Mario Marzuki
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Auckland, New Zealand
Toptal member since February 18, 2022
Mario Marzuki is a senior projects delivery consultant and award-winning program and project manager whose work has impacted millions of users. He has 20+ years of experience leading commercial ICT projects spanning everything from IT modernization, telecommunications, systems integration, and data analytics to AI software development, data strategy, and cloud and serverless computing. Mario is also a scrum master and solution architect and has worked on big data projects.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Agile Project Management
- Data
- Project Finance
- Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
- Scrum
- Scrum Coaching
- Scrum Master
- Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
Work Experience
Iteration Manager - Digital Broker Applications
Suncorp New Zealand
- Assisted BaRT, a large-scale agile, digital transformation program that aimed to simplify risk portfolio, consolidate key management platforms, and provide better connectivity to SNZ intermediaries (broker partners).
- Provided the scrum master and agile project management expertise across several project workstreams within BaRT, overseeing the delivery of new user features, UX modernization, broker external access, and migration to OpenShift on the broker portal.
- Facilitated Scrum ceremonies for teams and reduced impediments by working with teams and across the program to improve transparency, optimize delivery “ways of working,” and address key issues such as technical debt and skill gaps.
- Led various initiatives with other iteration managers to align scrum management practices, KPI metrics, and action plans to improve agile maturity across BaRT and the Digital Broker Applications team.
- Maintained all required project management artifacts in the enterprise PPM system, complying with SNZ project and program governance frameworks.
- Supported agile ceremonies at the program level, such as scrum of scrums and program increment (PI) planning events.
- Supported the Digital Broker Applications team during the transformation from an agile program delivery model to a new continuous value delivery model (based on SAFe) in line with SNZ digital strategy.
Project Manager - Corporate & Analytics
Auckland Transport
- Led the Reporting & Analytics Projects team, overseeing and enabling the delivery of several key data warehousing and BI development initiatives.
- Managed projects within the Auckland Transport Enterprise Data and Analytics platform stack, comprising of Microsoft (SQL Server, SSAS, SSIS, Power BI), Vertica, and WhereScape RED.
- Acted in product owner capacity, working with the development team and other business and technology stakeholders to achieve reporting and analytics goals.
- Developed and nurtured the team, breaking down silos, boosting morale, and minimizing duplication of work to maximize business outcomes.
- Reviewed Auckland Transport’s development practices, processes, and behaviors regularly to achieve technical excellence, create a positive impact, and exceed client expectations.
- Rescued several stalled projects and completed many key in-flight projects to avoid sunk investment scenarios.
- Maximized value by producing high-quality modeled data and associated pipelines with defined data modeling designs, encouraging Power BI self-efficacy of the business users.
- Collaborated with external vendors to develop a business case that justified replacement of existing open source-based Kafka platform with Enterprise-grade, fully vendor-supported Confluent Kafka Cloud platform.
Data Consultant
Tower Insurance
- Provided project management, business analysis, solution design, and implementation for the Fraud Indication Tool (FIT).
- Provided lead technical expertise in data engineering, reporting, and analytics to the Amazing Claims Experience (ACE) tribe across three agile squads.
- Developed a GIS analytics solution that enabled the Motor Claims Assessment team to visualize customer population about the locations of their nearest TOWER as preferred by the repairers' BI.
- Developed dashboards that provide the Motor Claims Assessment team with the up-to-date capacity of each priority repair partner so that new motor claims can be directed to the most suitable.
- Developed dashboards that inform the Claims Management team on key metrics such as claim action turnaround times and consultant productivity metrics (calls handled, average call handling times, etc.).
- Developed a solution that uses machine learning to predict the outcome of insurance claims, enabling the business to design process optimization initiatives, fast-track approvals, and improve the claims handling experience.
- Provided data migration expertise to the PeopleSoft Oracle ERP Cloud migration project.
- Received nomination for the Big Up Awards 2019-Innovation Category.
Scrum Master - Data Practice
Tower Insurance
- Provided services to the Data Practice team, developing and maintaining activities relating to the tower big data platform stack, comprised of Cloudera (Hadoop), Talend, Power BI, and PySpark.
- Activated and curated the product backlog, creating user stories and production of detailed specifications.
- Contributed to creating and maintaining solution documents and the operations manual on the team Wiki portal (Confluence) and ArchiMate documents repository.
- Transitioned the team from being operations-focused, into a fully effective product development team, with great collaboration and full utilization of Scrum.
- Developed automated scrips, converted manual reports into Power BI, and created the operational dashboard to reduce time spent on manual BAU activities across the team.
- Worked through several business cases and proof of concepts, driving the creation of a business development strategy that future-proofed the organization through AI.
