Vinod is available for hire

Vinod Sukumaran

Verified Expert in Project Management

Project Manager

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Toptal member since June 7, 2019

Expertise

Technical Project Management Digital Project Management Websites PMO Analysis PMO Project Management Mobile Scrum Coaching Startup Consulting E-commerce Project Management Agile Coaching Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)Waterfall Delivery Technology Delivery Management Delivery Directors Project Delivery Leadership Sports Project Management Cloud Delivery Management Project Management Consulting Technical Delivery Project Management

Bio

With more than 15 years of experience as a seasoned technical project manager, tech leader, and agile coach, Vinod has managed projects end to end (including tech/product roadmaps) to ensure maximum customer satisfaction and business revenue. An expert in coordinating diverse teams and resources to complete objectives, Vinod has worked with startups, SMBs, and large corporations focused on developing web and mobile products for global customers.

Project Highlights

PayZapp Digital Payments App and eWallet

Led digital transformation for a major bank's eWallet initiative and managed the key features like QR scanning and UPI.

UniPAY Next POS Application

Streamlined operations/processes, roadmap building, and management for effective market releases and customer satisfaction.

Web-based Brand Rating System

Oversaw and managed the product (end to end), program, technical oversight, and design discussions in an Agile environment.

Expertise

Content Management Systems (CMS)Fintech Git Jira Mobile/Web Project Management Offshore Team Management Technology Consulting WordPress

Work Experience

Consultant | Technical Project Manager | Agile Coach

2018 - 2019

Innoviti Payments

Served as a technical project manager,Agile coach, and Technology adviser.
Led requirements elicitation and elaborate discovery phases to identify and list out key product features, managed and prioritized backlogs, conducted Scrum ceremonies, supervised and motivated teams, provided direction, and built product and technology road maps.
Estimated the amount work to be done including staffing and resourcing plans, tracking and monitoring of subtasks, solved problems, and mentored multiple teams to provide solutions.
Led implementation of Jira and Confluence across the organization.
Used an integrated collection of tools to track work and facilitate communication. Technologies covered were Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, MySQL, and AWS. Tools used include Git, Wiki, Jira, Confluence, Aha, Freshdesk, Onedrive, Google Docs, Slack, and Zoho.
Served as program manager for the initial beta and subsequent releases of companies MVP offering, liaising with customers and all relevant stakeholders.

Technical Project Manager | Agile Coach

2015 - 2018

Wibmo Mobile Payments

Set up and managed the PMO (project management office).
Managed digital online payment wallet products for large banks. One of the key products was PayZapp which is available in the App Store and Play Store with more than 10 million downloads.
Liaised between the business stakeholders and Scrum team to deliver 15 key features to market over a span of six months in a B2C environment driving customer acquisition by 100%.
Worked closely with founders, CEO, and CTO to advise and jointly set product and technical direction for the company. Served as the point of contact interfacing between C-level business stakeholders and architects/engineering directors.
Implemented Scrum and other Lean practices including Kanban and XP across projects and teams.
Worked with the following technologies (Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, MongoDB, Android, iOS, PHP) and tools (Jira, Confluence, GitLab, Freshdesk, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Onedrive, Slack).
Led an organization-wide implementation of Jira as the tool of choice.
Contributed to the requirements elicitation and elaborate discovery phases to identify and list out key product features, managed and prioritized backlogs, conducted Scrum ceremonies, supervised and motivated teams, provided direction, and built product and technology roadmaps.
Provided technical oversight and setup; also implemented key tools and processes like Jira.

