Carl Young
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Pagosa Springs, CO, United States
Toptal member since December 15, 2019
Carl's success as a project manager is built on fostering communication and accountability on Agile project teams. His professional experience as a software developer, trainer, coach, and project manager gives him an in-depth perspective of what it takes to run successful projects. Carl holds PMP and scrum master, technical trainer, and product owner certifications. His MBA and business analysis experience enable him to produce data-driven reports.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile
- Business Analysis
- Jira Administrator
- Project Management
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Scrum
- Scrum Coaching
Work Experience
Agile Project Manager
Independent Contractor
- Coached two remote data teams at a Big 3 management consulting firm in Agile processes. Led story writing and estimating workshops and conducted retrospectives (lessons learned). Used Jira, Confluence, Miro, Trello, Slack, and FunRetro.
- Created Jira workflows, projects, and automation. Acted as a Jira system administrator, managing users, projects, and issues.
- Facilitated teamwork on marketing dashboards in Tableau, Power BI, and Adobe Analytics. Facilitated data scientist meetings on processing marketing data in various AI models.
- Created timelines, led discovery workshops, managed developer and designer deliverables, and coached the product owner on grooming, story writing, and MVP goal setting as the agile project manager and scrum master for a consumer-facing IoT device.
- Facilitated the work of iOS, Android, and back-end developers. Estimated project timelines and captured requirements. Presented progress reports to executive stakeholders in Google Sheets spreadsheets and Gantt.
- Consulted with the engineering director and leads on the project scope. Negotiated the scope with the product owner, marketing, and sales. Conducted all meetings remotely via Zoom. Kept the team on track with individual and group Slack messages.
- Acted as the Agile technical project manager for a small technology team working with one of the US's Big 3 mobile phone companies. Used Jira, Confluence, and Google Sheets to manage schedules. Coached the team on Scrum practices and ceremonies.
Project Manager
Toyota Material Handling, Inc - Main
- Joined PMO as a project manager to manage the testing of a new IoT device.
- Managed test scripts in Azure DevOps Software as a Service (SaaS).
- Managed the project with Microsoft Project Online and MS Project Windows.
BI/Data Project Manager
PepsiCo Global - Main
- Coached data scientists at PepsiCo HQ marketing in the Scrum methodology. Adapted Jira workflows to accommodate Kanban for groups using continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD).
- Coached delivery teams in common agile practices, retrospectives, backlog preparation, backlog refinement, daily standups (or software equivalents), and product reviews.
- Integrated GitHub with Jira for test-driven development (TDD).
- Created bug ticketing and enhancement request automation for ongoing projects and discovery workshops to align data science and marketing teams.
Technical Business Architect
Kona Kai Corp
- Created complex data and process flow diagrams for handling health insurance authorizations, claims, and payments for Blue Cross of Arizona and Triwest Health Care companies.
- Wrote user stories for the product backlog for the enhancement of Medicare supplement insurance managed by a Pega BPM application.
- Provided feedback to an off-shore development team to ensure the correct understanding of the stories.
- Mapped XML to JSON for input. Mapped mainframe data to XML. Wrote SQL queries to validate the data exchange.
- Tested product increment releases against user story criteria.
Project Manager | Scrum Master (Contract)
Cigna Healthspring
- Led an Agile team of seven data analysts and two data architects in a mixed Waterfall and Agile environment based on the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
- Facilitated daily scrums, sprint reviews, retrospectives, sprint planning, and release planning. Coordinated communication between competing Waterfall and Agile management styles.
- Coached product owners on Scrum grooming techniques. Coached the developer team in story estimation techniques. Set standards for writing epics, features, and user stories. Coached the team on how to create data flow diagrams.
- Communicated status, schedule KPI, and issues to C-level executives. Reported to onshore and offshore management teams using Microsoft Project, PowerPoint, and Visio.
- Reported velocity, burn down, and release forecasting. Used Rally to track sprints and Microsoft Project, Excel, and PowerPoint for executive reporting.
