SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER / DIRECTOR Resume

Title
SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER / DIRECTOR

Primary Skills
Risk, Issue, Change, Defect & Release Management / Agile Technology / Project Planning, Tracking & Management

Location
US-IA-Cedar Rapids (will consider relocating)

Posted
Aug-26-09

SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER / DIRECTOR
Software Design, Testing, Implementation & Support

Solutions-oriented professional with a dedicated 14 year career establishing development, testing and implementation organizations, policies and standards to enable continued growth across complex environments.
Strength in enhancing collaboration and synergy between business, development, testing and support organizations to improve time-to-market, reduce costs and enhance the rollout of quality products. Skilled in designing process and automation frameworks for software development, testing, defect detection and prevention, status report, and release management within Agile development environments. Proven ability to forge solid relationships with global teams, business, leadership and customers to define requirements, design solutions, resolve issues and ensure the release of innovative software.


CORE COMPETENCIES
-----------------
* Strategic Technology Planning & Execution
* Full Software Development Life Cycle
* Project Planning, Tracking & Management
* Object-Oriented Analysis & Design (OOA / OOD)
* Risk, Issue, Change, Defect & Release Management
* Global Team Development, Training & Leadership
* Performance, Functional & Automation Testing
* Best Practices & Continuous Improvement


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
=======================

STONERIVER / FISERV, 2008 TO PRESENT
SOFTWARE TESTING QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER
Recruited by Fiserv to define and oversee the execution of testing strategy during the redesign of core insurance products from legacy to client-server technology. Challenged to integrate products, teams and processes following acquisition by a private equity firm and the launch of StoneRiver.
Hold full accountability for guiding the full life cycle testing of web, client-server and Mainframe based regulatory software for the insurance industry. Collaborate with software development, business and project management teams to monitor progress of product releases, assess risks and impacts on project deliverables, and recommend mitigation strategies. Research, evaluate and introduce new standards, tools and best practices across Agile software delivery processes to enhance quality, productivity and overall customer satisfaction. Recruit, train and lead team of 14 in creating and executing testing plans, documenting test results, and ensuring the resolution of defects. Communicate project plans, status, risks and mitigation strategies to senior management.
SUCCESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Defined testing and delivery strategies based on Agile development life cycle, enabling quarterly and annual releases of financial and compliance products.
* Partnered with IT team to set-up new platform environment to enable the testing and validation of all products under new Microsoft Vista operating system.
* Spearheaded the adoption of defect prevention and detection best practices into testing processes, reducing software development lifecycle by 20%.
* Planned and coordinated on-time release of eFreedom 2008 & 2009 financial compliance software, providing insurance companies with a streamlined means to import, export, report and file statements with NAIC.
* Led efforts of Product Technology Council, comprised of 15-20 resources across the enterprise, in evaluating emerging technologies and customer requirements, defining strategies for incorporation into product offerings, and presenting business plan and recommendations to leadership for approval.
* Credited with effectively integrating disparate teams into a unified group sharing common goals. Identified training needs and managed career paths to ensure optimal satisfaction and retention.


PEARSON EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, 2000 TO 2008
Built an impressive record of achievements overseeing the development, testing and implementation of new and existing educational software to global clients.
ON-LINE PRODUCT DELIVERY MANAGER
Chosen to drive the design and launch of new web-based product, SchoolHouse, enabling students to appeal open ended scores.
Provided leadership and framework to guide the product from initial concept development and definition to testing, validation and delivery. Led team of 15 in evaluating customer and business needs and integrating key functionality. Primary point of contact to product delivery team and provided progress reports to stakeholders and leadership.
SUCCESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Managed the full software life cycle development and implementation of new on-line score appeal process functionality into ePEN product offering, providing students with the means to appeal scores and scorer with the tool to re-score papers online within few hours of appeal.
* Directed the build creation process and execution of user acceptance testing for new product.

