Project / Program Manager / SCRUM Master

Develop Strategic & Tactical Plans to Deliver Quality Results On-Time & Within Budget

Extensive experience across entire IT development, ERP implementation, and support life cycle. Functionally manage developers, BAs, QAs, and support teams in pursuit of increasing agility, improving time-to-market, and reducing operating costs. Translate executive business strategies into technology roadmaps, enabling key business capabilities. Promote rigorous planning to streamline work execution and maximize productivity.

Leverage strong organizational and communication skills to build a highly motivated team environment. Promote collaboration by focusing on goal setting, delegation, and maintaining a sense of urgency. Manage client expectations by aligning stakeholder needs with sponsor interests.

Specialties

Methodologies: Agile, Incremental, Iterative, Six Sigma.

Project Management Tools & Methods: PMI, Prince2.

Program/Project Management & Vendor Management

Strategic IT Vision and Operations Improvement

Software development and Systems Integration

Team Leadership & Mentoring

Turnaround & Revitalization

IT Transformations & Roadmaps

Scope & Objectives Definition

Budget Development & Management

Risk Assessment & Mitigation.

SUCCESS FACTORS

Envisioned and developed strategic plan and tactical action to deliver quality results in time and within the established budget

Promoted collaboration by focusing on goal setting, delegation, communication and still the sense of urgency

Rigorous planning to streamline work execution and maximize productivity

Managed client expectations, by understanding stakeholder’s points of view and needs while keeping my sponsor’s interest in mind.

APPLICATIONS.

Merchandise PO Management, WHS, Demand forecasting, Assortment Planning, Allocation, Replenishment, Invoice Matching, Sales Audit, Merchandise Cost flow (FIFO, LIFO, Average), (to name few)

POS Bullock-POS, Epicor-POS, PCMS-POS, Retek-POS, Triversity, Mi9-Retail-SDI, eCommerce B2B, B2C

Office MS-Project, MS Office Suite, MS-Visio, Planview, Clarity

ERP BPCS, Oracle Retail Suite (ex Retek), SAP (SD, MM, PP, FI, CO, TR), and Oracle Applications (EBSi)

EAI tools AbInition, SeeBeyond, MQSeries, OSB and RIB

Languages – Java / JavaEE, Perl, Python, PL/SQL, SQL, and Unix Script (ksh, bsh, csh)

Tools Confluence, JIRA, QuickBase, Microstrategy.

Middle Tier Orion Standalone, Oracle AS, WebSphere, JBoss, Glassfish, IIS

Platforms Unix (AIX, HP, SUN), Windows, Linux, AS/400.

METHODOLOGIES / FRAMEWORKS

Software: SDLC: Agile/SCRUM, UP/RUP, Iteration, Spiral, Incremental),

Processes: Six Sigma, CMM, CMMI, PMI/PMLC, ITIL

EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS / PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Master of Business Administration (MBA), Management Science, Belgrano University, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Buenos Aires University, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Project Manager Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute (PMI)

Certified Scrum Master, Scrum Alliance Institute, (CSM) Toronto, ON

SixSigma, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON

Oracle Certified Professional (OCP)

Languages

English – Bilingual proficiency.

Spanish – Bilingual proficiency.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Home Hardware [HHSL]

Senior Project Manager and Scrum Master April 2019 – Present

Plan and lead software development for web applications such as Near time inventory, eCommerce (Click and Collect as well as Ship to Home), and back end integration with Courier Parcel integration (Manhattan-Logistyx) as well as migration to Cloud. Following Prince2 methodology emphasizing Business Justification at each stage of the project.

Communicated effectively with all stakeholders, ensuring awareness of program/project status.

Managed and mitigated all risks throughout the life-cycle of the project. Identified and assessed risks, severity and impacts, determined and implemented risk mitigation strategies, communicated risk to vendors, stakeholders and sponsors as appropriate.

Reported Team KPIs, Metrics and Financials along with risks and issues to the Agile PMO

Developed project plans, consolidated budget, business case, and project governance.

Facilitated Daily Scrum, Sprint Planning, Estimates and Commitments using Story Points, Problem Solving Sessions and Impediment removal, Sprint Reviews / Demos as well as Production Deployment Planning and Change Management coordination.

Collaborated with with the Product Owner to ensure that the that goals are understood by everyone on the team, assisted with effective Product Backlog management, facilitated Story Mapping, assisted validating stories and conditions of satisfaction as well as prioritize user stories to maximize value delivery.

Supported and facilitated interaction with key members from other IT Teams such as Change Management, Infrastructure, Security, Architecture, DBAs, and Offshore Support Team Members

Turned around troubled projects by setting realistic expectations with decision-makers, promoting collaboration, and holding internal and external team members accountable for deliverables.

