Geoff Harris - CV_Dec 2016
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This document contains a professional profile and resume for Geoffrey Harris. Some key points: - Geoffrey Harris has over 20 years of experience as a senior business analyst across various industries including finance, superannuation, insurance, and higher education. - He has a strong track record of gathering requirements, managing stakeholders, improving processes, and delivering projects on time while balancing quality. - Recent roles include consultant roles at Araza Consulting and Telstra focusing on test automation, and a senior business analyst role at Superpartners focusing on superannuation products and a large program to replace backend systems. - Geoffrey Harris has expertise in areas like business analysis, requirements gathering, process improvement, stakeholder management, and using method
Geoff Harris - CV_Dec 2016
- 1. 1 Geoffrey Harris, M.BusTech, AssDip.Bus Address: 205/40 Stanley Street, Collingwood VIC 3066 Mobile: 0415 239 408 Email: gmharris63@hotmail.com PROFESSIONAL PROFILE Experienced Senior Business Analyst with strong systems and technical knowledge having worked across a variety of industries who strives to provide sustainable solutions, improved processes, and procedure efficiency through change management that exceeds an organisation’s expectations. Proven success at delivering exceptional service to all stakeholders driven by a strong ability to accurately gather requirements while displaying outstanding written and oral communication to all levels of stakeholders. Understands how to work to deadlines, balancing time, cost and quality with the greater needs of the organisation. KEY SKILLS Business Acumen Extensive experience working in finance with detailed knowledge of superannuation and insurance industries. Strong requirements gathering skills and attention to detail. Standard or adapted use of project methodologies including Waterfall, Agile, and Six Sigma. Stakeholder Management Understands the needs and wants of all stakeholders, both internally and externally. Builds strong collaborative pro-active relationships with all stakeholders. Outstanding written and oral communication. Achieves outstanding results with a driven desire to help businesses achieve their objectives. Problem Management and Process Improvement Strong Problem Management skills, identifying and securing the commitment of appropriate individuals/teams to determine cause and the effect of issues. Extensive Analytical & Problem Solving skills. Root cause analysis and continuous improvement. Time and Task Management Organisational and Time Management. Results orientated. Strong interpersonal skills. Technology Proficient computer skills in MS Office suite (Excel, Visio, Word, PowerPoint). Software Applications exposure including ALM, R2, SharePoint, PeopleSoft, CRM applications, BPMN ProVision, Online billing applications, Time and Expense capture applications, Payroll applications CAREER HIGHLIGHTS ORGANISATIONS: ROLES: SUBJECT MATTER: Araza Consulting (Telstra) Consultant Test Automation Superpartners (Link Group) Senior Business Analyst Superannuation – insurance, contributions,claims Victoria University Senior Business Analyst ITIL SupportModel – student managementsystem Foster’s Group Ltd Business Analyst Work Flow tools Ernst& Young Business Analyst Application Portfolio Manager Business Applications SME Time & Expense capture, payroll, billing tools,CRM applications,ERP systems
- 2. 2 EMPLOYMENT HISTORY June 2016 – December 2016 ARAZA CONSULTING Consultant (Business Analyst) Telstra TCoE (Testing Centre of Excellence) Key Achievements (BAU Continuous Improvement) As part of Telstra’s continuous improvement, an initiative was implemented to help reduce the amount of effort and duration of their testing cycles. Identified all hosts and servers for the 150 application as used in the testing environments. Set up USM alarming of these applications. Key Achievements (NBN+ Test Automation) Identified all test cases as used for the NBN+ ‘Get Help’ for the application ServiceNow. Analysed how and when ServiceNow would communicate to other downstream applications. Designed and documented the automated test steps and process flow for the purpose of automating the test case in TOSCA. February 2012 – March 2016 SUPERPARTNERS (LINK GROUP) Senior Business Analyst Client Engagement and Delivery – Client Funded projects Key Achievements (Hostplus Insurance Product Redesign project) Hostplus introduced a new Insurance product for their members. The new offering offered their members life stage insurance cover for Death, TPD and IP based on the member’s age. The level of cover would automatically change between 14 age bands aimed at the members’ stage in life. Developed and nurtured strong positive collaborative working relationships with key stakeholders from Hostplus. Worked closely with the Superpartners Business teams, the Client, and the Development and Testing teams to ensure a successful implementation of the new Hostplus insurance product through gaining an understanding of the current insurance offerings and performing a gap analysis of the new insurance product. Identified the impact to