JR Kandala, Program Manager

JR Kandala

Program Manager

Invenio Business Solutions

Location
Saudi Arabia
Education
High school or equivalent, Computer Science
Experience
43 years, 4 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :43 years, 4 Months

Program Manager at Invenio Business Solutions
  • Canada
  • April 2021 to June 2021

Managed successful ERP Fusion implementation and other support applications for Saudi
Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
* Managed Comverse Technology programs in Saudi Arabia with key partners such as STC,
Mobily, Ejada, and SBM
* Managed Comptel Corporation delivery team in MEA region and Africa delivering quality
software and network interfaces to STC, Zain Kuwait & MTN Cameroon
* Delivered several multi-million-dollar total solution projects that helped in transforming
the telecom unit within SBM from a product-oriented unit to a solution provider unit
* Successful delivery of a state-of-the-art OSS/BSS solution for Mobily in six-month record
time with 3PP of Siebel CRM, Portal billing, and Oracle ERP

Freelance Consultant
  • Canada
  • June 2019 to March 2021
Senior Program Manager at Saudi Arabian Military Industries
  • Saudi Arabia
  • May 2018 to May 2019

Leading the deployment of multi-project program for Saudi Arabian Military Industries
(SAMI). SAMI is embarking on the deployment of its business initiatives as part of the
Kingdom’s vision 2030. Senior Program Manager supporting SAMI’s V.P-IT in establishing
the IT roadmap while supporting management’s business directives for next five years. Led
a successful Oracle Fusion ERP implementation for FIN, HCM, SCM as phase one within eight
weeks period. Phase two is to deploy additional modules such as CRM, Planning & Budgeting,
Financial Consolidation, Supplier Portal, and Procurement Contracts among other
applications. Moreover, managed the deployment of other business operational projects
such as SAMI’s intranet, web portal, IT service management, and information security
program.

Program Manager at Al Murabaa Investment Co
  • Saudi Arabia
  • September 2016 to April 2018

Leading the innovation program for Al Murabaa Investment company. One of the major
projects was building a comprehensive technology solution for its poultry firm across Saudi.
Page 3
Project offered an Oracle cloud ERP solution, followed by implementation and delivery of the
CRM solution as phase two. Once completed, the program saved the company an estimated
$2m from operational expenses in 2018 alone. In parallel, built a comprehensive web-based
solution for its health food chain to market and sell its products on-line. It’s coupled with full

Program Manager at Social-Media Marketing
  • Saudi Arabia
  • July 2015 to August 2016

Amdocs is a provider of software and services to more than 300 communications, media
and entertainment service providers in more than 90 countries.
Enhanced the business at hand with telecom companies in Saudi Arabia. Established major
partnerships with local IT companies to strengthen Amdocs position within Saudi as well as
the Gulf region.
Main responsibilities:
* Managed Amdocs programs delivery in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region
* Established business partnership with Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) and Mobily
* Enhanced Amdocs foothold in GCC creating $4m USD revenue in 2015-2016
* Managed the business relationship with Ejada, Amdocs’ main partner in the region

Program Director at Comverse
  • Saudi Arabia
  • October 2013 to July 2015

Technology
World’s leading provider of software & systems converged billing, active customer
management, mobile internet, VAS and managed services
Program delivery head in Saudi Arabia focusing on growing business operation from zero
presence in the kingdom to 10 technical consultants supporting various projects. Supported
Comverse’s presales team in Saudi Arabia and GCC, generating new business of $2m USD in

  • January 2014 to January 2015

Managed the project delivery in the Middle East region, covering customers’ base in Saudi
Arabia, Oman & Kurdistan Iraq, with an annual budget of $1.5m USD
* Managed Omantel - Kenan FX 2.5 project upgrade, with a project value of $0.3m USD
* Supported Korek (Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq) account manager in building a framework for
their VAS products & services
* Managed STC relationship in providing framework for the development of their business
requirements and supporting their ICMS application, annual revenue $1m USD

Program Manager at Comptel Corporation
  • Saudi Arabia
  • March 2012 to May 2013

Comptel is the world’s largest Mediation and Provisioning Software Company, with
customers’ base of 280 CSPs in 85 countries
Managed Comptel’s program delivery in MEA for customers such as STC, Zain Kuwait & MTN
Cameron delivering quality software and network interfaces. Engaged with customers’ C-
level management team identifying key requirements for fast changing products and
services.
* Managed the delivery of 3 strategic billing and provisioning projects for STC’s fulfilment
departments in 12 months period, resulting in sizable increase to STC’s bottom-line.
Generating company revenue of $1.7m USD in 2012-2013
* Managed the delivery team for MTN Cameroon DSM (Dynamic SIM Management) project,
with a project budget of $0.4m USD
* Managed the onshore/offshore team delivery while meeting the regulatory imposed
deadline to deliver the DSM service
* Managed a multi-disciplined team of 20 onshore/offshore software engineers and
developers across MEA telecom operators covering a base of 30m subscribers

Portfolio Manager
  • Saudi Arabia
  • June 1997 to December 2011

Saudi Business Machines (SBM)

Senior Project Manager at Standard Life
  • Canada
  • September 1980 to May 1997

Assurance Company
Leading Group & Life insurance Company in Canada with total assets of over C$300 billion
Managed the corporate accounting, investment and real estate systems with a team of
business and programmer analysts. Spearheaded the solution design team for a complete
redesign and rewrite of the Stocks & Bonds trading system with 4th generation language.
* Engaged with corporate business users defining new requirements and business
opportunities to be supported by the corporate applications
* Developed an automated system to track and monitor the various change requests with
proper management reporting
* Prepared and maintained various project plans for corporate systems under
development
* Kept all stakeholders up-to-date with projects progress with timely reports and weekly
update
* Managed the projects budget, effort and performance in accordance with the project
charter

Education

High school or equivalent, Computer Science
  • at McGill University
  • October 2021

in

Specialties & Skills

ACCOUNTANCY
BUDGETING
INSURANCE
MANAGEMENT REPORTING
PROGRAMMING
PROGRESS
PROJECT PLANNING
REAL ESTATE

Languages

Arabic
Expert
English
Expert