Nikola Pavličić, Project Manager in Belgrade, Serbia
Nikola Pavličić

Project Manager in Belgrade, Serbia

Member since January 16, 2019
Since 2005, Nikola's been managing projects mostly on the vendor side on behalf of international banks. The majority of his projects were delivered using the Agile framework. The largest project in his career involved 130 team members and lasted a span of 1,500 days. Nikola's latest project was the major enhancement of ServiceNow ITSM implementation for a large manufacturing corporation with the total project effort exceeding 700 days.
Nikola is now available for hire

Project Highlights

Expertise

Education

Select Certifications

Employment

  • Senior Project Manager

    2018 - PRESENT
    Fujitsu
    • Oversaw a complex customer-facing project for the major enhancement of an ITSM tool, ServiceNow. The project team involved more 50 members and were organized into three teams; I managed 15 independent deliverables using a combination of Waterfall and Agile frameworks.
    • Managed projects for a number of customers with the accounts being managed by various Fujitsu organizations.
    • Led projects with a project team that was distributed across five countries and three continents.
    • Worked as a crisis project manager, salvaging a Windows 10 rollout project for a major customer in the manufacturing business.
    • Managed a reverse service transition project for a major tobacco manufacturer.
  • Head of Professional Services

    2017 - 2018
    CallidusCloud (part of SAP)
    • Led a team of 15+ project managers and business and technical analysts—was responsible for managing new clients and customer success projects.
    • Oversaw the recruitment of six business analysts and project managers.
    • Transformed a major customer success project by moving from a predictive (Waterfall) model to a two-week sprint Agile approach.
    • Acted as a crisis manager, salvaging an implementation project for a major UK client.
    • Introduced a resource capacity planning model.
  • Software Project Manager

    2016 - 2017
    Algotech
    • Managed Scrum-oriented implementation and customization projects, delivering an in-house product for a major Serbian bank and a large logistics company.
    • Worked with top management and external vendor to introduce a new project portfolio management tool.
    • Established a project reporting standard.
    • Redesigned a company's project management methodology.
    • Trained the team of software developers and QA on the importance of the product owner role in Scrum-based work.
  • Project and Portfolio Manager

    2014 - 2016
    Banca Intesa
    • Oversaw the execution of core banking projects.
    • Coached and mentored junior project managers.
    • Managed a gap analysis project for a major core banking system upgrade, with 100+ team members and a total project size of 1,000+ man-days.
    • Was instrumental in adding Agile elements to PM methodology and creating a methodology for project portfolio management.
    • Facilitated capital budget elicitation and monitored CAPEX utilization on projects.
  • EMEA Project Manager

    2013 - 2014
    Sitel
    • Simultaneously managed up to seven complex, client-facing projects in a multinational and virtual environment with the average project size being 500+ days.
    • Served major clients in credit card, retail, insurance, and medical equipment industries.
    • Managed projects have delivered 100+ new jobs across the EMEA region.
    • Received an average project management scorecard of above 95% and each project budget was inside a 2% margin.
    • Managed a pilot project to deliver AWS-based call center solution; one of the first solutions that connected a cloud-based client application with the on-premise based PBX.
  • Project and Product Manager

    2002 - 2013
    CIS
    • Led the software development team for a period of four years with the goal to develop SWIFT add-on solutions.
    • Oversaw the flagship product that was used by 40+ banks and was shipped to market through 20+ planned and several out-of-cycle releases with PDLC maintained using Scrum and Kanban frameworks.
    • Managed more than 100 client-facing programs and projects—from smaller service implementations and upgrades of client’s in-house services to larger projects covering full outsourcing of SWIFT-related operations.
    • Spearheaded the initiative for establishing a project management methodology based on MS Project Server, MS Project Professional, and MS SharePoint.
    • Led the development of one of the first AML solutions in the market.
  • Project Manager

    2008 - 2009
    Merit Solutions
    • Managed projects related to ICT infrastructure and supervised the entire IT operation.
    • Designed an internal document management system based on MS SharePoint technology.
    • Oversaw Microsoft Dynamics implementation projects (CRM, SharePoint).
    • Led the project for implementing an IP telephony solution based on the SIP protocol and Cisco ATA devices.
    • Led the project for a redesigned VPN network and remote access based on the set of Cisco PIX firewall devices.

