Dennis Fassett
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Beverly Hills, MI, United States
Toptal member since October 23, 2019
Dennis is all about delivery, execution, and getting things done. It’s what he does. It’s what he's good at. And most of all, it’s what he enjoys. And he's spent a good portion of the last 18 years applying those skills to the execution of large IT projects and programs—across industries from automotive to government and healthcare to financial services.
Project Highlights
Expertise
Work Experience
Digital Program Manager
Volkswagen of America (Contract)
- Served as the business-facing IT program manager for the electric vehicle and service lane digitalization programs.
- Took responsibility for the successful delivery of assigned programs and projects—success is defined as being on schedule, on budget, within the approved scope, with a high degree of quality, and a satisfied client.
- Managed and drove the alignment of programs with strategic goals and long-term views. Cooperated with business and technical leads to identify, communicate, and mitigate project risks, issues, and dependencies.
- Analyzed business scenarios and strategies, developed internal proposals and plans, obtained executive approvals, and communicated organizational direction.
- Provided coordination, direction, communication, and status reporting for the program to all relevant stakeholders. Provided communication for ongoing support, decision-making, and tracking of programs.
- Aligned the program's mission, vision, and values to meet objectives. Developed a business case for each project within the program and the strategic value of the proposed business change.
- Coordinated efforts between project/product teams, but may not directly manage them. Identified, rationalized, monitored, and controlled inter-dependencies between the projects.
- Tracked the contribution of each project/product to the consolidated budget, schedule, and benefits. Managed risks and issues needing resolution at the program level.
- Identified, monitored, mentored, and evaluated project/product/delivery/scrum managers and coordinators.
Program Manager
Ally Financial
- Rescued a $2 million program that was failing. Managed a Salesforce implementation.
- Managed implementation of the SAS Financial Crimes Manager and social network analysis products.
- Directed and guided project and technical resources on Scrum, Agile, and Waterfall projects to successfully execute those projects.
- Established and facilitated a business stakeholder group comprising six business unit representatives to evaluate/groom product backlog and plan and execute periodic product releases.
- Established criteria and executed a vendor selection process to select a development vendor.
- Managed work and the relationship with the development vendor.
- Acted as a system integrator to ensure project work was mapped appropriately with architectural roadmaps inside and outside the business unit.
Manager, Program Management Office (PMO), and Project Manager
RevSpring, Inc.
- Defined, designed, and implemented an enterprise program management office (PMO).
- Executed the product selection and implementation of an enterprise project portfolio management (EPPM) tool.
- Rescued project to develop and implement a new critical payment portal product and launched it in 90 days.
- Managed client implementation and onboarding projects while managing other project managers at the same time.
- Managed project to create a hybrid agile/waterfall project delivery process.
- Managed multiple projects simultaneously.
Project Manager (Contract)
SAS Institute
- Concurrently managed two (2) implementations of the SAS Fraud Framework software package in two (2) separate divisions within the state government.
- Led requirements definition and design.
- Created development schedules and supervised developers.
- Managed remote vendor resources in project execution.
- Responsible for scope management, proof of concept, schedule management, time management, quality management, risk management, test management.
- Managed project financials.
Project Manager (Contract)
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
- Managed up to seven concurrent projects.
- Created development schedules and supervised developers.
- Managed requirements, design, and development.
- Managed project financials and project governance process.
- Oversaw scope management, proof of concept, schedule management, time management, quality management, risk management, test management.
- Managed and implemented a process and system change project that saved the company $500,000 annually.
- Developed detailed requirements, negotiated SOWs and WOs with vendor, managed development and testing processes, managed gate approvals and documentation development, and coordinated implementation.
Project Manager
Capgemini America
- Migrated five of GM’s highest volume and most complex Sales and Dealer applications to Linux in a new cloud environment and brought all software versions to n-1.
- Scoped the different projects, managing the hardware acquisition timeline, managing hardware configuration, managing the development and testing processes, coordinating the code merges from the existing production environments, overseeing the deployment of the applications and the cutover from the existing production applications.
- Directly managed a multinational offshore development and testing team comprised of 32 resources.
- Managed project to rationalize, commonize, leverage, consolidate, and eliminate Sales and Marketing applications globally.
- Created an overall roadmap through the identification, definition, quantification of opportunities that would yield material cost savings.
- Managed the project to transition GM’s Global B2C Managed Services and ITL environment from the incumbents to Capgemini.
- Created, staffed, and implemented an organization to migrate application monitoring, level 2 support, incident and problem management, DBA support, and change, release and security management, and risk management.
- Managed multiple vendors for a multinational project with resources in Europe and Asia.
Project Manager
Lear Corporation
- Defined, designed, built, and deployed a global cash forecast system.
- Led a project from concept to global deployment in 27 months.
- Managed an offshore vendor.
- Oversaw the cost and financial management of a $6 million budget of a multinational project with project and client resources in Europe, Asia Pac, South America, Central America, and South Africa.
