Darren is available for hire

Darren Hagman

Verified Expert in Project Management

Project Manager

Location

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Toptal Member Since

May 1, 2018

Darren is a veteran developer, scrum master, and project manager with deep experience in both Waterfall and Agile methodologies from working in the transportation, archiving, eCommerce, and aerospace industries. Darren spent ten years working in developer and lead/architect roles before becoming a project manager. Darren understands the challenges of implementing Agile practices in a team and how to effectively interface with the Waterfall world.

Project Highlights

IQ AVLM System for New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)

Managed initial and subsequent releases of the IQ AVLM system deployed to NYCTA.

Service Manager (Global Relay)

Managed several major releases of the service manager component.

Staples Copy & Print Website (PNI)

Managed several releases of the Staples Copy & Print website.

Expertise

Agile Jira Mobile App Development Program Management Project Management Scrum Scrum Master eCommerce

Work Experience

Agile Program Manager

2020 - 2021

iA Financial Group

Acted as an agile program manager for five internal and external teams with over 40 developers, testers, and analysts that developed server and web applications deployed in the Azure Cloud for the dealer services automation program.
Worked closely with IT management, portfolio management, product management, agile coaches, external vendors, and senior executive management in release planning and program execution.
Implemented electronic funds transfer (EFT) functionality used by accounting and administrative staff to process electronic payments and refunds for dealer services replacement insurance and extended warranty products.
Developed Quick Quote functionality to generate quotes for replacement insurance, creditor insurance, and extended warranty insurance products sold by vehicle dealerships across Canada.
Implemented updated tax processing logic for all provinces and territories for replacement insurance, creditor insurance, extended warranty, and GAP insurance products.
Automated the underwriting and payment processing workflows for the dealer services insurance and warranty products.

Mobile Program Manager

2018 - 2020

DDS Wireless International

Served as the program manager for four teams with over 25 developers, testers, and DevOps that developed a ParaTransit solution consisting of driver and rider mobile applications integrated with server/web applications deployed in the AWS Cloud.
Acted as scrum master for driver and rider mobile application teams.
Worked closely with the CTO and product managers in release planning and program execution.
Collaborated with customer-facing project management, DevOps, and support teams to plan and execute contract delivery. Managed projects using Agile/Scrum methodologies.
Served as program manager for the initial beta release of companies ParaTransit solution containing server-based booking, scheduling, dispatch, and vehicle management modules, a mobile driver application, and hardware for executing routes.
Acted as the program manager for developing a customized solution for New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) to support their access-a-ride service. The $52 million contract enabled the server modules and mobile units' deployment to over 1500 buses.

Lean Agile Project Manager

2017 - 2018

Global Relay Communications Inc

Served as the project manager/scrum master of two teams with over 30 developers, testers, and DevOps personnel.
Liaised with product managers and program management in a Scrum of Scrums setting regarding product roadmaps, release planning, requirements/stories, and project execution.
Collaborated with release management, DevOps, IT-OPS, and support teams to plan and execute deployment and post-release support.
Managed projects using Agile/Scrum methodologies.
Led the teams that developed the service manager, WORM, SBS, CUPS, FA, and DSS applications as part of the cloud-based global relay archive solution.

Senior Project Manager/Scrum Master

2015 - 2016

PNI Digital Media

Led up to three concurrent teams/projects containing as many as 20 developers, testers, and BAs.
Oversaw development of eCommerce websites and mobile applications for major retailers that create custom business cards, cards and invitations, stamps, photo gifts, photo books, signs, banners, prints, and posters.
Liaised with creative and marketing teams regarding site/application design and content.
Collaborated with vendors and internal product setup and order processing teams to set up products and ensure that order processing and output functioned correctly.
Managed all phases of the project using a mix of Agile and Waterfall methodologies.
Managed multiple iOS and Android mobile photo application releases for Costco and Tesco, initial and numerous releases of the Staples Copy & Print website (http://design.staples.com), a mobile responsiveness site update for Sam’s Club Photo website (http://photo.samsclub.com) which increased mobile conversion rates by 5% and revenue by 20%, and a Media Clip site update for Tesco Photo website (http://www.tescophoto.com).