- Negotiated the development team access across enterprise silos.
- Exercised servant leadership to increase team performance.
- Wrote job descriptions, operating procedures, and other job aids for onboarding new team members. Reviewed developers' SQL code for adherence to team standards.
Technical Business Architect (Contract)
Triwest Healthcare
- Analyzed medical, dental, and pharmacy health insurance claims for a new customer relationship management (CRM) project in an agile environment.
- Worked with business subject matter experts (SMEs) to document current state and future state processes for accounts receivable management (ARM) and revenue cycle management (RCM).
- Served as a key member of an agile team working on a new public web portal for military veterans. Created Data Flow diagrams and wrote web page design specifications. Tested data flows with SQL.
- Negotiated requirements between technical leadership and product owner (PO) and business SMEs successfully.
- Analyzed and identified core business processes for the web and call center application design through user stories housed on Microsoft Team Foundation Server.
- Led project team assignments for medical, dental, and pharmacy insurance claims.
- Coached and mentored team members in agile/scrum development processes, including backlog grooming, sprint planning, sprint retrospective, and sprint review (demo).
- Created a job aid that provided consistency and high quality for user story creation.
Program Manager
Knox Company
- Managed a portfolio of Internet of things (IoT) products from kickoff through pre-production. The products in the portfolio included lockers for DEA-controlled substances, emergency entrance equipment, and exterior entrance security.
- Managed multiple vendor service level agreements (SLAs) to orchestrate on-time delivery. Vendors provided printed circuit boards, metal castings, plastic injection molding, and IT Cloud services.
- Gathered business requirements, wrote user stories, ran daily scrum, and managed project and product backlogs. Tracked tasks in Kanban view in Smartsheet (similar to Jira). Gathered and updated business requirements in the form of scrum user stories.
- Ensured the narcotic vault met the DEA specifications.
- Reported milestones to C-level directors in Microsoft Project. Managed $2 million in capital and $1 million in non-capital expenses. Tracked risk. Introduced concepts of servant leadership, decision register, and lessons learned.
- Managed the development of a web portal that controlled the IoT products. See Knoxbox.com/Support/Documents.
- Introduced servant leadership, agile techniques, sprints, and retrospectives.
- Integrated agile development with manufacturing lean practices.
- Served as the acting director of engineering for three months.
System Analyst (Contract)
Arizona Department of Transportation
- Used Microsoft SQL and Eclipse IDE to troubleshoot issues with a Java/JavaScript business process management (BPM) system. Wrote SQL queries and RegEx expressions and ran scripts on log files.
- Managed updates through DEV, UAT, and PROD to deliver updated web-based financial applications in an Agile environment.
- Provided L3 support to executives.
- Created documentation for the undocumented system.
- Resolved SQL, JavaScript, XML, JBoss, Active Directory, and Java errors.
- Created updates as required as part of my role.
Process Analyst (Contract)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
- Created a test environment on AWS GovCloud. Configured the environment to use Adobe Experience Management (AEP).
- Used Jira for task management as part of my role.
- Analyzed business processes and vendor deliverables, validated user stories, and made business process change recommendations in preparation for test-driven development.
- Prepared documents for the integrated project plan and work breakdown structure, gathered requirements, created presentations, and presented to the client.
- Helped draft documents discussing security issues relating to integrating the ATF internal Oracle databases with AWS GovCloud.
- Reviewed user stories in product backlog with federal agency managers for requirements compliance.
Technical Program Manager (Contract)
GE Healthcare
- Led the technical management and development of the project to install and maintain radiation-emitting biomedical devices regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Analyzed and interpreted technical documentation, spreadsheets, and existing Windows-based applications to create requirement and verification documents for the development of an eChecklist application for the field service engineers.
- Managed test-driven development (TDD) and final testing with an offshore team. Wrote JavaScript calculations that met FDA standards.
- Facilitated meetings with multiple levels of staff, including management, SMEs, and users.
