Alka Choudhary
Singapore
Summary
Project Manager adept at planning, directing and maintaining continuous project operations in various areas. Brings 12+ years of valuable expertise in various areas of SDLC (primarily in retail banking technology / cards payment domain) to forward company objectives. Organized and dependable professional successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude. Attentive to detail with experience in managing projects, change requests and improvements. Enjoys working with cross functional teams to accomplish short-term / long-term project goals. Skilled at identifying / anticipating problems and providing solutions. Communicated with key project stakeholders to ascertain project requirements and planned the tasks accordingly.
Currently working as a Tech Project Manager in a Debit Card/ Credit card application re-platform and migration program demonstrating initiative and ownership of work with strong analytical, project management and prioritization skills. Established process workflows, governance and high level strategies for the key areas directly managed. Actively worked upon identification / mitigation of risks, assumptions and dependencies.
Previously worked in the same program as a Tech Business Analyst gaining expertise in business analysis activities such as requirement discovery, requirement analysis, solution discussion and stakeholder management.
Actively participated in team meetings to share knowledge, exchange ideas, address challenges, and collaborate on potential solutions.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Tech Project Manager
DBS Bank
06.2023 - Current
- Worked as IT Project manager for SG Issuing Debit card re-platform and migration project (from legacy mainframe platform application “VisionPlus” to modern technology platform application “Powercard”) .
- Involved in overseeing day to day running of project, tracking of various deliverables and managing of Project RAID.
- Created Project plan with detailed activities and tasks for workstreams managed by me such as Parameter workstream, DBS Data Lake/ADA workstream, Cardholder Dispute processing, Functional/Business solution document and application Build / Code delivery.
- Planned, managed and drove individual activities inline with overall master project timeline. Monitored and followed up regularly with team members on progress update.
- Briefed appropriate teams on project objective, goals and allocated tasks to them. Gathered effort estimate and sent to Program manager for cost approval.
- Created project dashboards to extract project key metrics comprising of functional / interface / reports requirements, code drop, Critical points / action items, Tasks etc.
- Created and established Jira workflows for user stories, clarifications, tasks and defects lifecycle.
- Led and drove Functional solution delivery for Debit card migration project.
- Led Project daily cadence call and weekly Project council meeting calls to give / take project updates.
- Identified and engaged project stakeholders. Built rapport and ensured their support is extended to meet project timelines.
- Appraised relevant stakeholders on project progress latest updates and plan.
- Managed internal and external stakeholders effectively. Developed trusted and collaborative relationships with technology as well as business counterparts.
- Liaised with Project Tech BA team, development team, Product owners as well as with vendor project manager, BA and Dev leads for various deliverables.
- Managed escalations and liaised with relevant teams to resolve problems at working group level.
- Raised risks and notified senior stakeholders at right time for any decisions or directions to be made.
- Proposed workarounds to mitigate issues and did re-planning if required. Prepared slides to communicate project highlights, RAG status, key updates, risks and issues.
- Captured action items during discussions and regularly tracked those to closure.
- Monitored project performance to identify areas of improvement and make adjustments. Performed regular health checks on critical activities and participated in resolution of issues to achieve important milestones.
Tech Business Analyst
DBS Bank
08.2020 - 06.2023
- Worked in Credit card Issuing and Merchant Acquiring system / platform replacement and migration program.
- Owned and drove understanding of existing system’s functional specifications.
- Created new user stories and led requirement discussions. Obtained endorsement by product owners for development of new system/functionalities by vendor developers.
- Worked as Tech BA lead for various modules such as merchant onboarding, acquirer product catalogue and acquirer (system/business) parameters. It also included, cardholders account management, collection and rewards modules.
- Knowledge of acquirer transaction processing and acquiring related interfaces.
- Worked on internal and external system interface requirements involving batch files and APIs.
- Contributed to other work-streams by providing functional support to teams involved in systems field mapping, migration strategy and re-engineering processes.
- Prepared merchant acquiring product catalogue parameters document.