- Introduced a number of modern artifact management, communication, and collaboration tools, including Confluence, Jira, Office 365, and MS Teams, ultimately increasing productivity.
Product Team Leader
Freightways Information Services
- Played a key role in driving the evolution of project management, business analysis, and product ownership frameworks, significantly improving processes and standards within the team.
- Instilled a focus on agile methodologies, embedding these into daily, weekly, and monthly work patterns by actively coaching and mentoring direct reports.
- Leveraged Agile to provide transparency to the Freightways business and introduced concepts, including cross-team iteration planning and improved project governance.
- Facilitated and supported the development of strategic programs and projects through the successful implementation to standardize, define, and prioritize the portfolio, program, and team backlogs.
Scrum Master and Project Manager - Data & Analytics
SKY New Zealand
- Secured the scrum master role with the adoption of Agile by the business, leading key projects in relation to advanced data analytics and applications.
- Provided project management services to a cross-functional team of experts and procured infrastructure and other resources to sustain the continuous delivery of value.
- Collaborated with the Enterprise Projects Office to ensure the establishment of product delivery teams, adoption of agile working practices, and the integration of new agile reporting tools.
- Led the development of a business case, presenting this to the steering committee and enrolling all agile product teams in SKY to the Professional Scrum Foundations course.
- Implemented agile into the organization with improved transparency across the project management process.
- Prepared start-up and initiation documents to establish the new advanced data and analytics function, working within constraints of waterfall project governance framework.
Project Manager (Enterprise Projects Office)
Sky New Zealand
- Led the design, build, and implementation for the Conditional Access Head-End Upgrade, replacing and modernizing key infrastructure that controls subscriber access to premium broadcast and digital SKY content impacting a user base of >1 million.
- Managed a capital budget of >$3 million. Provided management activities to procure hardware, software, and professional services from large global vendors, contractors, and in-house project teams from across all IT disciplines.
- Facilitated collaborative design and planning workshops with architects, managers, SMEs, and teams across DVB, networks, broadcast, digital, and infrastructure to create and implement project plans that reduce commercial risk and minimize user impact.
- Won the Enterprise Projects Office (EPO) Rookie of the Year 2014 award.
Senior Business Analyst - Team Manager
CallPlus Group (now Vocus Communications New Zealand)
- Oversaw and provided advice to multiple project managers to support a number of initiatives.
- Supported the CIO in implementing a new project management process, engaging key stakeholders at all levels of the business to improve planning and consistency.
- Managed multiple software development projects with an associated budget of over $250,000.
- Led and coached two business analysts, providing all HR functions.
- Facilitated training workshops with staff to support change processes in adopting scrum processes across the business, improving customer service outcomes for a nationwide client base.
Project Business Analyst
CallPlus Group (now Vocus Communications New Zealand)
- Supported the GM of Slingshot with scope assessment, risk analysis, valuation, and selection of new projects and initiatives into the development portfolio.
- Collaborated with the scrum development team to produce project estimates and assess risk.
- Developed the business vision, effectively communicating this to the development frame.
- Set clear project targets and goals to ensure success.
Project Manager
CallPlus Group (now Vocus Communications New Zealand)
- Led all phases of projects including business case development, scope, planning, and financial planning.
- Initiated, planned, and delivered technology projects to internal customers in the CallPlus Group and external parties, including Chorus, Telecom Wholesale, Vodafone, Igloo, and SKY TV.
- Reported to the project steering committee and stakeholder groups, gaining buy-in and input to minimize risk and ensure project goals were achieved. Key project highlights include the implementation of CallPlus’ very first unbundled homeline and broadband access products (LLU), mobile products (MVNO), and the GST rate Change with main focus on operational support systems (OSS) development.
- Runner-up (2nd place) for Technology Innovator of the Year 2008.
Analyst Programmer
CallPlus Group (now Vocus New Zealand)
- Developed and supported multiple applications for the organization, while collaborating with the IT team and internal customers.
- Delivered enhancements and operations support to systems including CRM, billing and the Intranet.
- Won the award CallPlus IT Innovator of the Year 2005.
- Won the award CallPlus IT Innovator of the Year 2006.
Analyst Programmer
Network Service Providers (NSP)
- Delivered bespoke web-based MIS solutions to NSP's clients powered by largely open-source technologies.
- Developed an in-house job tracking system for NSP to manage the workflow of managed IT services.
- Oversaw the end-to-end software development lifecycle activity from pre-sales consultancy to the analysis, design, development, implementation, and support.
Project History
Conditional Access Head-End Upgrade (SKY New Zealand)
The Conditional Access Head-End is a mission-critical infrastructure within SKY New Zealand (a Pay TV Provider) responsible for controlling all subscriber access to premium broadcast and digital SKY content.