Project History

  • Major Enhancement of an ITSM Tool called ServiceNow
    Led the major improvements of ServiceNow (a new end-user service portal, multiple integrations, and process improvements).

    The goal of this project was to update the service management tools in ServiceNow by implementing a number of features.

    UPDATES:
    • Create a new IT end-user service portal.
    • Improve the incident, problem, and change management processes.
    • Implement multiple integrations with other tools.

    The project successfully carried out 15 different deliverables by using a combination of Waterfall and Agile methods.

    The main project deliverable was the creation of a new IT service portal that enables end users to submit incidents and service requests. Three months after moving the new portal to production, calls to the service desk have been reduced by 20% with the reduction trend.

    Following the ServiceNow update, several integrations were introduced: SCCM, SCOM, a universal scheduling tool, and another ServiceNow instance that was used by a vendor.

    The project's team consisted of more than 50 team members and was organized into three sub-teams.
    The project was delivered as per the agreed upon scope, on time, and within budget.

  • Core Banking System Replacement
    Led a gap analysis project involving a global vendor, readying the bank for the biggest transformation in its history.

    The goal of the project was to perform a detailed gap analysis of the global core banking product vendor through a series of product walk-through workshops.

    The project involved 46 different deliverables, ranging from gap identification documents to business process alignments.

    After completing the project, both the vendor and the bank have identified, recorded, and estimated all of the key gaps in the functionalities of the vendor's product as well as the key business processes that needed an alignment.

    The project resulted in the creation of a high-level solution design document, a detailed implementation plan, the allocation of key resources from the bank to be fully committed to the implementation project, and a comprehensive analysis of the bank's readiness.

    The project team consisted of 130+ team members divvied up into five sub-teams and led by subproject managers. The project was delivered as per the agreed upon scope, on time, and within budget.

  • Implementation of a Complex Customer Support Model
    Managed a complex project for the introduction of an advanced loyalty payment card solution.

    The goal of the project was to introduce a new loyalty payment card solution for the biggest retailer company in Portugal.

    Management of the project included coordinating the project teams from five corporations: a retailer company, a major banking group, two card processor companies, and a customer support provider.

    The overall project duration was 15 months where I delivered a full set of operating procedures, recruited and trained the support staff, set up the network and telephony, and chose the tooling.

    After completion, the project delivered the world's most advanced payment card to the Portuguese market and also created 100+ new jobs.

  • Harmonize SWIFT Operations on a Group Level
    Led the program to consolidate SWIFT operations for a major Austrian banking group along with ten member banks.

    The goal of the program was to harmonize SWIFT-related back-office operations for all of the member banks of a major Austrian retail banking group by moving the operations from on-premise to an outsourced model.

    The program included projects to set up the infrastructure requirements as well as projects for each bank to migrate and harmonize the SWIFT-related service to a central location.

    The overall program duration consisted of 30 months.

  • Developing the Most Viable Product
    Managed the in-house software product development of a SWIFT add-on tool.

    The aim of the project was to build a new product for the banking market using the Scrum framework and Agile principles.

    The MVP was built in three months and was implemented in two pilot banks (one large and one small bank).
    The follow-up projects led to further product development in 20 regular and off-cycle releases and product implementations in 40 banks in five countries.

Education

  • Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering
    1992 - 1997
    University of Belgrade - Belgrade, Serbia

Certifications

  • Scrum Product Owner Accredited Certification
    JANUARY 2019 - PRESENT
    International Scrum Institute
  • Scrum Master Accredited Certification
    JANUARY 2019 - PRESENT
    International Scrum Institute
  • Alliance Access 6.0. Certified Professional
    JULY 2009 - PRESENT
    SWIFT
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
    JULY 2009 - OCTOBER 2021
    PMI | Project Management Institution
  • Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)
    OCTOBER 2000 - PRESENT
    Microsoft

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