- Obtained approvals from management in Europe, South America, and the United States.
Subject Matter Expert | Trusted Advisor (Contract)
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
- Brought in to resolve major impediments. The result was a project delivered on schedule using the Agile methodology.
- Developed processes to consolidate qualifications, pricing, and other data from Blue organizations around the country for the national health care exchange (ACA) program website.
- Practiced servant leadership with junior team members.
- Helped institute best practices as part of my role.
- Acted as a trusted advisor to the director, who updated the Blue Cross CEO on the daily progress.
Project Manager
ProTechnology
- Managed remote cross-functional Java, JavaScript, and OpenText development teams working on web applications.
- Worked as a program manager to direct a portfolio of projects with multiple work streams across the United States with a wide range of vendors, budgets, functional areas, priorities, and schedules.
- Prepared bids, project plans, and statements of work (SOWs). Wrote JavaScript as required to support development.
- Created integrated project plans, resource schedules, work breakdown structures, individual tasks, task dependencies, task time estimates (duration), roles and responsibilities, assumptions, risks, and cost and benefit projections.
Senior Project Manager (Consultant)
Deloitte Consulting
- Worked in domain areas including healthcare, benefits administration, time reporting, and document management.
- Used a combination of Agile and Waterfall methodologies.
- Managed Java, content management (IBM Content Manager), and RightFax development teams. Created data flow diagrams, system architectural diagrams, and project status graphics.
- Managed releases to DEV, UAT, and PROD. Provided performance reviews of contract team members.
Project History
Internet of Things (IoT) Mobile Safety and Security
Led teams of electrical, mechanical, firmware, software, and manufacturing engineers to produce an industry-leading solution.
I worked with vendors to manage an international supply chain for manufacturing metal castings, LCD screens, keypads, plastic injection molding, 3D printed prototypes, and printed circuit boards (PCBs). My other work included retaining key staff during a period of management realignment, writing performance reviews, and reporting project progress to C-level management, including the spending of a $3.1 million budget, capital spending, costing, and profit targets.
Data Governance and Security at Cigna Healthspring
Led an Agile team of nine that analyzed non-production environments for adherence to corporate standards.
I led an offshore/onshore team in a mixed Agile/Waterfall environment and worked as a scrum master to coach and motivate the development team. I also worked as a project manager to create KPIs, project schedules, and other reports for a PMO-directed organization. The methodology was based on SAFe.
Automation of Paper-based System at GE Healthcare
Acted as a technical program manager on a project that reduced the time field technicians needed to maintain medical devices.
I led the company’s effort to digitize record-keeping for field engineers, reducing 75 pages of documentation per device to a multi-page form. XML data from the forms were then uploaded to the FDA as required by law.
Commercial Insurance Statement Automation
Managed a project to update legacy software at a commercial insurance company.
The company was using out-of-date software for customer statement generation. In addition, regulatory requirements in several states were scheduled to change and the old software could not accommodate the changes. The project enabled the company to update its software and make the new, required changes.
Mainframe to Open System Migration
Led a team of analysts and developers that migrated statement generation from z/OS to a Windows Server environment.
The State of Georgia Department of Health and Human Services needed a user-friendly environment in which to make changes to Medicaid beneficiary statements. The project moved the legacy code and space-delimited data to an OpenText solution.
Benefit Application System
Led a team of developers that created a new, combined benefit application for a state agency.
