Ajay A. Joshi
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
Toptal member since October 25, 2018
Ajay has three decades of global experience in IT operations—developing and delivering programs and projects for multinational corporations, such as General Electric (GE), Citi, and small and midsize organizations. Besides possessing a wealth of hands-on experience, Ajay's expertise is building and managing high-performing IT teams that deliver business value by developing world-class applications.
Project Highlights
Expertise
Work Experience
Founder | Enterprise Application Selection Expert
ERP Consultants India
- Recommended enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to multiple clients.
- Helped set up the project management office (PMO) for an environmental agency.
- Created an international growth roadmap for multiple IT companies.
- Managed the sales for an ITES client. The services included piping engineering and stress analysis.
- Oversaw a complex ERP implementation for an organization with a pan-India presence.
- Created a BI roadmap for a healthcare manufacturer for the PMO.
- Evaluated BI tools for a healthcare service provider.
Project Manager
Georgia-Pacific LLC - Main
- Helped with the milestones completion in a timely manner.
- Worked with the transformation office to streamline how initiatives were monitored and reported on.
- Acted as an administrator for Wave, McKInsey's program management tool.
- Maintained knowledgebase for Georgia Pacific to incorporate a new way of procurement for the business.
Project Manager
Georgia-Pacific LLC - Main
- Worked with category leaders to facilitate the execution of strategic initiatives to get multi-million dollars of savings. Set up a process to keep data clean in the program management tool.
- Set up cadence to update information in various sources and present them to senior leadership, highlighting areas that needed intervention.
- Used the Wave Initiative Management tool to manage various initiatives and milestones, their schedules, and benefits.
Project Manager
Georgia-Pacific LLC - Strategic Sourcing and Procurement
- Set up a workflow for reporting weekly work progress across multiple projects.
- Set up a smartsheet to track various milestones for better tracking and visibility.
- Managed cross-functional team engagement with the project owner.
Business Plan Consultant
Bandar Real Estate
- Helped the owner develop a business plan based on the prevailing situation in Kuwait.
- Created a financial model to help the owner understand capital needs.
- Helped develop services to be offered by the business with clear value props.
Program Manager
Product Madness
- Created program schedules for seven projects. Coordinated with a program manager, risk and program manager, and finance to report on the overall program.
- Developed a Smartsheet-based program schedule for senior management reporting.
- Designed SOPs for the program schedule maintenance, which was accepted by the business.
Vice President of Operations and Delivery
Rishabh Software Pvt Ltd
- Grew the team by 50% year over year (YOY) for three years in a row.
- Spearheaded the company's transition to Agile across all engagements, including working with clients to do the transition.
- Grew a corporate account by over 200% by getting more projects by working with the CIO of the company to align operations with their expectations.
- Aligned the learning and organization development (L&OD) to meet organizational goals; the earlier L&OD was activity-based and not result-oriented.
- Helped increase the billing rate by increasing the productivity and quality of the service offered.
- Led the transition to a consultative approach regarding client interactions, which resulted in increased work and rates from multiple clients.
Project Manager
Citi
- Acted as the development project manager for a USD $200 million software application which was used by over 11,000 call center associates globally.
- Oversaw the development of a customer-reconciliation project across multiple lines of business (LOBs).
IT Director
Porteum, Inc.
- Led the IT for US and India operations.
- Led the development of an application for the department of vital records; it was meant to facilitate the maintenance and issuance of various certificates.
- Helped conceptualize an application to collate and utilize building information extracted from drawings.
Senior Project Manager
General Electric (GE) Industrial Systems
- Led the development of a suite of applications to support a Six Sigma initiative.
- Led the development of automated dashboard creation for key customers using information from data warehouses.
- Managed a Clarify CRM implementation for three call centers located in the US and the UK.
Developer
Computer Horizons
- Worked on a product re-engineering project for Navistar International.
Programmer
Patni Computer Systems
- Developed Byte Editor with the C programming language.
- Automated the pricing book for GE Motors.
Project History
Automated Customer Dashboards
Helped generate $5 million in revenue from returning GE customers who could now review performance data.
Book a Hostess for Your Exhibition Stall
https://www.bookmyhostess.com/Consulted with the owner of a site in building a platform which was unique and could be used easily by the customers.
One View | Chordiant Implementation at Citi Credit Card Services
Achieved a user base for the app of 11,000 call center associates globally, with the app development occurring in four separate locations.
Business Management System
Re-engineered a legacy application in one year which had evolved over the past decade using the Agile methodology.
BI Roadmap Creation and Tool Evaluation
Created a roadmap for integrating a BI tool into a client's existing application.
The assignment also involved creating detailed evaluation criteria and evaluating as well as recommending a BI tool to the client.
As part of the evaluation, five tools were evaluated.
eCommerce Site to Sell Books
Ran discovery workshops, developed the MVP, and created the product roadmap.
We wrote one-line user stories and defined the MVP based on user persona identification, followed by creating the product roadmap used by the marketing team to launch campaigns.
Execution Methodology for a Public Relations Company
Set up execution methodology for a public relations company based in UAE. The methodology allowed the customer to streamline and automate the execution of their engagements. It allowed them to win more orders.
Development of Business Requirements Document (BRD) for a Client to Develop Sales Tool for Hotels
Conducted sessions to understand user profiles and requirements, categorize them, and develop single-line user stories. Worked with the client to create a Multi-Generation Product Plan (MGPP), which included some research.
The Multi-Generation Product Plan was included in the BRD. The MGPP also identified user groups being brought into the platform in a phased manner.
MGPP also included a high-level milestone chart.
Based on identified user stories, I wrote one-line user stories. All of the user stories were then prioritized to create development and release plans.
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Applications
Madhav Institute of Technology and Science - Gwalior, India
Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics
Government Science College - Gwalior, India
Certifications
Introduction to Designing Data Lakes on AWS
Amazon Web Services (via Coursera)
BTA Certified Blockchain Business Foundation
Blockchain Training Alliance
Green Belt
General Electric (GE)
Skills
Tools
Jira, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, ETL, Slack, Google Sheets, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI
Paradigms
Agile Project Management, Agile, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Scrum, Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), Change Management, Digital Marketing Best Practices
Platforms
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Blockchain, Zoho CRM, Android
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance, Digital Marketing
Other
Program Management, Process Definition, Project Delivery, IT Project Management, Project Management Office (PMO), Project Planning, Business Requirements, Project Management, Client Delivery Management, Enterprise Project Management, CRM Systems, Discovery Workshops, Enterprise Tool Selection, Process Mapping, App Development, Software Evaluation, Budgeting, Reporting, Web & Mobile Applications, Data Management, Enterprise, Stakeholder Management, Team Leadership, Remote Team Leadership, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, Delivery Management, Project Scheduling, Microsoft Project Online, Resource Loading, eCommerce, Business Intelligence (BI), Digital Project Management, Master Data Management (MDM), Business Consulting, Startups, Digital Marketing Strategy, Business Process Re-engineering, Workflow Optimization, ERP Implementation, Roadmaps, Business Analysis, Resource Management, Risk Management, Vendor Management, Discovery, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Teamwork, Financial Reporting, Data Lakes, Big Data, Agile Program Management, Scheduling, Smartsheet, Business Plan Consulting, ClickUp, Waterfall Methodology, Hybrid Project Management, Manufacturing, Procurement, Sourcing, Security, Workflow, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Operations, Strategic Sourcing, Strategic Planning & Execution, Wave, Business Transformation Program Management
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