Anand Vijayakumar
Non-alumni
Others
Summary
Am a seasoned IT Professional working in Singapore for the past 10 years (and before that I have worked in USA and India). Am passionate about giving back to the community and have been coaching/mentoring professionals in the past few years to achieve professional certifications, career growth etc.
I specialise in the areas of both traditional and agile project, program portfolio management as well as vendor management.
Featured Skills
Work Experience
Vice President, PMO Head Oct 2018 - Present
MUFG bank SingaporeAccountabilities: Reporting to the Head of Systems Planning and the Chief Information Officer in the Systems Office for Asia, my role included Managing the Asian IT Projects Portfolio including project prioritization, budget management, portfolio governance, resource management, vendor management as well as driving Digital cost optimization initiatives.
Responsibilities:
• Evaluate new project and program requests and prioritize suitable initiatives that will add value to the organizational business objectives with emphasis on optimizing investments
• Manage the budget at a portfolio level and manage spending across the various countries, programs as well as projects.
• Manage and Monitor the IT Portfolio to ensure timely and good quality delivery
• Establish strong governance models for all the projects and programs in the portfolio
• Support Resource Planning for the Systems Office for Asia with view on utilizing the available resources effectively while maintaining a forward looking plan to meet future demands and requirements
• Lead and Drive project managers to understand the competing needs of the different projects in the portfolio toward the organizations vision goal
• Facilitate process introspective sessions to identify areas of improvement in the different software development life cycle (SDLC) processes followed in the different teams and suggest the same to senior management
• Host the quarterly portfolio steering committee meeting including all business unit MD’s as well as C-level executives in the Region
Program Manager Jun 2017 - Sep 2018
OCBC Bank, Singapore SingaporeAccountabilities: Managing the equity brokerages program which includes multiple ongoing projects supporting the securities business that are executed from the Singapore development centre from start to finish with emphasis on reducing risks and timely delivery.
Responsibilities:
• Lead and Drive project managers to understand the competing needs of the different projects in the program toward the organizations vision goal
• Facilitate process introspective sessions to identify areas of improvement in the different software development life cycle (SDLC) processes followed in the different teams and suggest the same to senior management
• Manage stakeholder expectations during the course of the project/program execution
• Host the monthly steering committee meeting for the program
• Manage vendor teams project managers and track delivery progress on the different projects
• Contribute ideas to the PMO office about adopting Scrum practices into the organizations’ software delivery model
Program Manager PMO Sep 2014 - Apr 2017
Moodys Analytics SingaporeAccountabilities: Providing PMO office support for all projects and programs executed in Singapore and APAC including the processes to follow and the reporting governance structures for the same. Managing the programs and projects that are executed from the Singapore development centre from start to finish using agile/scrum methodologies with emphasis on reducing risks and timely delivery.
Responsibilities:
• Draft the agile practices to be followed and the reporting formats for sprint review report and coach the scrum teams to implement them effectively for all new projects programs
• Collaborate with other scrum masters and PMO members to draft update the agile practices to be followed for projects/programs that involve multiple scrum teams in different locations
• Facilitate discussions between product owners and technical teams to define the products’ functional technical roadmap
• Manage stakeholder expectations including clients during the course of the project/program execution
• Host the monthly steering committee meeting for all projects to ensure that key project deliverables are aligned to program objectives and for scrum masters / functional leads to highlight any key risks issues to reduce the impact on the delivery commitments
• Managed multiple teams as a scrum master and tracked their day-to-day activities/progress during the sprint including coordination with other scrum masters program managers in San Francisco, Toronto, Hong Kong, Grenoble and Shenzhen.
• Conduct sprint and release retrospective meetings to gather feedback and suggest improvements in the software delivery model for upcoming sprints/release
• Resolve conflicts on the sprint and release scope between the product teams and the development team to ensure timely and smooth delivery
Education
Post Graduate Diploma (Business And Management) Mar 2020 - Present
Emeritus Institute of Management SingaporeBachelor of Engineering (Information Technology) Aug 2000 - May 2004
BHARATHIDASAN UNIVERSITY IndiaOther Skills
Q&A with Anand Vijayakumar
What did you do to make yourself marketable?