Entrepreneur | Consultant

2013 - 2015

TrainingTurf

Worked closely with CEOs, CTOs, CMOs, and other top managers to understand, elicit, and create a clear strategic road-map for corporate products, processes, tools, and technologies.
Helped to identify, interview, recruit, and build strong teams, setup appropriate tools, and processes, and managed the delivery of projects end to end (based on identified roadmaps).
Contributed to requirements elicitation and elaborate discovery phases to identify and list out key product features, managed and prioritized backlogs, conducted Scrum ceremonies, supervised and motivated teams, provided direction, and built product and technology roadmaps.
Provided technical oversight and setup; also implemented key tools and processes.
Worked as an Agile coach for multiple projects across multiple companies—setting up Agile teams and managing sprint planning, reviews, and sprint retrospectives.
Owned and managed development schedules to solution a web-based customer interaction rating system and other eCommerce, B2B, B2C, web-related solutions.
Worked with the following technologies (Java, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, DotNetNuke, PHP, CodeIgniter, MySQL, MongoDB, Tomcat, Apache), and tools (Jira, Confluence, Harvest, Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Basecamp).
Managed and implemented Jira and Confluence across the organization working as a Jira administrator; also helped institutionalize Slack.
Set up and managed offshore development centers working with multiple outsourced vendors and managing remote teams.
Used Agile, Waterfall, prototyping, and hybrid models to suit project delivery.
Managed, built, and deployed a web and mobile-based online interviewing system, website for an airport, HR portal for recruitment, travel portal, websites for many other businesses using various content management systems.

Director Technology | Project Manager

2012 - 2013

Position²

Oversaw the delivery of multiple web projects for global clients like Amazon, Lenovo, and Samsung.
Managed the project of a brand monitoring platform for a US-based customer end to end.
Set up and mentored technical teams and managed stakeholders.
Automated organizations' billing processes—improving on-time billing and accuracy by 30%.
Improved customer satisfaction by implementing go-to-green processes through controlled and improved delivery, open reporting, and transparency on troubled accounts.
Worked with the following technologies (Java, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, DotNetNuke, PHP, MySQL, MongoDB, Tomcat, Apache) and tools (Jira, Confluence, Harvest, Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Basecamp, Bugzilla).
Built and successfully managed an offshore development team of 12 members including developers, designers, and testers.
Implemented and managed using analytics tools like Google Analytics, Klipfolio, and QlikView.

Consultant | Delivery Manager | Technical Project Manager

2007 - 2012

SilverApex

Worked with customers on business strategy, technology roadmap, and product visions.
Created technology solutions and handled the process implementation for customers.
Interviewed, recruited, and built strong teams for multiple customers.
Helped independently setup and manage offshore development centers.
Established a sales enablement vertical to support presales work, complete with proposal authors, creatives teams, innovative hubs to manage client visits. Used my expertise on proposals, RFI, and RFPs.
Worked with the following technologies (Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WordPress, MySQL, Tomcat, Apache) and tools (Jira, Google Docs, Microsoft Office).

Group Manager | Technical Project Manager | Technology Consultant

2005 - 2007

iGate Global Solutions

Oversaw and was responsible for the management of multiple projects running out of North America for domains covering energy, banking, and retail.
Worked with key customers to plan and execute their projects. These customers included Nordstrom Retail, Transmontaigne Energy, Royal Bank of Canada, and CNH Industries, Expedia.
Served as a certified audit team member for an SEI CMM Level 4 certification.
Managed multiple teams and projects as part of a web development initiative.
Supported presales teams working on RFPs and proposals.
Worked with the following technologies (Java, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, legacy mainframe systems, Tomcat, Apache) and tools (Microsoft Office, Jira, Bugzilla, and Git).

Project History

PayZapp Digital Payments App and eWallet

Led digital transformation for a major bank's eWallet initiative and managed the key features like QR scanning and UPI.

The digital wallet and payment app was a key initiative and a prestigious one for the customer to move a huge step ahead of its competition.

Role: Agile Project Manager

Work Details:
• Rolled out of critical features right from the start, including wallet management, money upload/transfer, QR scan feature, unified payment interface (UPI), IMPS, and P2P.
• Managed API-based merchant integrations.
• Played a key liaison role in the integration and support for Visa, Mastercard, and RuPay.
• Provided direction and removed impediments to ensure smooth on-time delivery of releases.

It has more than 10 million downloads in the Play Store.

Technologies: Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, MongoDB, Android, iOS

Digital Marketing Projects

https://www.position2.com/

Built and managed a technical team of 15 members in the delivery of all web projects, IT, and customer management.

The technical division of this digital marketing company was built and managed to ensure smooth delivery of all web-based projects such as Aurea.com, Vormetric.com, Quorum.net, and Thismoment.com. SEO and SMO along with website development were offered as services to customers.

Role: Head of Technology

Technologies: WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, DotNetNuke, PHP, CodeIgniter, Zend, Bugzilla, Jira, CVS, Git

UniPAY Next POS Application

Streamlined operations/processes, roadmap building, and management for effective market releases and customer satisfaction.