Major projects:

$1M software project to implement demand forecasting to ensure 99.5% SLA on Key items availability to satisfy Dealers’ demands. Software included Receiving and Putaway prioritization reports to ensure the WHS team prioritize orders including Key items. Change Management, following ADKAR’s model to help engage the team of 3 swifts in 3 WHS (78 people) to use the application in record time (9 weeks). The project included 2 product owners, 1 technical analyst, 4 coordinators, 3 BAs, 4 QAs, 4 developers, 1 solution architects, and 1 Scrum Master and Project Manager. Project was done using SCRUM framework and Agile practices.

$1.1M eCommerce including two B2C (Click and Collec and Ship to Home) and B2B (WebOrders- Dealers) as well as back end system integration with WMS (Manhattan-Logistyx), SalesForce, Oracle Business suite and Analytics. Project included a multi-disciplinary team of 17 members: BAs, QAs, Developers, Solution Architects, SMEs and external vendors.

$5M Program of 8 initiatives to migrate to Cloud [Saas Environment] and replaced Enterprise Service Bus solution (Seebeyond for Oracle Service Bus) this program was broken down into 3 software and 4 hardware projects) working with 4 Project managers and team of 25 members and 3 external vendors.

Accomplishments:

Turnaround troubled projects – Integration Logistyx-Manhattan.

Reported to Enterprise Program Portfolio.

Coach internal team in Agile/SCRUM practices.

Canadian Tire Corporation [CTC]

Senior Project Manager and Scrum Master July 2015 – Mar 2019

Planned and led multiple software development as well as package and hardware selections. Identifying project staffing needs, assign / track project tasks, and manage schedule, budget, and scope. Negotiate with major stakeholders. Coordinate pilots and roll out initiatives to 503 retail, 295 petroleum, and 89 PartSource stores (CTC brands). Manage team up to 17, including developers, BA, BSA, QA, solution architect, system analyst, technical architect, OS administrator, and external vendors.

Developed and managed project budgets and related financials, keeping budgets on track.

Coordinated cutover plan, avoiding disruptions and ensuring a smooth transition to production.

Chaired governance meetings with 2 main funding sources (CTC, CTDA), aligning project decisions with business goals.

Developed program / project plan; consolidated budget, project charters, business cases, and statements of work (SOW); and organized team composition, roles, and responsibilities, setting realistic expectations as project progressed.

Reduced activities from 9 hours (pilot) to 3 hours per store, achieving $390K savings by applying lesson learned at each sprint.

Led and facilitated JAM session, gathering and prioritizing software feature requirements and developing strategies for future software releases.

Turned around troubled projects by setting realistic expectations with decision-makers, promoting collaboration, and holding internal and external team members accountable for deliverables.

Major projects:

$1.6M software project POS and integration using Bullock-POS (BT9000) CT Petroleum customization in front-end including replacement of Cary Keyboard for Touchscreen as well as adding back office features, including massive deployment big-bang strategy as oppose of staggered. Team included 16 member in the following roles: BAs, QAs, Solution Architect, Technical Analyst, and Product owners and Business SMEs. The project also had 9 bullock’s developers integrated with our team, Project was completed in 10 months using SCRUM framework and Agile practices.

$8M ERP PartSsource and Automotive included the following faces: RFP, Package Selection, ConferenceRoom, Reengineering, customization and implementation for CTR and PS stores (593 stores) Project delivered in 15 months using SCRUM framework and Agile practices.

$1.5M eCommerce starting with Click and Collect, project followed SCRUM framework and Agile practices, team size of 23 members, including Scrum Master, Product Owner, SMEs, Developers, Adminsitrators, Solution Architects, BAs and QAs, and Project Management. Project was completed in 11 months using SCRUM framework and Agile practices.

Accomplishments:

Turnaround troubled projects.

Reported to two major governance boards: CTC and Canadian Tire Dealers association [CTDA]

Improve vendor management relationship.

Completed major initiative which was in hiatus for 3 years prior to my arrival.

Shoppers Drug Mart [SDM]

Senior Manager, IT projects December 2010 – July 2015

Directed multiple delivery and retail IT projects, including identifying needs and securing staff, assigning / tracking tasks, and controlling project / program schedule, budget, and scope. Negotiated with major stakeholders on pulling together shared workforce from different areas of SDM. Managed SDLC, resources, vendors, releases, pilots, and rollout to 14K retail POS stations across Canada (1400 stores).

Chaired program governance meetings with key stakeholders, ensuring decision alignment for projects.

Delivered successful projects by clearly communicating expectations, ensuring understanding of program strategy, program stream plans, project plans, deliverables, and affected technology. Monitored alignment between documents and deliverables. Delegated control to coordinators.