Scrum Master (contract)

2015 - 2015

Safeway

Led a team of four developers and two testers as a scrum master to develop a discount offer management system that integrated with the store point of sale systems and other upstream systems.
Managed bi-weekly sprints (daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, sprint planning and retrospective meetings, etc.), developed and groomed product backlog.
Contributed as a business systems analyst to write requirements documents for requested changes to our 3rd party vendor system.
Successfully delivered four bi-monthly releases containing new features for our offer management system.
Collaborated with business and development to build an in house replacement offer management system.
Supported merger activities as needed with feasibility analysis and feature development.

Project Manager (contract)

2014 - 2014

HSBC

Managed teams of up to ten developers, testers, and business analysts in executing functionality improvement projects that were part of the bank’s overall HSBCnet web and mobile program, working on up to six projects concurrently.
Oversaw project scope, timelines, and budgeting, and coordinated international teams to meet stakeholder objectives.
Finalized a project to add Canadian French and Chinese language NLS tags to seven applications across HSBCnet.
Completed a project to make payment-related application changes to show terms and conditions and to collect a purpose of payment code to meet updated regulations in the Malaysian market.
Led a team of six people in a project to migrate customer data and write scripts and application changes to prevent customers in Kazakhstan accessing the service following HSBC’s sale of all its assets in the country.

IT Project Senior Consultant/Scrum Master

2011 - 2014

SAP

Led a team of 14 locally and remotely based IT specialists in retiring intranet outdated functionality that represented a downtime risk valued at €30 million.
Drove pre-project consulting, managed budgets and timelines, and spearheaded the migration of several key functionalities, successfully retiring the distribution list management tool and 14 (out of 23) workflows.
Managed a team of nine local and remote employees in an identity management upgrade project designed to increase performance, stability, and functionality by migrating to SAP Netweaver 7.2.
Oversaw scope, timelines, and budget forecasts, as well as delivering status updates and addressing risks and requirement changes.
Served as the scrum master in the team’s transition from monthly iterative releases to Agile. Led sprint planning, sprint demo, and sprint retrospective meetings.

Senior Project Manager

2006 - 2011

AeroInfo Systems, A Boeing Company

Directed application development of Situational Awareness and Performance Metrics components as part of Boeing's GoldCare cloud-based SaaS offering.
Built and mentored strong project teams while establishing strengthened relationships with clients, resulting in increased business revenue (doubled purchase order dollar amount yearly) and first-class customer satisfaction ratings.
Managed yearly budgets reaching $4 million per year.
Oversaw multiple releases of Situational Awareness, a web-based dashboard that displays real-time flight and maintenance event data which enabled operations and planning staff to predict and deal with maintenance and flight issues.
Managed multiple releases of Performance Metrics, a web-based business intelligence application that hosted dashboards and detailed reports relating to flight performance, GoldCare and MRO maintenance performance, and parts usage and reliability.

Software Developer Leader

2001 - 2006

AeroInfo Systems, A Boeing Company

Project-managed and led the development of the Maintenance Engineering Management 2.7.0 project, adding new functionality to a suite of applications with a team of six developers, three testers, and a business analyst.
Led architecture and application development and integration on Sustainment Data System project, developing, implementing, and deploying several releases for the C-17 program.
Served as on-site Project Manager and Project Engineer on the Royal Brunei Airlines deployment project with partners Boeing, Mxi, and Ramco Systems. Oversaw all aspects of deploying the AeroInfo piece of the Boeing system.
Contributed to successful scoping of deployment projects for companies such as China Airlines, and Qantas Airways.
Managed a 9-month project to implement new features in the company's flagship product. Increased product stability and quality by introducing improved QA and automated build and install processes. Improved the software development process in the areas of change control, risk management, build, and release management.

Software Developer Team Lead /Software Developer

1998 - 2001

eCharge Corporation

Defined requirements and designed/developed components of patented internet payment system products.
Led a team of eight developers in the ongoing development of product features and upgrades.
Worked with major partners such as Cable & Wireless, Telia, Deutsche Telekom, and AOL.
Directed onsite deployment and support projects and developed service level agreements and merchant onboarding processes.

