IT Project Manager
Ghassan Aboud Group
Total years of experience :21 years, 1 Months
• Manage end to end delivery of projects (3 - 4 in parallel; based on size) from initiation to closure as per PMO guidelines
• Involve in all stages of project starting from requirement gathering, estimation & budgeting, vendor selection, project kick off, planning & tracking of project progress, handover to operational support teams post warranty support completion
• Lead stakeholder management and ensure collaboration of all stakeholders & Business units in finalizing and signing off project deliverables - Project plan, functional requirements, design, test cases/ test acceptance criteria, test results, project closure
• Ensure project documentation is centrally stored in centralized company repository
• Use project management tool - MS project or Jira to create and track project plan, budget, resource allocation as per the project methodology (water fall or agile/ Manage scrum team as per the chosen methodology for the project)
• Coach project teams to follow various agile ceremonies - product backlog grooming, sprint planning, daily stand-up meetings, tracking velocity (Burn down chart), Sprint retrospective meeting
• Lead & Manage project team consisting of Business users, IT team, Product team, Marketing teams, Vendors by coordinating project activities among different teams
• Publish weekly status reports, manage communication & alignment with internal and external stakeholders
• Identify and manage risks proactively throughout project cycle. For issues, maintain tracker and ensure timely closure
• Vendor management (onsite & offshore resources), track vendor progress, review vendor deliverables
• Overall project financials management and keep track of actuals spent against the approved budget
• Ensure change requests are documented & maintained for scope / budget / timeline changes and maintain change register
• Conduct project steering committee meeting for senior management updates or for getting key decisions / directions for project
• Monitor and track adoption of new processes / transition from legacy processes or services by business users
• Support PMO head in establishing project management templates and fine-tuning processes
Worked first 3 years in a PMO manager role with key focus on governance / establishing project management processes and procedures. Post that, was working in a full time Program / Project Manager role for the rest of the time with the company
Key Accomplishments:
• Software & IT infrastructure delivery for major department store opening program in UAE & KSA ) - this includes store IT setup, backend SAP customization, integration of SAP with 3rd party logistics/ warehouse software, rollout of prism software for POS with hands free capability etc.
• Digitization of real estate landbank information using GIS application, Consolidation of Ariba sourcing tool across company, Automotive showroom IT transformations
• Rolling out of Office 365 and Microsoft EMS multifactor authentication across the group, building Disaster recovery capability (DR) for critical IT applications and automating the DR runs, Re-location of data center
• Other key initiative delivered includes a major transformation program aimed at standardizing the IT policies & processes (Service management, Procurement, Project management, Infrastructure, Information security, costs/chargeback) across various Al Futtaim IT offices across the globe (15+ countries).
• Worked closely with project sponsor, cross-functional teams including external vendors & assigned project managers to plan and develop scope, deliverables, required resources, work plan, budget, and timing for new initiatives
• Spearheaded all facets of project execution life cycle including planning, designing, testing, deployment, and closure; also planned, executed, and monitored project delivery against agreed scope, schedule, and budget.
• Oversee multiple project teams, ensuring program goals are reached
• Contributed to the success of strategic initiatives, re-structured project management process to achieve ratio of compliance from 90%, continuously improved and clarified processes to ensure timely and effective project outcomes.
• Orchestrated all bottom-line factors including the implementation of Governance IT project management methodology, and compliance with Health checks of Projects/programs under PMO against company. Introduced new processes and presented compliance reports to senior management to support them in key decision-making process.
- project management consulting
- PMP training / certification
Provided strong leadership and direction to a project team of 30+ members consisting of Project Coordinator, Business Analysts, Project Lead, Technical Leads, Developers, Testers, Quality Team and other key Stakeholders from business.
Served under the reporting to PMO Head, developed cross-functional team by coordinating with respective Functional Managers, managing stakeholder expectations and liaised with all the stakeholders on a timely basis. Tracked project’s budget, scope and schedules by using earned value analysis and establishing appropriate corrective or preventive actions in case of any deviation. Swiftly responded to all risks, also identified and tracked/closed all issues.
Key Accomplishments:
•Researched numerous verticals to gather and analyze requirements; estimated project budget; defined and agreed the project objectives with stakeholders also ensured project charter is signed by them.
•Charged with the responsibility of managing the IT projects, and successfully delivering software solutions to external clients mainly banks in Middle East Region.
•Played a pivotal part in managing the project for development & deployment of in-house project management tools for
Work Locations: Sydney (Australia): Taipei (Taiwan), Bangalore (India), Kochi (India)
Directed a team of up to 40+ team members in an onsite-offshore/virtual team mode for each project. Ensured appropriate deployment of each project team members across different geographical locations such as Australia, India, Taiwan, Japan, Hongkong, Singapore, US, UK, Canada etc.
Key Accomplishments:
• Successfully delivered 25+ IT projects on time, within budget and adhering to quality standards as well as managed projects with budget size up to USD 3 million with project duration more than 2 years. (Credit bureau data reporting, Bank mergers, Financial reconciliations of AR - direct debit / remittances, new credit card launches, re-engineering of new accounts creations etc.)
• Recognized by senior management and awarded with several appreciations from Client Directors, VP and Country Manager for the hard work and for high quality of work done. Rewarded with “Star of Month Award”.
• Accomplished many critical legal projects from an Amex brand name perspective like sending customer data to the government regulatory institutions & banks, initiated new product launches in different markets, etc.
• Efficiently managed the conflicts in a highly diverse project team consisting of resources from Client Company as well as from other vendors such as TCS, Infosys, Zental, IBM, and various other 3rd party vendors.
Directed a team of up to 40+ team members in an onsite-offshore/virtual team mode for each project. Ensured appropriate deployment of each project team members across different geographical locations such as Australia, India, Taiwan, Japan, Hongkong, Singapore, US, UK, Canada etc.
Key Accomplishments:
•Successfully delivered 25+ IT projects on time, within budget and adhering to quality standards as well as managed projects with budget size up to USD 3 million with project duration more than 2 years. (Credit bureau data reporting, Bank mergers, Financial reconciliations of AR - direct debit / remittances, new credit card launches, re-engineering of new accounts creations etc.)
•Recognized by senior management and awarded with several appreciations from Client Directors, VP and Country Manager for the hard work and for high quality of work done. Rewarded with “Star of Month Award”.
•Accomplished many critical legal projects from an Amex brand name perspective like sending customer data to the government regulatory institutions & banks, initiated new product launches in different markets, etc.
•Efficiently managed the conflicts in a highly diverse project team consisting of resources from Client Company as well as from other vendors such as TCS, Infosys, Zental, IBM, and various other 3rd party vendors.
Previous experience with Tata consultancy services
•Team /
URL removed due to policy violation. Please contact support for further information.