PRODUCT IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER
Promoted to plan and ensure the appropriate customization and delivery of ePEN products to educational boards throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
Accountable for overall success of projects, from initial feasibility study and cost estimation through testing and implementation. Partnered with clients to define overall project scope and deliverables. Tracked multiple, simultaneous projects and delivered status reports to leadership, team members and clients. Managed risk assessment, issue resolution and change management initiatives. Led cross-functional teams of up to 20.
SUCCESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Partnered with Test Engineers to integrate automation into smoke and regression testing operations; and in creating and updated automation scripts, providing a repeatable process to measure results and identify areas of improvement.
* Key member of team credited with migrating product from SQL Server to Oracle database environment. Contributed to the testing and implementation of products with minimal impacts to clients.
* Introduced concept of parallel testing during initial live batch of scoring data to identify potential errors prior to introduction of large batches and subsequent rollout into production environment.
* Collaborated with business units to upload open-ended images on-line for scoring and reporting through customized setups for a variety of books utilized within the US, UK and Australia.
* Provided teams with a means to create integrated set-up files, reducing timeframe and costs of projects; and created a template to provide visibility to all groups of key product and project data, eliminating errors in testing and production environments.
* Led the customization and deployment of ePEN product to allow educational boards to score open-ended questions during yearly assessments and examinations, including Texas Knowledge and Skills Assessments for grades 1-12, SAT Online Open Ended Scoring, Utah Direct Writing Assessments for grades 6 and 9, and Mississippi Functional Literacy Examinations among other assessment examinations.

TEAM LEAD
Brought in to oversee teams of up to 12 Test Engineers in delivering more than 60 yearly projects for ePEN and OSA products.
Planned, tracked and monitored all aspects of testing projects. Led teams in developing and implementing test plans to validate functionality and performance of new releases in response to rapid growth. Created project schedules, and resolved all delivery and quality issues. Participated in interviewing and selecting new resources within the Test Organization. Conducted project and year-end reviews with individual team members.
SUCCESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Created a testing tool that emulated necessary file obtained from separate group, enabling team to conduct parallel testing of product functionality resulting reducing testing timeframe by 50% and costs by 15%.
* Developed Procedure and Training Manuals for new resources within the Testing Organization; and trained and mentored team members to ensure optimal performance.


QWEST COMMUNICATIONS / US WEST COMMUNICATIONS, 1996 TO 2000
TECHNICAL LEAD / MODULE LEADER / PROGRAMMER ANALYST
Originally recruited by US West Communications and kept on following acquisition by Qwest to ensure optimal enhancement and support of mission-critical Customer Billing systems for these leading providers of voice, video and data services.
Brought on as a Programmer Analyst to enhance and support Billing systems for the mid-western region. Advanced to Module Leader to oversee geographically dispersed team of 8 in India and United States in the full life cycle design, development and implementation of new features into Billing system servicing 14 States, utilizing blended onshore / offshore delivery model. Promoted as Technical Lead to oversee the integration of 3 disparate Billing systems into a unified enterprise system. Collaborated with senior management and clients to evaluate requirements and implement effective solutions. Supervised and coordinated efforts of 16 developers.
SUCCESSES & ACHIEVEMENTS:
* Pivotal role in analyzing functional requirements from disparate groups and developing a common Billing platform, focused on reducing maintenance costs while improving productivity. Lead role during the sign-off on key design, code and test walkthroughs within the Billing system.
* Credited with introducing standards and best practices, improving quality of production release process.
* Evaluated, defined and implemented Y2K conversion strategy for Billing system to ensure compliance.


EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
=======================
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
HENRY B. TIPPIE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA (2005)

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, I.I.T. DELHI (1995)


CERTIFICATIONS, MEMBERSHIP & ACHIEVEMENTS
=========================================
Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) -- PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE (PMI)
Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2
Vice President of Education, Toastmaster's Club -- Cedar Rapids Chapter
Recipient of National Talent Search Examination Scholarship
Ranked within the 99th percentile on GMAT's Quantitative Section


APPLICATIONS, DATABASES AND COMPUTER SKILLS
===========================================
JAVA, J2EE, C#, Visual Basic, HTML, Eclipse, JBoss, SQL & COBOL Development Tools
DB2, MS SQL Server & Oracle Databases; MS Windows, Linux & ESX Server Operating Systems
Cognos PowerPlay, IBM Rational Test Manager & Rational Robot, IBM Clear Quest, Team Track, Visual Source Safe, Perforce, MS Office, One Note, MS Project, Visio, Crystal Reports & Citrix Enterprise Software
TSO/ISPF, IBM Utilities, File Aid, VSAM, ViaSoft, CA7, NDM, FTP, Panvalet & Endeavor Tools

Certifications
See above


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