Project Manager Product Owner

Azeem Bhutta, CAPM, CSM, CBAP, SAFe

Columbia, MD 21044 240-***-**** ******.*****@*****.***

Professional Summary

Seasoned Project Manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, and Business Analyst with over 20 years of experience leading complex federal and commercial initiatives across the full software development lifecycle (SDLC). Adept in Agile, Scrum, and Waterfall methodologies, with a proven ability to align cross-functional teams, manage stakeholder expectations, and deliver high-impact solutions on time and within budget. Known for bridging the gap between technical teams and business stakeholders through clear communication, strategic planning, and a strong focus on user-centered outcomes.

Professional Experience

Southpoint Consulting / Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

Project Manager Product Owner May 2022 – Present

Served as Project Manager and Product Owner, facilitating daily stand-ups and sprint planning sessions to drive alignment between requirements and development teams.

Acted as a liaison between Southpoint and OPM leadership, providing regular updates on project progress and coordinating cross-functional workstreams.

Led the design and development of the HR QSMO Marketplace, supporting long-term strategic planning and service implementation.

Facilitated Marketplace Advisory Board meetings with senior federal stakeholders to guide service adoption and roadmap alignment.

Managed Communities of Practice (CoPs) focused on Human Capital Data Analytics and Workflow Automation.

Partnered with GSA on platform enhancements, analytics dashboards, and reporting capabilities.

Developed Joint Business Cases for marketplace services to support investment and adoption decisions.

Created and maintained a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) to ensure alignment across development and testing phases.

Authored detailed business process documentation, use cases, and workflow diagrams to support implementation and user adoption.

Hands-on experience with JIRA for backlog management, test automation, and issue tracking.

Collaborated with the Business Development team to support proposal development by leveraging the Rogue AI tool to efficiently extract and reuse relevant content from previous proposals, streamlining responses to RFIs and RFPs.

Utilized IBM Engineering Requirements Management AI tool to analyze, compare, categorize, and prioritize HR requirements for federal agency initiatives, enhancing requirements traceability and alignment.

Versant Health by MetLife

Senior Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst March 2017 – May 2022

Managed an Agile software migration and served as Product Owner for the enterprise-wide rollout, ensuring successful adoption across all departments.

Managed end-to-end prior authorization process, including intake coordination, staff oversight, and collaboration with medical directors during clinical review.

Ensured timely and accurate issuance of decision letters to members.

Collaborated with a team of Medical Directors to design and implement standardized Denial Reasons for prior authorization, streamlining clinical decision-making within the system.

Played a key role in the software selection process by evaluating vendor platforms against organizational requirements and interdepartmental workflows—ensuring optimal system functionality and efficient claims processing.

Facilitated daily Scrum meetings, backlog grooming, and cross-functional stakeholder sessions to drive alignment and iterative delivery.

Supported NCQA accreditation efforts in partnership with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), ensuring adherence to compliance standards.

Oversaw the configuration and testing of the Health Services Platform (HSP) across multiple lines of business.

Led a team in automating member communications and generating ODAG (Organization Determinations, Appeals, and Grievances) reports.

Monitored and mitigated project risks while ensuring compliance with state and federal healthcare regulations.

FEi Systems

Senior Business Analyst / Scrum Master January 2016 – March 2017

Led a team of analysts in the implementation of new Medicaid Waiver programs within the Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) system.

Served as the primary liaison between DHMH leadership and the FEI development team to gather, clarify, and communicate system requirements, ensuring alignment throughout the development lifecycle.

Acted as the Product Owner, participating in sprint planning and prioritization meetings, managing the product backlog, and tracking/reporting progress on outstanding work items.

Facilitated User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and conducted stakeholder workshops to validate and refine custom system functionality.

Managed Change Requests and developed detailed functional documentation, including Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs), use cases, and business rules.

Acted as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), supporting RFP analysis and delivering training to end users.

Served as the final quality reviewer for all project deliverables submitted to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH).

Mentored junior Business Analysts and contributed to the development of procurement proposals.

Quality Software Systems Inc. (QSSI)

Senior Client Manager / Project Manager September 2012 – December 2015

Managed the client relationship with CMS for the MACBIS program, serving as the primary point of contact for project coordination and issue resolution.

Conducted Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions with business users, CMS stakeholders, and technical teams to elicit, refine, and document system requirements.

Led a team of analysts in defining functional requirements, performing data mapping, and translating business needs into technical specifications.

Developed and maintained comprehensive project documentation, including functional requirements, process flows, and CMS XLS compliance artifacts.

Generated client-facing reports and dashboards to support status tracking, decision-making, and regulatory oversight.

Provided end-to-end support for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and defect resolution across development cycles, collaborating closely with QA and development teams.

Led the analysis of Change Requests, assessing business impact and technical feasibility, and presented findings during Change Control Board (CCB) meetings.

Worked cross-functionally with developers, testers, and CMS representatives to ensure timely delivery and compliance with federal program standards.

meetings.

Genova Technologies / Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

Senior Business and Requirements Analyst September 2006 – September 2012

Served as Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the CMS HITECH Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, managing business requirements and maintaining the Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) using IBM DOORS.

Led and facilitated Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions to gather and validate requirements from diverse stakeholder groups, ensuring alignment across policy, clinical, and IT domains.

Oversaw and documented HITECH-related Change Requests (CRs), analyzing business impact and coordinating implementation timelines across cross-functional teams.

Developed detailed business requirements and reporting logic for CMS Payment Validation (PV) and Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) programs, ensuring data accuracy and compliance with federal guidelines.

Created training materials, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and business process models to support internal knowledge transfer and onboarding.

Contributed to division-wide process improvements by identifying workflow inefficiencies and implementing scalable solutions across multiple workstreams.

Collaborated with leadership on resource planning, staffing allocation, and risk mitigation strategies to support timely delivery of high-priority CMS initiatives.

Education

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Bachelor of Science, Information Systems Management December 2005

Certifications

Project Management Professional (PMP) – Expected June 2025

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)

Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

Certified SAFe Practitioner (SP)

Technical Skills

Methodologies: Agile, Waterfall

Tools: JIRA, DOORS, MKS Integrity, Selenium, QTP, ServiceNow, Microsoft 365, Oracle, SQL, Microsoft Project, Visio

Business Analysis: Process Mapping, RTM, RFP Analysis, Workflow Documentation

Security Clearance

Position of Public Trust

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