Wajih Qubbaj

• Worked with senior leadership and other departments to ensure that the projects align with broader company goals and stakeholder expectations.
• Oversaw the prioritization of projects to ensure resources are allocated to the most critical initiatives.
• Monitored and assessed the performance of project managers, provided feedback, conducted performance reviews, and addressed any issues.
• Regularly reviewed the progress of projects, ensuring they are on track regarding scope, timeline, and budget.
• Identified potential risks across projects and implemented strategies to mitigate them.
• Monitored workload across the team, to ensure that project managers are not overextended and that resources are optimally utilized.
• Provided regular updates to senior leadership and stakeholders on project status, risks, and outcomes.
• Acted as the primary point of contact for project-related issues that project managers cannot resolve on their own.
• Continuously assessed and improved project management processes, tools, and methodologies to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Provided coaching and development opportunities for project managers to enhance the team skills and advance the team’s careers.
• Created and documented comprehensive “As-Is” process maps to capture the existing workflows across various business units and support functions.
• Applied Six Sigma process design methodology to optimize project workflows.
• Analysed complex workflows to identify inefficiencies, redundancies, and opportunities for process improvement.
• Interpreted data to support process improvements, contributing to better decision-making and overall optimization of the organization’s ecosystem.

• Led and managed a high-performance team, ensuring alignment with Fiserv’s strategy and vision.
• Defined release management procedures, processes, and policies to support rapid and secure deployment of fintech solutions, ensuring minimal disruption to live payment and banking systems.
• Categorized change requests based on predefined procedures, prioritizing requests that align with business-critical fintech operations such as transaction processing or fraud prevention.
• Prioritized changes according to business needs, focusing on seamless integration with real-time payment platforms, digital wallets, and core banking systems.
• Managed project-based releases from development to operations, ensuring secure and compliant deployment of fintech applications and updates.
• Oversaw the implementation of project-based changes to maintain uninterrupted financial services and compliance with industry regulations.
• Mediated conflicts related to change requests, balancing technical feasibility with operational priorities and regulatory mandates.
• Coordinated and circulate project-based release schedules, ensuring alignment with business-critical deadlines such as settlement windows and market launches.
• Convened Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings in the absence of the Manager, ensuring fintech-specific concerns are addressed, including security, customer impact, and system integrity.
• Conducted Post-Implementation Reviews (PIRs) to evaluate the success of fintech project-based releases and identify areas for process improvement.
• Reported all project-based releases to management regularly, providing insights on their impact on operational efficiency, user experience, and compliance adherence.
• Validated the integrity of release packages for deployment, ensuring alignment with fintech security standards and high availability requirements.
• Evaluated the change impact and organizational readiness for fintech-specific transformations, such as platform migrations or new regulatory implementations, to mitigate potential risks.
• Supported and contribute to managing the change portfolio, enabling the successful adoption of changes critical to fintech innovation and customer satisfaction.
• Authorized minor and major change requests, ensuring they meet compliance, performance, and scalability requirements.
• Contributed to department-level annual plans and administrative activities, ensuring adequate resources and capabilities for ongoing fintech projects and operations.

• Managed risks and resolved challenges that impact the scope, quality, and schedule of releases, ensuring uninterrupted operations for core banking applications, payment processing systems, and customer-facing platforms.
• Planned release windows and cycles across portfolios and components, aligning with critical banking operations, regulatory timelines, and peak transaction periods.
• Managed relationships across interrelated processes, collaborating with business units, IT, compliance, and third-party vendors to ensure seamless integration of banking solutions.
• Communicated crucial release plans and changes to key stakeholders, including leadership teams, branch operations, and customer support, ensuring transparency and preparedness.
• Measured and monitored progress to deliver software releases on time and within budget, maintaining compliance with banking industry standards and ensuring high-quality outcomes.
• Coordinated processes between different teams across branches and regions, fostering alignment between onshore, offshore, and vendor teams to deliver cohesive banking solutions.
• Provided clear and timely communication of release details to business teams, emphasizing the impact on customer service delivery and internal operations.
• Managed, planned, and negotiate release activities for mission-critical banking software, balancing operational needs with technology upgrades and system enhancements.
• Initiated and oversaw progressive release processes to support iterative improvements in banking platforms, ensuring stability and customer satisfaction during updates.
• Coordinated enterprise release content and efforts to address system upgrades, including OS updates and third-party banking software integrations, ensuring secure and compliant implementations.
• Managed deployment, implementation, and designed run book plans to ensure smooth rollouts, minimizing downtime and disruption to banking services while adhering to industry best practices.

• Led continuous improvement initiatives within the consultancy practice, driving operational efficiency, delivering high-quality digital banking solutions, and ensuring compliance with SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) requirements to enhance cross-border payment capabilities.
• Collaborated closely with business stakeholders at all levels to identify their needs related to customer experience, digital payment processing, SEPA compliance, and operational efficiency, preparing detailed business requirement specifications and securing management approvals.
• Translated business needs into detailed requirements, visual workflows, use cases, and solution designs that align with IT and business strategies, supporting digital payment products, SEPA payment schemes (credit transfers and direct debits), and banking services.
• Gathered business requirements and converted them into technical specifications, ensuring seamless communication between business and technical teams for SEPA-compliant payment systems and digital banking infrastructure projects.
• Developed user stories and future-state process flows to guide the design and development of customer-centric solutions, such as digital payment gateways, SEPA-compliant core banking integrations, and self-service banking portals.
• Managed user testing cycles and organized user training programs, ensuring digital banking and SEPA solutions meet the defined requirements and deliver a seamless and compliant payment experience, while communicating progress and outcomes to stakeholders.
• Ensured projects adhered to agreed project management methodologies, overseeing the full lifecycle from requirements gathering and analysis to development, testing, deployment, business sign-off, and go-live for digital banking and SEPA initiatives.
• Created and nurtured strong relationship channels with internal teams, such as payment operations and digital product development, and external partners, including payment processors, regulatory bodies, and SEPA-compliant service providers.

• Defined project scope, objectives, and deliverables in collaboration with stakeholders.
• Developed detailed project plans, including timelines, resource allocation, and budgets.
• Liaised with stakeholders, including business units, technical teams, and vendors, to ensure alignment.
• Managed and motivated cross-functional project teams, fostering collaboration and accountability.
• Oversaw the implementation and integration of software solutions, ensuring technical requirements are met.
• Coordinated with technical teams to address system upgrades, software deployments, or infrastructure changes.
• Identified and mitigate project risks and dependencies to safeguard deliverables, and developed contingency plans to address potential issues proactively.
• Implemented quality assurance practices to ensure deliverables meet required standards.
• Monitored project expenditures to ensure alignment with budget constraints.
• Ensureed all projects adhere to organizational policies, industry standards, and legal requirements.