I led a team of developers that automated benefits applications. The system contained SLAs with deadlines, notifications, and next actions for 64 parishes (counties). The project included the installation of new hardware and new software as well as training for state staff.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration
University of Phoenix - Phoenix, AZ, USA
Certifications
AWS Solutions Architect Associate
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Scrum Product Owner Certified (SPOC)
Scrumstudy.com
Business Metrics for Data-Driven Companies
Duke University
Pega Certified Business Architect 7.4
Pega Academy
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Professional Scrum Master 1
Scrum.org
Certified Technical Trainer (CTT)
Chauncey Group (now CompTIA)
Developing Procedures, Policies & Documentation
Information Mapping
How to Plan, Develop and Evaluate Training
Information Mappting (Clark Training)
Skills
Tools
Zoom, Trello, Microsoft Team Foundation Server, Atlassian Suite, Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Project, Microsoft OneNote, Word 2016, Acrobat X Pro, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, Adobe, Slack, Visio, Rally, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Excel, Google Docs, Intuit QuickBooks, Miro, VirtualBox, JavaScript Debugging, IBM MQ, SQL, Office 365, Android Studio, Eclipse IDE, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), GitHub, Azure DevOps Services, Stripe Checkout
Paradigms
Agile Leadership, Kanban, HIPAA Compliance, Team Development, Checklists, Agile Workflow, Agile Delivery, Management, Agile Project Management, Agile Product Management, Scrum, Waterfall Development, Agile, Agile Software Development, Microservices, DevOps, Change Management, B2B, Requirements Analysis, Organizational Analysis, Software Testing, Web Architecture, Test-driven Development (TDD), Azure DevOps, Functional Analysis, Software Testing Lifecycle (STLC)
Platforms
SharePoint, Windows, Windows 10, MacOS, iOS, Android, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Linux, Pega, Rackspace, Blockchain, Azure
Industry Expertise
Government, High-tech Startups, Software, Health Insurance, State Government, Public Sector, Healthcare, Professional Services, Industrial & Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Insurance, Childcare, FDA, Automotive, Telematics
Other
Facilitation, Reporting, Analysis, Backlog Grooming, Backlog Management, Documentation, SOP Development, Stakeholder Management, Estimations, Conflict Resolution, Project Discovery, Discovery Workshops, Client Presentations, Progress Reporting, Milestones, Sprint Ceremonies, Scope Management, Project Delivery, Cross-functional Collaboration, Feature Backlog Prioritization, Product Owner, Coaching, Cloud, Product Delivery, User Requirements, System Requirements, Business Requirements, Requirements & Specifications, Functional Requirements, Product Requirements Documentation (PRD), Requirements, Projects, Project Design, Project Reporting, Project Tracking, Project Support, Project Closure, Project Lifecycle, Project Planning, Project Timelines, Project Scoping, Agile Coaching, Mentorship & Coaching, Startups, Business, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Interviews, User Flows, Teamwork, Web, Waterfall Methodology, Retrospective Techniques, Sprint Planning, Agile Sprints, Design Sprints, Sprints, Negotiation, Workshop Facilitation, Goal Management, Process Definition, Learning, Virtual Work, Amazon, Gantt Chart, Microsoft 365, PDF to Excel, PDF to Word, Forms, Agile Practices, Task Analysis, Task Management, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Healthcare & Insurance, Story Mapping, Team Leadership, Thought Leadership, Issue Management, Software as a Service (SaaS), Knowledge Management, Enterprise Project Management, Integrated Program Management , Post-merger Integration, Project Management Infrastructure, Project Management, Communication Management, Business to Consumer (B2C), Tracking, Process Design, Workflow, Data Flows, User Stories, Collaboration, System Architecture, Vendor Management, Team Management, Technical Requirements, Technical Project Management, Discovery Management, Time Management, Scheduling, Project Estimation, Manufacturing, Scrum Master, PSM-1, Project Management Professional (PMP), Technical Training, Scrum Coaching, Business Analysis, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), IT Projects, Government Contracting, Content, Communication, Back-end, Jira Administrator, Remote Work, Consulting, Web Applications, Web Project Management, IT Project Management, Leadership, Project Scheduling, Databases, Healthcare Software, Business Process Automation, RFPs, RFQs, ITTs, Responses, Proposals & Quotes, Technical Product Management, Document Management, Dashboards, Process Optimization, Knowledge