Management Project

Gokul Ramani

Mobile: +971-**-*******

*****.******@*****.***

Profile

Banking professional with over 7 years of experience in operations and IT Projects.

Result oriented and always on the lookout for opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency levels

Key role player in offering quality service to customers & stakeholders

Proven ability to work in & lead a team

Education B.S., Management Information Systems 2003

Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma, United States of America

M.B.A., Management Information Systems

The International University of Missouri, Dubai Campus, UAE

Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)®

PMP #1530831

Experience

RAKBank, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Senior Officer, Central Operations (Projects)

07/2007 to Present

• Handle projects, change requests & technological change management for Banking Operations.

• Ensure timely management of various aspects of projects including preliminary documentations, testing, monitoring, tracking, reporting and implementation.

• Formulated various operational documents such as Service Level Agreements, operating procedures (OPA), newsletters and dashboards.

• Provide management with:

o Yearly Budget / CAPEX

o Capacity Planning (Monthly, Quarterly & Yearly)

• Quick to resolve customer issues and ensure high standards of service quality

RAKBank, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

06/2005 to 06/2007

Processing Analyst, Central Operations

• Actively participated in inter-departmental projects

• Involved in day-to-day operational activities and ensured smooth handling during heavy volumes

• Worked efficiently under pressure and provided quick results

• Effectively managed day to day activities

• Handled various departments such as Salary Processing, Account Opening, Transaction Processing, Account Services, Help Desk and Debit Card / Internet Banking registrations.

Bin Khadim, Radha & Co Charted Public Accountants and Auditors, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

05/2004 to 05/2005

Business Analyst

Facilitated multi-national organization in establishing their presence in UAE by providing required support in services and statistical analysis.

• Formulated a business strategy and plan for BCGE (Banque Cantonale de Genève) to open a Private Banking Business unit in Dubai

• Analyzed the private banking market potential

• Surveyed the market trends and conducted feasibility studies

• Coordinated with BCGE executive in giving presentations of the investment products to the prospective clients.

• Invited high net-worth individuals (HNW), fixed the venue and made all required arrangements for successful presentation

Projects / Change Management UAE Funds Transfer System 3.0: August 2011 - April 2012

An initiative by Central Bank of the UAE to channelize all local currency payments through a streamlined system for quicker processing (STP) and for better transparency of transactions.

• Collected requirements, analyzed gaps and assisted in documenting project requirements

• Estimated testing cycles, duration and identified resource requirements for testing

• Executed end-user acceptance testing

• Ensured testing results met business requirements and initiated Change Requests

• Participated in all bank meet organized by Central Bank to discuss the progress and issues encountered

• Updated Operating procedures (Organizational Process Assets)

• Provided support in closure and implementation of the project.

International Banking Account Number (IBAN): Sept. 2011 - Nov. 2011

• Analyze systems impacted by IBAN

• Assisted in initiating change requests to include IBAN & validations in all affected systems

• Arranged for & executed UATs on systems

• Revalidated customer communications, FAQs and verified IBANs on account statements

Wages Protection System (WPS): January 2010 – June 2010

A systemized approach to processing wages of employees of corporate clients of the Bank across the UAE as per the directives of the MOL.

• Involved in documentation of project requirements to fit Central Bank mandate as well as to conform to internal Banking standards and system requirements

• Planned UAT schedules

• Conducted UAT and provided weekly work performance information

• Coordinated with vendor on issue logs, requirements and for product delivery

• Updated Operating procedures (Organizational Process Assets)

• Provided post go-live support to internal and external stakeholders for processing

Image Cheque Clearing System (ICCS): August 2007 to July 2008

Introduction of electronic clearing in the Bank in line with the directive of The Central Bank of UAE to expedite gross settlements and funds clearing turnaround.

• Responsible for detailed and comprehensive User Acceptance Tests & Parallel Run tests conducted on the Cheque Truncating System

• Ensure business requirements are met and report progress to management

• Coordinated with vendor for system requirements and change requests

• Involved in post ICCS implementation support and reconciliation.