exiting functionality and documented the required changes to ensure the new insurance product will be administered correctly through alignment to the business/product rules. Responding to requirement queries as raised by the business, development and testing teams. Produced high quality fit for purpose Business and Functional specification documents. Project Service & Business Systems Analysis – nextGEN Programme Key Achievements (All Funds Requirements Governance) Created the Requirements Document Process Guide used by Business Systems Analysts to complete the Requirement specifications. Defined and created the Peer & Quality Review process to be adopted within the All Funds Requirements team for the review of all requirement based artefacts. Chaired, prepared and presented related topics at the All Funds Governance Requirements weekly team meeting. Investigated and provided solutions for governance related issues as escalated. Created an Excel spreadsheet to track and monitor progress of the requirements elaboration for over 100 business processes against the project management’s schedule. Worked on multiple pieces of work concurrently and managed my time accordingly. Key Achievements (nextGEN) The nextGEN programme involved the design and build of a new superannuation back office processing software application. My responsibilities involved documenting the ‘as-is’ business rules and functionality for the various industry superfunds and performing a gap analysis. These artefacts were then used to enable me to document the business requirements for the new software application. To be successful in this role I gained a solid understanding of - The insurance products as offered by various industry funds for Death, TPD and IP. The contribution processing and in relation to the different fund’s business rules
- 3. 3 The superannuation fund insurance rules and how they differ between superannuation funds. The business operations rules (including underwriting). The legislation and compliance rules surrounding insurance cover, superannuation, contributions, claims and benefits. I was able to successfully achieve this through - Various workshop facilitation meetings with the client (the superannuation fund), the business SMEs from different parts of the business, and the technical teams (including the third party vendor based in India). Building and maintaining excellent stakeholder engagement (both internally and externally). Writing a Requirements Management Plan. Requirement elicitation, gathering and documentation of business requirements. Review and approval of the functional requirements as documented by the third party vendor. Presenting the functional requirements to the various business SMEs to gain their acceptance and approval. Reviewing test scenarios and testing scripts. August 2010 – December 2011 VICTORIA UNIVERSITY Senior Business Analyst Contracted to define and implement the IT Support Model for Victoria University's new Student Management System (Callista Software Services) and associated applications. Key Achievements The support services included - Request for Change process. Change Management and Release Management processes. Incident Management process. Access Management process. Static and Dynamic Configuration Management. Knowledge Base and Document Control Management process. Understanding the university’s organisational structure to enable the support services to be mapped in a logical and efficient manner while adopting ITIL best practice. Created defined Service Specification documents. Creating business process maps using BPMN in ProVision. Presenting awareness sessions and workshops to the key business units and within the IT department. Performing gap analysis on existing processes with new processes, defining how the differences can be aligned, and where they can’t be aligned; recommending how the differences can be managed. January 2010 – June 2010 FOSTER’S GROUP LTD Business Analyst / Project Manager I was contracted to work within BP&IT – Finance (Business Processes) to perform specific work on behalf of the Pricing Services area. Key Achievements (Business Agreements Query Management) Successfully managed the transition project of managing the 1500 monthly email queries the Business Agreements Team receive from Sales and other Financial teams to the National Customer Contact Group including - Mapping the current manual process the Business Agreements Team use of managing these queries. Writing the Business Case for transitioning the logging of the queries from the Business Agreements Team in Microsoft Outlook to the National Customer Contact Group in Oracle On Demand (CRM). Elicited and defined the business requirements and mapped the desired business processes. Key Achievements (Business Agreements and Customer Payments Approval Workflow Tool) Acquired the knowledge and understanding of the business processes and issues faced with the current management of gaining the signature approval for Customer Business Agreements and