The project centered around point-of-sale software application supporting Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

Work Details:
• The USP needed to support multiple banks through a single bank terminal interface.
• Implemented new features supporting contactless and QR code-based payments.
• Developed using Java, C, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript running on Tomcat, MySQL, MongoDB.
• Reporting was accomplished with the use of Pentaho and customs software

Web-based Brand Rating System

Oversaw and managed the product (end to end), program, technical oversight, and design discussions in an Agile environment.

Work Details:
• Identified multiple sources of conversations happening about a specific brand or company including market research inputs, social media conversations, customer ratings, website views and more.
• Evaluated and rated the brand on a specific scale.
• Collected data, collated it, and produced meaningful insights.
• Inserted automation scripts wherever possible.
• Integrated data across APIs, JSON, XML, flat files, and multiple other data sources.

Technologies: Java, HTML, CSS, Linux, C/C++, JavaScript, MySQL, MongoDB, Content Management Systems

Other Experience

Publication

Agile Documentation: Balancing Speed and Knowledge Retention

https://www.toptal.com/project-managers/agile/agile-documentation

Education

2003 - 2005

Master's Degree in Business Administration

Symbiosis Institute of Management - Pune, India

1991 - 1995

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Bangalore Institute of Technology - Bangalore, India

Certifications

MAY 2018 - PRESENT

Certified Scrum Master

International Scrum Institute™

APRIL 2003 - PRESENT

CMM Audit Team Member

Software Engineering Institute

Skills

Tools

Jira, Bugzilla, Google Docs, Harvest, Eclipse IDE, Git, CVS, Confluence, Basecamp, Microsoft Project, Photoshop 7

Paradigms

Agile Project Management, Agile Product Management, Kanban, B2B, B2C, Lean Project Management, XP, Team Development, Servant Leadership, Waterfall Delivery, Waterfall Development, Iterative Delivery, Iterative Development, Agile Workflow

Platforms

WordPress, Joomla, Windows, DotNetNuke (DNN), Amazon EC2, Blockchain, Android, iOS, Linux, Drupal, Zendesk

Industry Expertise

Technology, Digital Marketing, Digital Media, Mid-sized Enterprises, New Business Ventures, Banking & Finance

Other

Fintech, Microsoft 365, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Agile Coaching, Mobile/Web Project Management, Mobile Apps, Java, HTML5, CSS, Google Drive, Recruitment, Team Management, Offshore Development, Team Building, Content Management Systems (CMS), Technical Project Management, Technology Consulting, Entrepreneurship, Offshoring, Offshore Team Management, PMO Project Management, Technical Product Management, Product Management, Web & Mobile Applications, Mobile, Strategy, Project Management Office (PMO), Leadership, Lean Development, eCommerce, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Account Management, Customer Success, Technical Hiring, Technical Leadership, Client Management, Client Relations, Outsourcing, Product Owner, Scrum Coaching, Mobile Banking, Team Leadership, Team Mentoring, Stakeholder Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Technical Recruiting, Product Strategy, IT Strategy, Company Strategy, Leadership Strategy, Remote Team Leadership, Project Leadership, Coaching, Mentorship & Coaching, Code Review, Product Reviews, Reporting, Dashboards, E-commerce Project Management, eCommerce Management, Project Delivery, Delivery Management, Prototyping, Proof of Concept (POC), Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), Websites, Website CMS, Website Management, Mobile Web, Mobile POS, PHP 7, MySQL, MongoDB, Databases, Eclipse, Interactive JavaScript, Development, App Development, Web Development, API Development, IT Management, Cloud, Use Cases, User Journey Maps, UML, User Flows, Remote Work, Risk Management, Lean Startups, Startups, Digital Project Management, Digital Product Management, Startup Consulting, Technical Training, Analysis, PMO Analysis, Systems Analysis, Global Team Management, Project Coordination, International Projects, Technical Delivery Management, Freelancing, Project Management, Waterfall Methodology, Open Source, JavaScript, Freshdesk, APIs, Human Resources (HR), Media, Workflow, Modeling, Automation, PHP 5, Data Analysis, Loyalty Programs

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