VIRAJ OPANANDA
Senior Manager | Projects & Programs
Vancouver,BC
Summary
Forward thinking senior manager with over 17 years of experience designing, managing & delivering projects & programs in business transformation and IT. Impeccable track record of strategic planning, conflict resolution, critical thinking, program management and establishing program governance principles. Excellent communication & presentation skills and ability to communicate effectively with all levels. Trustworthy, self-organized, reliable and result oriented natural leader, mentor, and a coach.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
3
3
Certification
Work History
SENIOR MANAGER, Projects and Programs
CANACCORD GENUITY
VANCOUVER, BC
08.2019 - Current
- Responsible in managing multiple high visibility / value programs across Wealth, Compliance and Digital transformation for Canaccord Genuity
- Lead technology team and provide leadership on system and business process integration necessary for Morgan Stanley group entering Canadian markets via acquisition of Shareworks (Program Budget: 10 Million CAD)
- Provide strategic leadership on product road map for CG’s Application Programming Interface (API) program partnering with external vendors and client base to plan and rollout functionalities in multiple phases with continuous integration.
- Lead technology team to build and implement applications, workflow, and business process enhancements necessary Client Focused Reforms (CFR) within CG Compliance framework.
- Foster innovative thinking and continuous improvements across IT teams towards reducing costs and driving digitization goals.
- Work closely with executive team in planning and prioritizing projects and programs to support business objectives
- Mentor new team members and project managers on CG standards and help bring the best of their abilities.
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT – TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMS
HSBC BANK
VANCOUVER, BC
10.2016 - 08.2019
- Responsible in managing retail transformation initiative (CAN 4.5million budget) to modernize and streamline current customer correspondence management process. Projected annual save of this initiative is CAD 12 million.
- Create, maintain, and execute project plans for development, testing, UAT and production deployment
- Coordinate HSBC customer and staff communication needs for upcoming system and process enhancements and coordinate staff trainings on policy changes.
- Coach and mentor program team members on agile concepts (Kanban & Scrum), implement practical program operational models using Jira and Confluence for transformational programs, Train and provide guidance and expertise for program teams on using such tools for program execution and reporting.
- Established and maintain close relationship with offshore teams, external vendors, and contractors for timely deliverables of project artifacts and milestones.
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER | PMO
PNI DIGITAL MEDIA, A STAPLES COMPANY
VANCOUVER, BC
04.2016 - 10.2016
- Provide leadership and governance for platform deployment programs for over 5 major retailers across North America and responsible for multiple concurrent project deliveries from initiation to closure.
- Control and mobilize schedule, resourcing, and budgets for projects and programs.
- Established and maintain direct relationship with executives from client organization for project status updates, demos, change requests as negotiations of budgets and timelines.
- Mentor and train new PMs as well as team members on Agile principles.
- End to end management of outsourced resources such as web development, content design teams as well as marketing.
- Assist in establishing project management standards and good practices for other programs and PMO office.
PROJECT MANAGER / SCRUM MASTER
HSBC BANK
VANCOUVER, BC
11.2014 - 04.2016
- Rated as top performer (only 5% of workforce gets top performer rating) at last performance reviews. Project team won 2 Lion Awards in consecutive quarters.
- Responsible for leading & delivering core banking system transformational project budgeted over CAD 6 million with strict adherence to financial regulations and protocols.
- Facilitate transformation of project teams from standard SDLC waterfall approach to Agile based development and delivery.
- Leading daily standup meetings and facilitate other scrum ceremonies such as sprint planning, backlog refinement, Sprint demos and retrospectives.
- Track, escalate and follow up on resolving impediments.
- Track and report team statistics such as velocity, burn down and sprint forecasting.
- Facilitate and lead steering committee meetings and project governance groups with senior executives of HSBC Bank Canada
PROJECT MANAGER / SCRUM MASTER
FINCAD
Surrey, BC
09.2011 - 11.2014
- Oversee multiple major software roll outs, major releases and patch releases.
- Manage projects and programs for Research and Development and Project Management groups.
- Leading daily stand-ups and scrum ceremonies for 3 project teams.
- Relationship management with Clients, 3rd party vendors and other stakeholders of project status.
- Successfully lead number of SWOT teams and focus groups comprised of members from all functional areas to identify issues with existing systems, processes, and organizational procedures and provide recommendations for improvements.
PROJECT MANAGER
MILLENNIUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (PVT) LTD
Colombo, Sri Lanka
07.2010 - 06.2011
- Planned and executed rollout of new order routing software product for customers spread across North America and Asia.
- Actively participated in new business development, requirement engineering, and quality management of software/releases.
- Managed multiple deployment projects of Millennium SOR (Smart Order Routing) product for European, Asian & North American clients.
- Planned and implemented content management systems and resource optimization methodologies.
- Direct interactions with client groups, vendors and 3rd party application providers for project updates, requirements management and project administration.
MANAGER – ANALYTICS & OPERATIONS
HSBC Data Processing LTD
Colombo, Sri Lanka
09.2005 - 06.2010
- Recognized and rewarded as one of best 100 employees (HSBC 100 Club), chosen from nearly 30,000 employees among all HSBC technology service centers worldwide.
- Managed 13 BAs and Assistant managers (Direct reports).
- Initiated productivity improvement activities for HSBC Technology Services, resulting in more than 150% increase in team revenue within tenure.
- Effectively managed multiple projects in management information system development, quality improvement, business process improvements & migrations projects.
- Provided financial analytical solutions and scorecards to business partners in Asia & Europe for Payments and Cash management, Operations , Cards Services & Regional Service Center Europe (RSCE)
- Conducted training programs both locally and overseas (Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, and the UK) and managed operational teams and processes.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
Colombo01.2006
Skills
- Change Management
- Strategic Planning
- Program & Team Leadership
- Employee Coaching and Mentoring
- Agile Project Management
- Planning and Prioritization
- Projects & Program management
- Contract & Vendor management
- Conflict Resolution
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Critical Thinking
- Effective Negotiations
Accomplishments
- Recognized as top 100 performers out of over 30,000 HSBC employees.
- Supervised teams of up to 13 Business analysts, Assistant managers (Direct reports)
- Achieved productivity improvement by process improvements for HSBC Technology Services, resulting in more than 150% increase in departmental revenue.
Certification
- PMP - Project Management Professional
- MCP - Microsoft Certified Professional
- CSM - Certified Scrum Master
- PgMP - Certified Program Manager (Reading)
Additional Information
Volunteer and a director at local not for profit reorganization, Teacher at volunteer Sunday school for grade 10, Musician, Avid gardener and an Rver.
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Timeline
SENIOR MANAGER, Projects and Programs
CANACCORD GENUITY
08.2019 - Current
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT – TRANSFORMATION PROGRAMS
HSBC BANK
10.2016 - 08.2019
SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER | PMO
PNI DIGITAL MEDIA, A STAPLES COMPANY
04.2016 - 10.2016
PROJECT MANAGER / SCRUM MASTER
HSBC BANK
11.2014 - 04.2016
PROJECT MANAGER / SCRUM MASTER
FINCAD
09.2011 - 11.2014
PROJECT MANAGER
MILLENNIUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (PVT) LTD
07.2010 - 06.2011
MANAGER – ANALYTICS & OPERATIONS
HSBC Data Processing LTD
09.2005 - 06.2010
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology
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