Same Day Clearing: August 2009 to November 2009

o Revisited requirements and collected data for transitioning to T+0 (Same-day clearing)

o Conducted UAT to ensure system compatibility for a successful go-live

Finacle (Host System upgrade):

• Conducted (FTE) time studies for capacity planning under various modules post completion of UAT

• Assisted in data migration aspects with focus on synchronizing data between various surround systems

• Helped in conducting end user process testing on CIF / Account opening, Clearing and Salary module (Pennant).

Change Management (& SCRs):

Handle all system change requests related to operations.

Systems & processes involve:

• Core Banking Systems

Finacle (Infosys)

IBM AS400 (MISYS)

Core platform & BEAM

• Aqua Global & Clean Payments (SWIFT)

• Internet Banking

• Surround operational applications

New Banking Products:

Instrumental in conducting UAT on following RAKBANK products & services:

• RAK-Value Collection - Finacle (Current Project)

• Mobile Banking module

• Electronic Statements module

• Document Archival & warehousing system

• New account types (Fast Saver, Evantage and General Insurance)

Decision Support System: May 2007 – July 2007

• Created a comprehensive decision support system & MIS reporting tool for Central Operations with Crystal Reports 11 and MS Access (web-enabled).

• This tool could help in daily volume tracking, work load analysis, capacity & resource planning

Business Continuity Management

• Involved in frequently conducted business readiness testing at various backup locations

• Ensure all operational processes are carried out in BCP location and report issues

Bank Customer Profiling System (current project): April 2012 - Present

Aimed at reporting non-financial customer data to Central Bank to create a unified repository of data groups for their statistical analysis.

Key role player in:

• Analysis of data across various systems

• Identifying data inconsistencies and format issues

• Collect business requirements and liaise with technical team

• Assisted in documenting business requirements and process flow

Direct Debit System (current project): July 2012 - Present

To facilitate electronic utility payments and loan disbursals routed through Central Bank of the UAE:

• Attend all bank meet with Central Bank to discuss on initial requirements, processes and documentations involved

• Currently in the process of collecting requirements to project business needs

Technical Skills • MS Office Suite, MS Access

• Crystal Reports (Business Objects)

• Core-Banking : IBM AS400, Finacle and satellite systems

• Visible Analyst, Neural Connection, SPSS Answer Tree

• Visual Studio .NET

• HTML, Unix, Java & C Language

Training • PMP: Professional Project Management Program (CE1527), Cambridge Education Institute (35 Contact Hours)

• Managing Across Cultures, RAK Academy, Dubai

• Role of MIS in managerial decision making, Centre for Professional Development, Dubai

• Anti-Money Laundering, RAK Academy, Dubai

• Team building workshop, RAK Academy, Dubai

• Managing Across Cultures, RAK Academy, Dubai

• Business Continuity Planning, RAK Academy, Dubai

Academic Achievements • Deans Honour Roll - 2001, Oklahoma State University, USA

• Thesis (viva-voce) for Master of Business Administration (TIU)

• Completed a comprehensive thesis on Management Information Systems and its application in the real world

• Database Management (OSU)

• Led a team in a project that involved problem analysis, design and implementation of a database in MS ACCESS

• Business System Analysis (OSU)

• Took an active role in a team that involved analysis, design and implementation of a computer-based Business Information Systems

• Applied Artificial Intelligence (OSU)

• Built Expert Systems using various Knowledge Management and Data Mining tools and techniques

Awards • RakBank: 2012 “I Caught You” Award for UAE FTS Implementation

• RakBank: 2011 Award of Excellence for Mobile Banking (Testing & implementation)

• RakBank: 2009 General Manager’s Award of Excellence for ICCS (Testing & implementation)

• RakBank: 2006 Champion Award

• RakBank: 2005 “I Caught You” Award

Personal Information

Nationality: Indian

DOB: 07-06-1982

Marital Status: Married

P.P. Number: J 2000513 (exp. 24-03-2020)

Holding Valid U.A.E. Driving License

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