Managed RFP for hardware and software acquisition from 9 vendors; defined weight matrix with stakeholders.

Negotiated with IT management and dealer association, obtaining resource assignments and commitments for projects in constantly conflicting priorities.

Organized, coordinated, facilitated, and led project meetings, including SCRUM, sprint planning, brainstorming, kickoff, status / review, troubleshooting, and retrospective.

Promoted win / win attitude with clients by following through on commitments.

Provided release management leadership, defining branches and merge strategy, ensuring integrity of solutions across all vendors and projects.

Major projects:

$15M software project delivered in 11 months (Started 48 month prior to me joining SDM), project included the replacement of in-house POS system for PCMS-POS, Project was in crisis, delivered dates were missed several times, project was overbudget, and credibility of the team low. Redefine scope with the objective center in MVP, implemented SCRUM framework of 2-week sprint, requested 3 product owners to help adjust the scope to MVP and convert requirements and critical defects into user stories. Created story points and value points. Project team of 34 including 3 product owners, 1 Scrum Master, 4 BAs, 13 QAs, 3 dedicated vendor developers and 3 CTC developers team, as well as 4 technical analyst and 3 Unix admin. Development cycle was executed using SCRUM framework, project methodology was SDM SDLC followed a PMI-Gate methodology.

$5.7M Promo Engine limitation of double-dipping and EMV Compliance delivered in 13 months (Phase II of previous project). Development cycle done using SCRUM for functional cycle only [FIT testing] SIT and End-To-End and UAT followed an iterative cycle while project life cycle through governance and funding request uses SCRUMs framework. Team included 13 QA resources, 3 BAs, 1 PM. 8 developers, 3 of them on-site. 4 business’ SMEs and 2 promo Engine’s SMEs, 3 vendors (PCMS, Moneris, and Tender retail).

$1.8M BI (MicroStrategy and BizTalk) project delivered in 8 months, included definition of KPI for Merchandise performance, Vendor Performance and Promotion Management, develop Fact data sourcing, Metric definition and delivery media (Tablets) 3 product owners, 1 PM, 3 BAs, 3 MicroStrategy developers, 1 BizTalk Admin, 3 technical Analyst, 1 Unix admin.

$2.3M Allocation, Assortment and replenishment Oracle Retail delivered in 11 month which included customization of new release and implementation. Project team included 1 PM, 4 BAs, 1 Solution Architect, 1 technical architect, 3 Oracle Retail SMEs 3 MicroStrategy developers, 1 BizTalk Admin, 3 technical Analyst, 1 Unix admin. Methodology use SDM SDLC and iterative.

Accomplishments:

Stabilized the scope of a 5 years overrun $15M POS project, Defined MVP, prioritize requirements, complete development and resolution of critical defects in 7 months and Implemented in 4 months to 1468 stores (over 10,000 registers)

Streamlined portfolio processes from intake to maintenance.

Negotiated SLA

Coach team to improve productivy and performance.

Improve vendor management relationship.

MI9 Retail Canada.

Senior Project Manager October 2008 – December 2010

Led retail project implementation and software development, covering business intelligence, data warehouse, merchant management systems, and point of sale (POS).

Defined scope, Plan and objective of CRP (Customer room Pilot).

Led and facilitated JAD session to gather and prioritize software features requirements and the development of strategies for future software releases.

Worked effectively within a matrix organization internally, and within a very diverse array of potential client project organizational models, including PMOs.

Facilitated the identification and resolution of project issues.

Managed client's expectations by understanding stakeholder’s point of view/needs while keeping sponsor’s interests in mind.

Prepared resource plan, including MI9 internal resources, Client and 3rd party resources.

Managed development and implementation of BI (MicroStrategy based), Merchandise Management Systems.

Technical and application articular support (DB Procedures improvements, Rearchitect Scheduler, maintain C++ modules, defined server requirements based on customer needs).

Technical leadership to migrate clients from Retek to MI9 Merchandise plugging MI9 to RIB.

Major projects:

Developed and Implemented a consistent deployment process to expedite go live of Mi9 Retail products on customer sites.

Implemented SCRUM as methodology to develop software customizations.

Implemented KANBAN to address pending backlog of software issues.

Supply Chain Solutions

Manager Consultant Oct. 2005 – June. 2008

As Senior Project Manager I led client’s projects to Implement Oracle Retail Suite, Software development, Data center reorganization in clients such as Michaels Craft store (OLR - Dallas, TX), Angelica Records (Phoenix, AZ), Premier Power (Eldorado, CA), My main responsibilities have been:

Developed project plan, project budget, project charter, team organization (R&R), and templates for deliverables.