- Conducted requirement clarification sessions with business to refine requirements and led discovery workshops effectively.
- Supported testing team during test planning and execution phases (functional & integration testing) and reviewed the test scenarios developed by them.
- Worked on the clarifications raised by testing team and guided them on testing approach.
- Participated in defect triage calls and acted as bridge between tester, business user and developer to discuss various issues/clarifications/tasks.
- Worked with product owners (business and operations) to understand various BAU operational processes in place with current system. Discussed possible functionalities/solutions required in the future system to ensure business/operational continuity.
- Assessed and managed interdependencies with other work streams.
- Supported implementation and command center activities in preparation for dress rehearsals and go-live phases.
- Created/maintained library of artifacts and documents in sharepoint/confluence.
- Organized and led open action items workshops to discuss, track, follow up and close open items.
Senior Application Consultant
Capgemini (Client : UOB Bank, Singapore)
11.2018 - 06.2020
- Worked as QA lead for UOB digital banking application Multi-biller and Transact-serve work stream. (Multibiller functionality offered bill payment feature to UOB Digibank customers for 100+ billing organisations. T&S functionality comprised of Digibank features such as Funds transfer with CASA / Credit card as source of funds)
- Involved in requirement analysis, test planning, test scenario design and defect management.
- Provided regular updates in stand-up meetings and weekly status reports.
- Worked on system integration testing for various digital / personal internet banking related functionalities.
- Successfully completed UOB digital bank Indonesia QR payments project. Worked on UOB digital bank Thailand (business-scans-customer) QR payment project as well.
UAT Coordinator
Manpower (Client : MUFG Bank)
02.2018 - 11.2018
- Worked as Test promotion manager (Environment manager / UAT Defect manager) and supported projects related to ACMS application. (Asian cash management system was MUFG bank’s inhouse payments application used by its corporate customers/companies for making single or bulk payments).
- Prepared test schedule for project. Coordinated with testers, developers, BA, PM during SIT and UAT phases of the project.
- Tracked test execution status and provided test metrics to the project manager on weekly basis.
- Involved in defect management and sending of defect status reports.
- Followed up with testers / BA / developers to drive the timely closure of defects. Arranged test environments and connections to interfacing systems depending upon the project’s testing requirements.
- Managed and maintained documentation of several test environments code base, DB (backup/restore), bug fixes, software package release information etc.
- Supported bank’s operation users and testers during SIT/UAT phases by arranging test environment, changing environment configuration based on test requirement.
- Deployment planning and management as per the project build/defect fix version release schedule provided by development lead.
- Coordinated with the bank's infra team for test environment preparation activities like package deployment, file upload, network connections, DB script execution etc.
- Arranged meeting with relevant stakeholders to discuss test strategy and test environment availability.
- Supported project manager to plan the project schedule/timeline according to the availability of test environments.
- Prepared and maintained WBS for project test promotion related activities.
- Updated and maintained application production release schedule.
- Prepared time-chart / implementation run book for the final production roll out of BAU enhancements/fixes.
Business Analyst
ANZ Bank
11.2015 - 11.2016
- Involved in successful implementation of enterprise server upgrade project for Loans on Card system and customer Letter generation system
- Involved in various projects for credit card systems such as VisionPlus, LPC (loan processing system), ACS (OTP/SMS generation system for online 3DS credit card transactions).
- Successfully delivered small BAU projects and system enhancements.
- Collaborated with vendors, internal stakeholders and business users from various departments regarding project requirements and solutions.
- Communicated requirements between business users (operations/marketing) and development team. Followed up with developers for application changes.
- Assisted during user acceptance testing with focus on documenting defects, identifying bottlenecks and executing test cases.
- Conducted business user training on new systems and supervised usage of new application tools.
- Managed and raised work requests, assisted in preparation of HLEs and BRD.
- Involved in implementation activities (DRH, cutover, assisted users during BVT, post-implementation warranty period support).
