Udo Behrends
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Thisted, Denmark
Toptal member since February 17, 2022
Udo is an experienced and versatile senior project manager with an international management and technology consulting background and a can-do delivery mindset for global challenges. He is analytical, structured, and a true team player. As a great people and stakeholder manager and leader, he reliably introduces the Agile work method and runs project and product implementations in an Agile fashion. Udo connects with his IT enthusiasm, skills, and cloud experience across business areas.
Expertise
- Agile Coaching
- Azure DevOps
- Core Banking Systems
- IT Business Analysis
- IT Projects
- People Management
- Project Management
- Trading Systems
Work Experience
Senior Project Manager and Program Lead
Centrica
- Consolidated ETRM systems into a centralized solution (ION Endur).
- Set up the NIS2 program to mature the information security within the company using the CIS v8 framework.
- Coached junior project managers to gain the necessary skills to independently run projects.
Senior Project Manager | Agile Coach | Scrum Master | Business Analyst
Vattenfall Energy Trading GmbH
- Introduced the Agile methodology and enabled teams to use Scrum, including a strategically important team that produces a long-term market outlook for the Vattenfall group and its board of directors.
- Managed the biggest, fastest, and most successful project on upgrading the Endur Commodities trading and risk management software—skipping several major versions—within Vattenfall for hundreds of users.
- Created practical solutions by using the latest cloud and low-code solutions.
- Realized a time-critical project with the front-to-back process adaptions and software implementations to offer services around the EPEX and EXAA 15-minute auctions for the customers of BU Asset Optimization.
- Extended the IT infrastructure landscape to integrate hybrid and renewable power plants.
- Developed and rolled out web-based trading and portfolio management software in complex infrastructures connecting on-premise and cloud infrastructures.
- Implemented new processes and software in the business unit asset optimization to participate in the German ancillary services auctions.
- Enabled new product implementation, such as the US Power Futures trading on ICE.
Manager
BearingPoint
- Managed high-performing teams and strategically critical projects for an international bank.
- Evaluated capital market and core banking software and implemented core banking systems internationally for leading financial institutions.
- Managed the customer master data customization and account products and led a team working on the global rollout of core banking software (Temenos T24) worldwide, including offshore software development in Chennai, India.
- Supervised the implementations of a core banking system (CORE24) by using Scrum to deliver web services and designing the architecture for German online banking and brokerage.
- Implemented features and options trading software for one of Germany’s leading asset managers using the fix protocol.
- Introduced a large-scale setup for an identity and access management system.
Project Manager
IBM Germany Financial Services Industry Solutions GmbH
- Acted as the project leader for banking and brokerage projects for Unicredit.
- Introduced two news trading platforms and stock exchanges.
- Stabilized and optimized a portfolio management system.
- Introduced the SAP Bank and Profit Analyzer, including the web-based transformation tools based on JavaScript.
Team Lead of Professional Services
Netlife Internet Consulting and Software GmbH
- Acted as the brokerage product manager and project lead for a banking and brokerage project, including developing prototypes.
- Oversaw the development and presented software prototypes for mobile banking and portfolio analysis applications with multi-digital channel capabilities.
- Introduced multi-entity brokerage software (ASP for more than 100 saving banks), migrated and launched a new brokerage software, and gained experience with Unix environments and the C++ and Java programming languages.
Project History
Long-Term Market Outlook (LTMO)
I established and coached a Scrum team to become a dedicated team across functional units, embracing the stakeholder and delivering the accepted results that significantly impacted the overall organization to the board of directors.
Upgrade of the Endur Commodities Trading and Risk Management Software
I upgraded the trading and risk management software successfully to the new version within the budget and deadline.
The project team needed to upgrade its scripts from AVS to JVS, conduct extensive regression tests, find a workaround, and interact with the software vendor.
The management and redesign of the underlying server infrastructure and the extensive use of high-performance software for deploying data snapshots were crucial for the project and coordinating all stakeholders.
Education
Master of Science Degree in Management Studies with a Focus on Information and Communication Technology
Hagener Institute for Management Studies and Danube University Krems - Hagen, Germany and Krems, Austria
Exchange Program in Commerce
University of Gothenburg - Gothenburg, Sweden
Master's Degree in Finance and Banking
University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück - Osnabrück, Germany
Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems and Computer Science
University of British Columbia - Vancouver, Canada
Certifications
Certified Agile Leadership for Organizations
Scrum Alliance
Certified Agile Leadership for Teams
Scrum Alliance
Certified Agile Leadership Essentials
Scrum Alliance
Apache Spark (TM) SQL for Data Analysts
Databricks
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
BearingPoint GmbH
Project Management Professional (PMI-PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Skills
Tools
Microsoft PowerPoint, Office 365, Microsoft Power BI, Excel 365, Azure Logic Apps, Microsoft Power Apps, MURAL, Miro, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, SQL, Jira, Confluence
Paradigms
Azure DevOps, Agile Software Development, Database Design, Scrum, Kanban, Management, Agile Project Management
Platforms
SharePoint 365, Microsoft Power Automate, Microsoft Power Platform, Adobe ColdFusion, SharePoint 2013, Oracle
Industry Expertise
Banking & Finance, Lean Six Sigma
Other
Project Management, People Management, Microsoft Teams, IT Projects, Business Analysis, IT Business Analysis, Trading Systems, Core Banking Systems, Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Process Mapping, Agile Coaching, Scrum Master, Agile Practices, Risk Management, Low Code, Microsoft Azure, Process Design, Data Migration, Project Reporting, Process Flows, Azure SQL, Databricks, Project Management Professional (PMP), Stakeholder Management, IT Program Management, IT Project Management, Portfolio Management, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), C++, HTML, JavaScript, Marketing, Finance, Commerce, Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), Identity & Access Management (IAM), Securities, Migration, Settlements, COBOL, SAP Bank Analyzer, Stock Trading, Presales, Pitch Preparation, IT Consulting, Prototyping, IT Networking, Mobile Networks, Wireless Networking, Apache Spark, Data Analysis, Test Management, Project Planning, Teamwork, Communication, Collaboration, Profitability Analysis, SAP, Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Office, Program Planning
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