Led the design, build, and implementation for the Conditional Access Head-End Upgrade, replacing and modernizing a key infrastructure that controls subscriber access to premium broadcast and on-demand SKY content, impacting a very large user base of >1 million users (set top boxes).
Managed a capital budget of >$3 million, provided management activities to procure hardware, software, and professional services from large global vendors (Cisco Videoscape, Dimension Data), contractors, as well as in-house project teams from across all IT disciplines.
Facilitated collaborative design and planning workshops with architects, managers, SMEs, and teams across DVB team, networks, broadcast engineering, applications, and infrastructure to create and implement effective project plans that reduce commercial risk and minimize user impact.
Advanced Data Analytics Platform (SKY New Zealand)
The advanced data analytics platform is the first of its kind for SKY New Zealand, a Cloudera Hadoop-based Data Lake established to amass vast amounts of semi-structured and unstructured data for machine learning analytics.
Secured the scrum master role with the adoption of Agile by the business, leading key projects in relation to advanced data analytics and applications.
Provided project management services to a cross-functional team of experts and procured infrastructure and other resources to sustain the continuous delivery of value.
Collaborated with the Enterprise Projects Office, ensuring the establishment of product delivery teams, adoption of agile working practices, and the integration of new agile reporting tools.
Led the development of a business case, presenting this to the steering committee and enrolling all agile product teams in SKY to the Professional Scrum Foundations course.
Implemented agile into the organization with improved transparency across the project management process.
Prepared start-up and initiation documents to establish the new advanced data and analytics function, working within a waterfall project governance framework constraints.
Data Capability Uplift (TOWER Insurance New Zealand)
The Data Practice team was established as a one-stop shop for all data needs of TOWER due to the challenges of having team silos and numerous legacy platforms. They also wanted to leverage Agile to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives.
Provided services to the Data Practice team, developing and maintaining activities relating to the TOWER big data platform stack, comprised of Cloudera (Hadoop), Talend, Power BI, and PySpark
Activated and curated the product backlog, creating user stories and detailed specifications.
Contributed to the creation and maintenance of solution documents and the operations manual on the team Wiki portal (Confluence) and ArchiMate documents repository.
Transitioned the team from being operations-focused, into a fully effective product development team, with great collaboration and full utilization of Scrum.
Developed automated scripts, converted manual reports into Power BI, and created the operational dashboard to reduce time spent on manual BAU activities across the team.
Worked through a number of business cases and proof-of-concepts, driving the creation of a business development strategy that future-proofed the organization through the use of AI.
Introduced several modern artifact management, communication, and collaboration tools, including Confluence, Jira, Office 365, and MS Teams, ultimately increasing the team’s productivity.
Education
Master of Science Degree in Computer Science
University of Sydney - Sydney, Australia
Bachelor of Computing Systems Degree in Information Technology
Unitec Institute of Technology - Auckland, New Zealand
Certifications
Professional Scrum Master Level II (PSM II)
Scrum.org
Certified SAFe 5 Scrum Master
Scaled Agile, Inc.
Executive Data Science
Johns Hopkins University
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute
Professional Scrum Product Owner I (PSPO I)
Scrum.org
PRINCE2 Practitioner certification
APMG International
Skills
Tools
Jira, Microsoft Power BI, Confluence, SQL, Office 365, Slack, Trello, Miro, Zoom, PostgreSQL, Visual Studio .NET, Visual SourceSafe, Tableau, Cloudera, Spark SQL, GIS, Oracle ERP, ETL, SSAS
Paradigms
Scrum, Agile Project Management, Agile, Azure DevOps, Database Design, PMBOK, Kanban, Lean, DevOps, PRINCE2, Change Management
Platforms
Talend, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Anaconda, SharePoint, Microsoft Power Automate, OpenShift
Other
Project Management, Scrum Master, Scrum Coaching, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Agile Coaching, Microsoft Teams, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Product Ownership, Scrum Product Owner, Product Owner, Business Analysis, Business Cases, PMO Development, Project Finance, Risk Management, Issue Management, Data, Data Science, Data Engineering, Data Visualization, Agile Product Delivery, Stakeholder Management, People Management, Release Management, eCommerce, Web Applications, Web API, PHP, MySQL, .NET, SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), Transact-SQL (T-SQL), Procurement, Data Lakes, Hadoop, Data Centers, ITIL, Production Support, PySpark, ArchiMate, Lean Portfolio Management, Performance Management, Python, PeopleSoft, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Data Warehouse Design, WhereScape RED, Test Automation, Solution Design, Spark, Infrastructure, Analytics, Machine Learning, Contract Management, Business Intelligence (BI)
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