuracy, precision, and recall, resulting in a highly effective solution to combat SMS-based cyber threats.

● Performance Evaluation & Cybersecurity Enhancement: Split the dataset into training and testing subsets to rigorously evaluate model performance using key metrics. Achieved significant improvements in identifying and filtering out 'spam' messages, thereby strengthening cybersecurity measures and reducing the risk of cybercrimes and financial losses for Cyber Solutions and its clients.

Charles Schwab Jersey City, NJ

Senior Project Manager July 2016 - Feb 2024

(Scrum Master & Release Train Engineer)

● Managed a robust team of IT professionals with a focus on supervising a Data Analytics Application tailored for Financial Advisors and multiple infrastructure projects, spanning both On-Prem and Cloud implementations.

● Coached, mentored, and led Scrum & Product teams in the adoption of Agile and SAFe techniques, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.

● Collaborated with the client’s Agile Center of Excellence to assess teams' SAFe maturity levels and gathered client input for enhancing their maturity curve.

● Facilitated PI (Program Increment) Planning events involving various stakeholders and Product Owners, ensuring strategic alignment and efficient planning.

● Conducted Scrum ceremonies, including Daily Standups, Sprint Planning, Backlog Grooming, Demos, Retrospectives, Scrum of Scrums, promoting effective communication and streamlined processes.

● Implemented and championed Agile Delivery Methodology (ADM) across diverse projects, driving a cultural shift towards Agile principles and practices to enhance project delivery efficiency.

● Led Agile teams through the complete project lifecycle, employing ADM principles to streamline workflows, improve collaboration, and deliver high-quality products within specified timelines.

● Managed cross-team dependencies, actively removing blockers and impediments hindering progress, ensuring seamless collaboration across Agile teams.

● Produced velocity and metrics reports, introducing techniques for increasing productivity and providing insights for continuous improvement.

● Took a proactive approach in managing project risks and closely monitored sprint progress, implementing strategies to address challenges promptly.

● Assisted in managing project dashboards and artifacts in Jira/Jira Align and Confluence, ensuring accurate and up-to-date project information for stakeholders.

● Possessed SAFe certifications in Advanced Scrum Master, Product Manager/Product Owner, and Release Train Engineer, demonstrating expertise in facilitating PI Planning events.

● Experienced in working with multiple product teams with varying levels of Agile maturity, bringing in best practices such as continuous integration, code/design reviews, transparency, accountability, Jira tracking, product visioning, self-management, empowerment, and role training.

● Exhibited a strong ability to work successfully with a broad set of stakeholders, including senior management, and demonstrated proficiency as a remote facilitator.

● Demonstrated proficiency in utilizing Mural for collaborative visual brainstorming and strategic planning sessions, fostering cross-functional team engagement and enhancing ideation processes.

● Leveraged advanced JIRA skills to manage and track project workflows, ensuring efficient task assignment, progress monitoring, and timely issue resolution within Agile and Scrum frameworks.

● Expertly utilized Confluence to create and maintain comprehensive project documentation, knowledge bases, and collaborative spaces, enhancing team communication and knowledge-sharing capabilities.

● Implemented and customized JIRA workflows and Confluence templates to align with project-specific requirements, optimizing the tools for streamlined project management and documentation processes.

● Conducted training sessions for team members on Mural, JIRA, and Confluence functionalities, facilitating a smooth onboarding process and ensuring widespread adoption of these tools for improved collaboration and productivity.

JP Morgan, BNY (Pershing) & City National Bank New Jersey Principal Management Consultant Jun 2014 - Jun 2016

(Delivery Management)

● Managed and led diverse release teams, overseeing the entire lifecycle of medium to large-sized Retirement and Mutual Fund workstream projects, with a primary focus on ensuring successful initiation and closure.

● Contributed significantly to the evolution of Global and Regional IT Project Portfolio Management governance, processes, and systems, enhancing overall project management efficiency.

● Directed technology upgrades and system migrations tailored to support high-frequency trading, while also supervising the development of custom trading applications aimed at optimizing execution speed.

● Implemented effective IT strategies, resulting in a 20% reduction in operational costs, and spearheaded the transition to cloud computing, establishing a scalable infrastructure and realizing significant cost savings.

● Planned Agile best practices, fostering team cohesion and overcoming impediments and hurdles to productivity within the team.

● Utilized Jira to capture and track stories, Sprint information, and provided comprehensive reports to management teams, ensuring transparency and informed decision-making.