Transfer, Mentorship, Project Coordination, Mind Mapping, Software Development, Web & Mobile Applications, Digital Asset Management, Data Migration, Planning, Data Center Migration, Digital Project Management, Risk Management, Process Improvement Project Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Digital Transformation, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Business Process Re-engineering, Growth, Best Practices, Standard Operating Procedures Development, Cloud Infrastructure, Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Services, Large-scale Projects, Agile DevOps, SDKs, Scope of Work (SOW), Manuals & Documentation, Technical Documentation, Technical Diagrams, Certified Project Manager, Data Delivery Management, Meetings, Organization, Agile Transformation, Program Coordination, Coordination, Team Mentoring, Creative Thinking, Troubleshooting, Fraud Prevention, Product Management, Operational Workflow, Automation, Build Processes, Creative Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Database-driven Web App Development, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Analytics, Web App Development, Business Processes, Integration, Remote Team Leadership, System Integration, Enterprise, Web Development, Marketing Operations, Performance Management, Accountability, Data-driven Decision-making, Process Flows, Product Owner, Software Project Management, Market Research Analyst, Consulting, HIPAA Compliance, Healthcare, Risk Assessment, Business Consulting, Detail-oriented, Tools, Delivery Management, Ticketing, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Media, Publishing, Client Success, Customer Service Management (CSM), Customer Success, Document Management Systems (DMS), Service-level Agreements (SLAs), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Mobile Apps, Risk Analysis, Policy Development, Marketing, Roadmaps, GAP Analysis, Resource Management, Program Increment Planning, Statement of Work, Requirement Traceability Matrices, Project Analysis, Policy, Root-cause Analysis (RCA), Google, Software Release Management, Scrum Product Owner, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Healthcare Management Systems, Mobile, Mobile Web, eCommerce, Business to Business (B2B), Data Analytics, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Business Process Flow (BPF), Functional Specifications, Healthcare IT, XML, System Migration, Big Data, Mobile Applications, API Integration, Technical Leadership, IT Infrastructure, Digital Transformation Program Management, Business & Digital Transformation, Project Management Operations, Field Service Management, Azure Cloud Services, Business Operations, Notion, Serverless Architecture, Jira REST API, Google Drive, Schedule Management, Schedule Optimization, Medical Devices, Virtualization, Content Management Systems (CMS), Refactoring, Web Servers, Product Vision, Scrumban, Active Directory Federation, Technical Program Management, Agile Program Management, JSON, Enterprise Architecture, Diagrams, Systems Analysis, Process Flows, UX Architecture, Regulatory Compliance, Program Management, IT Program Management, Work Breakdown Structure, IT Security, AWS Lambda, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Mobile Data, Business Intelligence (BI), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), Lean Development, Policies & Procedures Compliance, JavaScript, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), AWS Cloud Architecture, AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Legacy Software, Mainframe Systems, CRM APIs, UX Documentation, Test Documentation, Data Science, Smartsheet, Engineering, Internet of Things (IoT), Public Safety, Jira Administration, Business Proposals, Request for Proposal (RFP), Proposals, UX Testing, Project Leadership, Web Portals, Risk, Data, Executive Presentations, Process Documentation, Microsoft SQL Server, Executive Coaching, Executive Consulting, Health IT, Executive Reporting, Project Management Office (PMO), Executive Support, Relational Databases, Business Process Analysis, Business Process Management (BPM), Data Governance, FDA & EPA Regulations, Process Automation, Budgeting, Project Finance, Project Budget Management, Sprint Retrospectives, IT Product Management, RFPs, Web UX, Technical Project Monitoring, PCI Compliance, Technical Business Analysis, Requirements Matrices, Sprint Master, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Agile CRM, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Firmware, Web UI, Functional Testing, IT Business Analysis, IT Support, Discovery, Business Rules, Business Process Refinement, Business Logic, Machine Learning, Order Management, Inventory Management, Cloud Platforms, Coding, Resource Allocation, QA Testing, Quality Control (QC), Auditing, Cloud Migration
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