- 4. 4 Customer rebate contract payments. This was achieved through - Conducting and facilitating workshops and brainstorming sessions with key personnel. Business process mapping of the ‘as is’ and the ‘to be’ status. Writing the business case for the justification and approval of acquiring a workflow tool to automate the approval processes. Elicited and defined the business requirements. Created budget, resource plan and project plan. Initiated meetings with the vendor to discuss workflow tool proposal. February 1995 – October 2009 ERNST & YOUNG January 2007 – June 2009 Application Portfolio Manager Successfully moved from the management of financial applications to CRM applications. As Application Portfolio Manager I was responsible for the effective management of all CRM applications within Ernst & Young. Key responsibilities involved working with the key stakeholders, other IT teams and third party vendors to scope and design technology solutions to meet Ernst & Young’s Marketing business strategy. July 2004 – December 2006 Business Analyst / Project Management Ernst & Young Australia transitioned to the Ernst & Young Global Financial and Information System (GFIS – a PeopleSoft application) allowing the Australian practice to participate in global reporting and transactions. I was a key member of the core GFIS project team. I was responsible for the effective transition from enBill to gBiller (online billing tools) and enTime to gT&E (time capture tools) and a subject matter expert for the GFIS client and engagement transactions This was achieved while managing the current financial applications and ensuring the normal day- to-day operations. February 1995 – July 2004 (ERNST & YOUNG) Summarisation of earlier experience - Business Analyst / Project Management Successfully managed Ernst & Young’s time capture application (enTime) used by 3800 employees across Australia (including version upgrades, vendor relationships and 3rd level support). Business Analyst - aligning applications and business processes (in consultation with the key stakeholders) to help attain their business strategy by understanding their business needs and work practices. Defining and documenting business requirements and processes. Identifying and implementing areas of process improvement. Identifying risks and issues of current and proposed business processes. Defining 6, 12 and 24 month strategic roadmaps in consultation with the key stakeholders, other IT teams and third party vendors. Project Management Develop and manage project plan, schedule and coordinate tasks. Producing status reports for key stakeholders. Managing the issues and risk register. Worked closely with the project manager on large scale projects. Managing version releases (including UAT) from initiation to post go-live Evaluating functionality and performing gap analysis to document benefits/limitations. Testing applications against configuration settings to ensure business and statutory requirements are met. Creating testing scenarios and test scripts, managing and coordinating UAT, and performing testing. Ensuring all bugs/defects are logged, classified, prioritised and assigned to the appropriate person/team for investigation/resolution. Team leadership and mentor for the 2nd Level Support and Helpdesk teams Proactive in increasing the individual team member’s knowledge and skill sets.
- 5. 5 Provided career guidance through understanding their strengths and weaknesses and identifying appropriate training courses, mentoring and other advice. Conducting performance reviews and improving my leadership qualities through effective two way mentoring. Managing UAT teams. Business Applications SME Provide expert knowledge and advice of all applications I have managed to ensure normal operations of applications on a day-to-day basis. Leading and managing investigations of any unexpected down time as a matter of priority to restore normal operations ASAP and regularly communicating to key stakeholders, users, Helpdesk and management on situation. Working with appropriate resources from other IT teams and vendors in a collaborative effort in the investigation of problems to determine cause and effect and provide best possible solutions to minimise reoccurrence. Documenting user procedures, training material and educating users on software functionality. Building and maintaining pro-active and effective relationships With key stakeholders, key users, IT teams, third party vendors and external user groups. Change Management Identifying and implementing change management areas. 1986 – 1995 SOUTHERN PACIFIC HOTEL CORPORATION Worked in various roles and hotels within Food & Beverage and Front Office.Transferred to Sydney in 1991 for opening of the new Sydney Airport Parkroyal. 1981 – 1985 MUTUAL COMMUNITY (HEALTH FUND) Worked as general administrator performing various roles. EDUCATION Master degree of Business and Technology (MBT), University of New South Wales, 2007 Focusing on how technology, business and people underpin every step of the value chain, from ideas generation, positioning the organisation, adapting to market and technological changes and delivering value to customers Achieved Master’s Degree while working full-time at Ernst & Young Australia Associate Diploma in Business, Ultimo TAFE, 1997. Focussing in accounting and financial practices. Graduated with an overall WAM (Weighted Average Mark) of 78.6 REFEREES Available on request