Managed multidisciplinary teams (Business users, IT engineers, Executives, and Controllers).

Prepared resource plan for IT resources, negotiated with IT Manager and Business Managers resource assignments and commitments for projects in constantly conflicting priorities.

Prepared and submitted project reports: twice-a-week Critical issues, weekly status report and monthly steering committee reports.

Led Release Management for Package MODs and/or Application development.

Developed and ongoing management of project budgets, earned value and related financials.

Client: Premier Power, El Dorado Hills, California, USA

Duration: Feb 2008 – Dec 2008

Projects

$700K software development project execute in 6 months. Scope included Development of a production plan and control, and cost standard application Developed in JavaEE, Forms 9i, Perl, Oracle 10g. Team included 9 Business Users, 2 Business Analyst, 3 developers on site and 13 remote developers. Methodology used: RUP, Earned Value and PMI Methodologies.

$1.3M ERP - SAP implementation FI, CO, TR, and PP delivered in 10 month using internal resources and two SAP-SME. Scope of the project included: Implementation, training, change management, Agile, Earned Value, and PMI Methodologies.

Reorganizing an on-going software development department, defined SLA for supporting areas, defined gate-project methodology and governance model.

Additional Responsibilities

Defined and drove proof of concepts for integration approach validation.

Prepared and implemented various Policies and Procedures including standard business documents templates

Client: Michaels Stores, Dallas, TX, USA

Duration: Feb 2007 – Jan 2008

Projects

$6M, ERP project delivered in 12 months with the participation of 3 vendors and 36 team members, scope of the project was the implementation and development of 47 enhancements, 65 interfaces, 53 conversions. ERP Supply Chain System (ex RETEK) modules included: Merchandise system, Price Management, Clearance Management, Promotion Management, Allocation, Warehouse Management [E3], and Integration Bus. Subproject included built of 5 environments and the incorporation of Application Servers and ESB.

oTeam included 12 Business Users, 4 Business Analyst, 7 developers on site and oversea developer team of 15.

oMethodology used: RUP for Software development, Earned Value to report project status and PMI for project management.

Additional Responsibilities

oNegotiate vendor roles and responsibilities.

oDefined Change management processes.

oMerged vendor’s methodologies using AIM guidelines.

oCreated a master plan to synchronize several initiatives related to the main goal, such as Technical Architecture projects, Upgrade legacy, and POS implementations.

Client: Angelica’s Records, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Duration: Oct 2005 – Jan 2007

Projects

$2.5M project delivered in 14 months with the participation of 4 vendors and a total of 41 team members. Scope of the project included implementation of ERP supply Chain system (MVPS, including BI and WMS)

$1.3M project delivered in 8 months (3/2006 – 10/2006). Scope upgrade of POS, and development of Sales Audit.

oTeam included 4 Business Users, 2 Business Analyst, 11 developers on site and 12 developers overseas.

oMethodology used: RUP for software development, AIM for ERP implementation and PMI for project management process.

Additional Responsibilities

oVendor selections and negotiate vendor roles and responsibilities.

oOrganized Putaway and picking processes.

oPrepared IT budget project consolidation for the main project and subprojects, reported resource utilization ratio and availability for new engagements.

oPrepared and implemented various Policies and Procedures including standard business document templates

MFXchange Holding

Manager (Business Unit – Broadspire customers) Sept. 2004 – Oct. 2005

MFX-xchange Holding is an IT company that provided eBusiness solutions designed specifically for the insurance industry and hosting services. I was also assigned responsibility for an outsourcing business unit (Broadspire health insurance) which included software development, package support and hosting services.

Managed a staff of 16 IT personnel (6 in Toronto-Canada, 1 in Dublin-Ireland, 1 in Texas-USA, 8 in Bangalore-India). My roles included to assist them in developing their career path and coach them.

Negotiated project scheduling, scope and delivery dates with project sponsors and stakeholders.

Defined the architecture to support new technical components (Hardware and Software), coding and documentation standards as well as coaching and enforcing them.

Implemented and supported RskCo package which included: Interfaces with SAP (FI, TR), Client-View (Data warehouse), and 7 TPA (3rd party administrators).

Prioritized and managed multiple projects and support tasks, while meeting the service level performance agreement set forth by the business.

Accomplishments:

Stabilized business environment by conceiving and driving the implementation 3 tiered.

Improved company imaged, reduced implementation issues, increased revenue (1.5M) by defining and leading the reorganization of the development process, introduced coding standards, quality control processes, and testing tools.

Reduced oracle financial pending issues from 105 issues to 0 in three months by prioritizing issues, defining weekly deliverables, redefining the interface approach, automating integration with IBM/390 and migration of Cobol/390 modules to Unix platform.

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