I have constantly tried to upskill myself to keep myself marketable. On average I have obtained at least 1 professional credential or more every year and by learning new skills, am able to catch up with the market demand for multi-skilled professionals.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What would you bring to a team if you join them?
Am a problem solver and someone who can get the job done. I ignore the noise or past-history that contributed toward a problematic scenario and always focus on the end-result and drive the team toward that.
Am a people person and can build working relationships with all levels of stakeholders - this is one of my core strengths.
I bring with me many years of experience in executing/delivering complex programs and projects that have delivered exceptional results to the organization.- Upvote | 0
- Posted 4 years ago
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Give an example of a recent industry development that captured your attention, and what insight or thoughts you have about it.
Digital Transformation is the latest buzzword in all industries and most organisations are tapping on Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning as they go ahead with their digital transformation journeys. This is an area am extremely interested in and thankfully my current role allows me to contribute effectively in this area.
I have done a course on Digital Transformation Strategy, specialising in Artificial Intelligence with INSEAD Business School and this course gave me lot of valuable insights am able to apply in my job.
Am presently pursuing a post-graduate diploma in Business Management where eminent professors from columbia business school and MIT are helping students understand how to take an organization through digital transformation and run the business effectively.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What are some personal projects or ideas you have worked on or are working on now?
I love to volunteer and give back to the community. As of now, am a volunteer with PMI Singapore Chapter, where I am a coach to PMP Certification aspirants.
PMI stands for Project Management Institute and PMP Stands for Project Management Professional. PMP is one of the top most project management related certifications.
Am also working on a book and video blog series on program management that will potentially help aspirants pursue the PgMP certification (PgMP Stands for Program Management Professional).
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- Posted 4 years ago
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Have you considered going into other fields? What other fields do you think you are well-suited for and why?
Yes, I have. Based on the feedback received after presentations and seminars that I have hosted, a lot of my participants suggest that I should potentially take up a career in Teaching. Am a fluent orator and this maybe a potential option in the future.
For now, am happy doing what am doing.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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How do you attempt to overcome your lack of knowledge in particular areas?
If I find that am lacking in any area - I approach it in two ways.
1. Is this something I need to know or learn more for my career longer term? If yes, I usually find learning opportunities in that area and enrol for the same to unskill myself. If no, i usually follow the below strategy.
2. Is this better off given to experts? If yes, I typically either hire an expert in that area to support the project or enlist help from the existing pool of experts from my current organization.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What are your interests and in what way does this career satisfy your interests?
I am an extrovert and people person. I enjoy meeting new people and building good relationships with them. As a program manager or project manager or PMO Head - my roles involves engaging multiple stakeholders both internal and external and helps keep me satisfied.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What has been the most challenging situation you have ever faced at work and how did you overcome it?
One of the programs I was managing a few years back was about 2 years behind schedule and it was being executed in a very challenging environment where stakeholders were going up against each other and compromising the program outcome.
I spent the first 2 months in the job understanding the current situation well, identified who are the supporters of the program and who were against it, and then addressed the negative stakeholders one by one. Once all stakeholders were aligned and agreed to move ahead with the program, things were much more manageable and we managed to successfully launch it in the next 8 months.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What excites you about the field that you are in?
The IT or should I say the Technology space is rapidly evolving. There are newer technologies being rolled out almost every year and the market is rapidly adapting to the same. Individuals have no choice but to up skill themselves to stay relevant or become obsolete. This challenge is exciting and I embrace the same by constantly investing in myself to learn newer skills.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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What are some mistakes that you have made in your career? How did you deal with it and what have you learned from them?
My career has mostly been alright and probably the only mistake I would say was not understanding the signals of mismanagement at the senior exec levels during one of my roles. There were many warning signs that the company may fold but being loyal staff myself and my colleagues we overlooked it - and ended up paying the price later on. Of course it was a temporary setback and we have all landed much better roles since then but this is a mistake I regret making.
Moving forward I will be more mindful and cautious to watch out for such signs and alert/warn my team and prepare our contingency plans to prepare for the next steps.
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- Posted 4 years ago
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