- Prepared and ran SQL queries/scripts in SQL server management studio to extract data from DB as per business requirement.
Cards Application Development Support
ANZ Bank
10.2010 - 06.2012
- Involved in SIT for credit card system migration project (from RBS bank VisionPlus to ANZ bank glo-card system)
- Involved in application development support and SIT for loyalty management system.
- Communicated with business users to understand the requirements.
- Reviewed functional specifications doc and prepared test cases.
- Performed system test, system integration test and assisted users during UAT.
- Followed change management policies to raise and manage change requests.
- Involved in application support activities to ensure smooth running of business. Involved in BAUactivities/batch job run and assisted in root cause analysis for some production issues.
- Managed vendor support and followed up on their deliverables. Ensured timely delivery of code and enhancements.
- Dealt with cards system application interfaces beyond V+ (i.e. In-house local applications andexternal interfaces such as off-site card embossing and statement printing).
- Supported V+ interfaces like Loyalty management system and Loans on card system. Investigated problem related to card rewards program (online redemption and alternative channel redemption).
- Troubleshooted credit card system related, file or system parameter related issues. Trackedproduction tickets, defects, change logs, files and performed report analysis.
Application Developer
First Data
09.2008 - 10.2010
- Involved in supporting/enhancing credit card processing system (VisionPlus)
- Closely worked with DBS bank users to gather and analyze requirements for application development, change requests and minor enhancements.
- Developed ezytrieve programs in mainframe. Extracted data from database and generated reports as per user requirement.
- Developed JCL/Cobol programs for existing systems to incorporate new functionalities.
Education
COURSES
Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Telecom
Nagpur University
01.2006
A level - Science with Mathematics and Biology
ICSE board
01.2002
O level - Science stream
ICSE board
01.2000
Skills
- Jira / Confluence
- MS Office / MS Project
- Powercard
- VisionPlus / ZOS mainframe
- SQL Server / Oracle DB
- Credit card management system
- Loans on card system
- Loyalty management system
- Digital Banking System
- Scope Management
- Data Analysis / Data mapping
- Project management
- Agile and Waterfall methodology
- Project Planning and scheduling
- Stakeholder management and communication
- Risk Management
- Documentation and Reporting
- Business Analysis / Requirement gathering
- E2E Application delivery management
- Requirement discovery and solution workshop
- Test management / Test planning / Defect management
- Team management / Team collaboration / Team Bonding
Languages
English
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Hindi
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Personal Information
- Date of Birth: 13/11/1983
- Nationality: Singaporean
Additional Information
WORK HISTORY SUMMARY
DBS Bank : Tech Project Manager/Tech Business Analyst, Assistant Vice President) Aug 2020 - Till date
Capgemini (Clients-UOB Bank, Prudential) : Senior application consultant (Nov 2018 - Jun 2020)
Manpower (Client-MUFG Bank) : UAT coordinator (Feb 2018 - Nov 2018)
SQS (Client-Aviva) : QA analyst (Feb 2017 - Jul 2017)
ANZ Bank : Project Business Analyst (Nov 2015 - Nov 2016)
ANZ Bank : Cards application development support (Oct 2010 - Jun 2012)
First Data : Application Developer (Sep 2010 - Oct 2010)
AIT Software (Client-First Data) : Junior analyst Programmer (Sep 2008 - Sep 2010)
Timeline
Tech Project Manager
DBS Bank
06.2023 - Current
Tech Business Analyst
DBS Bank
08.2020 - 06.2023
Senior Application Consultant
Capgemini (Client : UOB Bank, Singapore)
11.2018 - 06.2020
UAT Coordinator
Manpower (Client : MUFG Bank)
02.2018 - 11.2018
Business Analyst
ANZ Bank
11.2015 - 11.2016
Cards Application Development Support
ANZ Bank
10.2010 - 06.2012
Application Developer
First Data
09.2008 - 10.2010
COURSES
Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Telecom
Nagpur University
A level - Science with Mathematics and Biology
ICSE board
O level - Science stream
ICSE board
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