Project History

IQ AVLM System for New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)

Managed initial and subsequent releases of the IQ AVLM system deployed to NYCTA.

Managed several teams with over 25 developers, testers, and DevOps staff in developing the initial MVP offering of our ParaTransit solution containing server-based booking, scheduling, dispatch, and vehicle management modules for scheduling and managing customer trips, a mobile driver application and hardware for executing routes, and a mobile rider application for booking trips

Managed several teams in developing and deploying the AVLM portion of a customized solution for the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) to support their Access-a-Ride service. The solution will be deployed to over 1500 vehicles and is currently deployed to over 400 vehicles.

Technologies used include AWS, PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, Node.js, React Native, Lambda functions, Kubernetes, Kafka, Ember, Android OS 8.0, custom Android tablets

Service Manager (Global Relay)

Managed several major releases of the service manager component.

Managed a team of 20+ developers, testers, and DevOps in delivering several releases of the Service Manager website which managed users, groups, roles, permissions, and application configuration for the Archive 10 solution.

Technologies used include .NET, Sencha, Thrift, MS Team Foundation Server, Ansible, Jenkins, Zabbix, and Selenium.

Staples Copy & Print Website (PNI)

Managed several releases of the Staples Copy & Print website.

Managed two teams with a total of 15+ developers, testers, and business analysts to deliver the initial launch and numerous major releases of the Staples Copy & Print website (http://design.staples.com) which replaced the VistaPrint site and increased sales and revenue.

FA, SBS, and CUPS (Global Relay)

Managed initial and subsequent releases of the FA server, SBS, and CUPS exporter clients.

Managed a team of 15 + developers, testers, and dev-ops in delivering the initial and subsequent releases of:
* Feed API (FA) server component which received exported messages from exporter clients and delivered them to the Message Converter component for archiving
* Skype For Business (SBS) exporter client which exported messages from various versions of Skye for Business and delivered them to FA
* Cisco Jabber (CUPS) exporter client which exported messages from various versions of Cisco Unified Communications Manager and delivered them to FA

Technologies used include .NET, Thrift, MS Team Foundation Server, Ansible, Jenkins, Zabbix, and Selenium.

WORM (Global Relay)

Managed initial and subsequent releases of the WORM server component.

Managed a team of 15 + developers, testers, and DevOps in delivering the initial and subsequent releases of the write once read many (WORM) server application which exports archived customer messages from the Archive 10 system and makes encrypted tape backups of the archived data on a Quantum Tape Archive system for offsite storage.

Technologies used include Java, Thrift, Ansible, Jenkins, Zabbix, and Selenium.

CIP Retirement (SAP)

Migrated business-critical functionality from an aging, deteriorating CIP system so that its system could be retired.

Drove pre-project consulting with a senior architect to estimate and plan the retirement of the CIP system, which represented a downtime risk of €30 million if the system crashed and couldn't be recovered. This lead to the approval of the project.

Led a team of 14 locally and remotely based IT specialists in successfully retiring the Distribution List Management tool.

Led a remote team in retiring 14 ( out of 23) workflows. Managed budgets (€1.2 million/year) and timelines.

Goldcare Situational Awareness and Performance Metrics

Released multiple versions of Situational Awareness and Performance Metrics as part of the Boeing’s GoldCare SaaS offering.

As part of Boeing’s GoldCare Cloud-based SaaS offering, managed application development of several products.

Built and mentored strong project teams while establishing strengthened relationships with clients, resulting in increased business revenue (doubled purchase order dollar amount yearly) and first-class customer satisfaction ratings. Managed yearly budgets reaching $4 million per year.

Managed multiple releases of Situational Awareness which is a web-based dashboard that displays real-time flight and maintenance event data to enable operations and planning staff to predict and deal with maintenance and flight issues.

Managed several releases of Performance Metrics, which is a web-based business intelligence application that hosted dashboards and detailed reports relating to flight performance, GoldCare and MRO maintenance performance, and parts usage and reliability.