- Handled scope management, proof of concept, schedule management, time management, quality management, risk management, test management, and procurement management.
- Led requirements definition, design, development, implementation, and change management.
Adjunct Faculty Instructor
University of Phoenix
- Taught project management courses.
- Contributed to the redesign of the Project Management Certificate program curriculum.
- Taught over 500 students graduate, undergraduate, and project management certificate programs.
- Created and delivered lectures in person and online.
- Merged project management coursework with PMP exam prep materials.
Project Manager
Management Technologies, Inc.
- Provided business consulting, project management, and project portfolio management expertise for process improvement opportunities and the development of customized business intelligence and business analytics applications.
- Developed business cases.
- Executed project management responsibilities across multiple concurrent projects.
- Managed risk and issue identification, tracking, and reporting.
- Created development schedules and supervised developers.
- Managed multinational projects with project resources in Europe, Asia, South Africa, South America, and Central America.
- Handled cost management, budget management, resource management, risk management and the management and delivery of projects and directing the activities of company, client, and vendor staff.
Project History
Creation of an Enterprise Case Management System in Salesforce
Took over failing project. Reassessed the timeline and budget to deliver required MVP scope. Delivered on time and on budget.
Implemented SAS Fraud Framework Application for State of Michigan
Met deliverable timeline in an extremely challenging and political environment. Significantly expanded state's capabilities.
Rescued and Launched Critical New Portal Product in 90 Days
Took control of the project, refocused resources and reset priorities. Created a detailed plan and launched in 90 days.
Quote Manager Process Automation
Implemented a process and system change that will save the company $500,000 annually.
End of Serviceable Life (EOSL) Program for Global Auto Manufacturer
Migration of five critical applications, each done as stand-alone project, was delivered on time and on budget in two years.
Defined, Designed, Built, and Deployed a Global Cash Forecast System
Lead project from concept to deployment in 27 months. System became a commercial product offered by SunGard Treasury Systems
Defined, Designed, and Implemented an Enterprise Program Management Office (PMO)
Created and implemented structured processes for onboarding new clients that doubled the productivity of existing resources.
Selection and Implementation of an Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) Tool
Fully implemented with 220 active projects in four months.
Sales, Marketing, and Financial Information Systems Consolidation
Identified and scoped projects totaling $12 million in overall IT cost savings globally.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration
University of Southern California - Los Angeles, CA
Bachelor's Degree in Economics
Eastern Michigan University - Ypsilanti, MI
Certifications
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Microsoft Project, Microsoft Outlook, Financial Data, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, Jira, Trello, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Yammer, Microsoft Visio, Salesforce, SAS, Confluence, Microsoft Excel
Paradigms
Waterfall Delivery, Team Development, Requirements Analysis, Scrum, Agile Project Management, Iterative Delivery, Change Management, Implementation Project Management, Agile Delivery, Agile, Management
Industry Expertise
Automotive, Healthcare, Government, State Government, Financial Services, Software
Platforms
Adobe Workfront, Windows, MacOS, Monday.com
Other
Consulting, Finance, IT Program Management, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Project Management, Project Budget Management, Financials, Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting, Project Discovery, Projects, Project Delivery, Project Reporting, Project Design, Project Tracking, Project Closure, IT Projects, Process Flows, Problem Management, Creative Problem Solving, IT Governance, Delivery, Delivery Management, PMO, Project Management Office (PMO), Budgeting, Budget Management, Budget Modeling, Budget Controls, Annual Budgets, Zero-based Budgeting, Cost Management, Cost Control, Cost Modeling, Risk, Risk & Compliance, Risk Management, Scope, Scope Management, Quality Management, Vendor Management, Business Cases, Waterfall Methodology, Project Planning, Stakeholder Management, Program Management, Business Operations, Resource Management, Project Timelines, Process Mapping, Stakeholder Engagement, Hybrid Frameworks, Agile Program Management, CRM Systems, Agile Sprints, Agile Deployment, Accounting, Financial Systems, Public Finance, Project Rescue, Process Ownership, Process Design, Process Testing, Process Control, Process Management, Complex Problem Solving, Governance, Data Governance, Development, Product Delivery, Cost Estimation, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Costing, Risk Analysis, Offshore Development, Offshore Team Management, Business Analysis, Business Testing, Business, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Digital Transformation Program Management, Optimization, Fintech, Process Improvement Project Management, Healthcare IT, Mobile/Web Project Management, Agile CRM, Agile Coaching, Vendors & Suppliers, Procurement, DocuSign, Team Leadership, Implementation, Cross-departmental Collaboration, Cross-functional Collaboration, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Project Management & Delivery, Project Management Professional (PMP), Release Management, Roadmaps, Software Release Management, Digital Project Management, Hybrid Project Management, Sourcing, Software as a Service (SaaS), Status Updates, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), IT Consulting, Process Improvement, Product Discovery, System Requirements
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