● Gathered and updated project materials, demonstrating proficiency in budgeting, forecasting, project documentation, business flows, and lessons learned documents, contributing to comprehensive project success. Bank Of America - Merrill Lynch New Jersey

Tech & Delivery Lead Dec 2009 - Jun 2014

● Led a complex merger project, directing the migration of 1.2 million legacy investment services brokerage accounts to a new platform using SSIS (SQL Server BI).

● Successfully facilitated the upgrade of the Sybase Database and Operating System, demonstrating effective collaboration with a diverse team of developers.

● Showcased exceptional team management and project coordination skills, ensuring seamless cross-team collaboration and achieving timely project completion.

● Successfully led project initiation, defining objectives, scope, and requirements in collaboration with stakeholders.

● Developed a comprehensive Project Charter, outlining project goals, deliverables, timelines, and resources.

● Identified key stakeholders, established effective communication channels, and ensured alignment with project objectives.

● Created detailed Project Plans, specifying tasks, dependencies, timelines, and resource allocations, resulting in streamlined execution.

● Produced a comprehensive Requirements Specification document, ensuring a clear understanding of both functional and non-functional requirements.

● Developed and maintained Project Schedules, Gantt charts, and timelines for transparent visualization of project milestones.

● Allocated and managed project resources, including team members, equipment, and budget.

● Successfully initiated project development based on approved requirements and design specifications.

● Regularly updated project progress through status reports and meetings, ensuring stakeholders were informed and aligned.

● Implemented robust quality assurance processes to maintain adherence to specifications.

● Developed and updated pertinent documentation, including user manuals and technical documentation.

● Effectively tracked project progress against established plans, ensuring alignment with timelines and milestones.

● Proactively identified, addressed, and mitigated risks and issues as they emerged during the project lifecycle.

● Implemented rigorous change control processes, managing alterations to project scope effectively.

● Conducted comprehensive final reviews to verify successful completion of all project requirements.

● Obtained formal acceptance of deliverables from stakeholders, ensuring project closure with client satisfaction.

● Created a detailed project closure report, summarizing successes, challenges, and lessons learned.

● Archived project documentation systematically for future reference. Right Answers New Jersey

Senior Implementation Lead Mar 2008 - Dec 2009

● Successfully led the execution of knowledge base software solutions to clientele.

● Streamlined the client onboarding process by implementing tailored software solutions.

Goldman Sachs New Jersey

Tech Lead May 2000 - Feb 2008

● Orchestrated the end-to-end development and architecture of multiple trading-related systems, resulting in a substantial boost to operational efficiency and performance.

● Oversaw and managed the releases for a team of over 30 members, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality software products.

● Successfully orchestrated the seamless integration of advanced financial software solutions, leading to a significant enhancement in trading capabilities and overall system performance.

● Spearheaded the development of an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) report, addressing compliance requirements for both individual and client entities.

● Held accountability for the efficient management of offshore operations, implementing strategies that ensured smooth workflows and optimized productivity.

CERTIFICATIONS SAFe - Release Train Engineer(RTE)

SAFe - POPM (Product Owner and Product Manager)

SAFe - Advanced Scrum Master

Project Management Professional - PMI

The George Washington University:

Project Leadership, Management and Communications

Managing IT Projects

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: - Currently In Progress AI and Machine Learning : Building Data Science Solutions EDUCATION BS in Computer Science, Bharathidasan University. India. MS in Computer Science, Columbus University

TECHNOLOGY Python, SQL Server, Java, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS Cloud (IAAS/PAAS/SAAS), Azure, APIs

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: (MIT)

● Advanced Data Exploration & Analysis: Acquired proficiency in exploring structured and unstructured data using techniques like t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE), Principal Component Analysis

(PCA), and Natural Language Processing (NLP). Developed a deep understanding of temporal data analysis through time series models such as White Noise, Auto Regressive, and Moving Average.

● Predictive Modeling & Decision Systems: Gained hands-on experience in implementing supervised learning algorithms for regression and classification tasks, evaluating model performance using key metrics like R-Squared, Adjusted R-Squared, and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). Explored decision-making systems utilizing Decision Trees, Random Forests, and advanced techniques like overfitting prevention, bagging, and pruning.

● Recommendation Systems & Neural Networks: Learned to design and implement recommendation systems using clustering, personalized clustering, and singular value optimization techniques. Acquired skills in building neural network architectures with various activation functions (Step function, tanh, Relu), loss functions, and optimization methods (Gradient Descent, Backpropagation, Stochastic Gradient Descent). Additionally, gained insights into computer vision methods for image analysis and processing.

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