Karina Verdugo
Program Manager
Sydney,NSW
Summary
Bringing 17+ years of expertise as a Program and Project Management Specialist across diverse sectors such as Financial Services, Telecommunications, Litigation, and Real Estate, deep-rooted 15+ years of experience within Financial Services spanning Life Insurance, Superannuation, General Insurance, Mortgages, Financial Crime, and Cybersecurity positions for success.
With over 12 years of hands-on leadership in complex business and technology initiatives, including software integration, infrastructure, merger and acquisition separations, regulatory compliance, and data transformation projects, budgets of up to $15 million managed, while teams exceeding 90 individuals led, a proven track record in delivering over 18 projects with precision underscores the commitment to excellence in program and project management.
Bringing 7+ years of proven Agile delivery expertise, excelling in the implementation of Agile principles and driving iterative development across diverse programs and projects overseen.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
15
15
Certifications
15
15
Years of financial services experience
13
13
Years of project management experience
Work History
Release Train Engineer | Agile Program Manager
Optus
08.2023 - Current
- Successfully synchronized and aligned 2 Agile Release Trains (ART), leading cross-functional teams of up to 8 Agile teams in each ART.
- Facilitated PI planning and release retrospectives, ensuring alignment with business objectives and continuous improvement.
- Worked closely with Product Owners to define and prioritize product backlog, optimizing value delivery.
- Implemented Lean-Agile practices and conducted training sessions, resulting in improved Agile maturity within each program.
Senior Project Manager | Agile Program Manager
Westpac Group
11.2021 - 08.2023
- Managed API Discovery & Security Assessment Capability ($6m) and API Remediation ($11m) initiatives, reducing cybersecurity risk posture.
- Uplifted cyber incident response capabilities across Westpac by implementing the Post Breach Readiness project in 2022.
- Established Application Security persistent team (Agile Release Train) for Application Security Program Village.
- Coached team members including program & project managers, architects, business analysts, change managers, technical leads on agile mindset and best practices
- Spearheaded adoption of delivery tools (JIRA and Confluence) to ensure consistency and transparency of key delivery metrics
Senior Project Manager | Release Train Engineer
Westpac Group
08.2021 - 11.2021
- Led program delivery for the Mortgages Lending & Originations village managing three squads across RG209 Secured Lending Transformation, Mortgage Momentum and, Time to Right & Policy initiatives
- Established simplified status reporting for the Mortgage Lending & Originations Village
- Introduced village and squad level cadences for the Mortgage Lending & Originations Village including resource and capacity planning governance processes
Senior Project Manager
Westpac Group
04.2021 - 07.2021
- Headed Data Risk Management and Metrics & Report Inventory work streams.
- Coordinated document preparation across Westpac Group for APRA submissions.
- Oversaw operational readiness activities, defining operational models and conducting business UAT for the Metrics & Report Inventory work stream integrated into the Data Platforms team.
- Managed procurement contracts with external consultants, ensuring cost-effective and efficient project execution.
Senior Project Manager
Commonwealth Bank
08.2020 - 02.2021
- Directed $11 million Customer Data Investigation & Remediation project (Customer Program of Action under Retail Banking, Financial Crime) required to address AUSTRAC findings by supporting the remediation of identified customer cohorts across Retail Banking Service, Business Banking, Bankwest, and CommSec
- Successfully delivered first Gold Milestone within six weeks of commencement
- Uplifted Agile practices within the project and provided team training on Confluence & JIRA tools
- Facilitated engagements with Financial Crime Compliance, Know Your Customer (KYC) Remediation Operations, Line 1 & 2 Risk, Product, Legal, Enterprise PMO, Business Banking and CommSec
- Completed all senior management reporting including steering committee reports, EGM leadership updates and executive board papers
Senior Project Manager | Program Manager
Westpac Group
11.2019 - 08.2020
- Spearheaded the Accelerated Development Program, overseeing 8 projects for Westpac General Insurance to drive strategic changes across Home & Contents, Landlord, Boat, and Caravan & Trailer insurance products.
- Designed a strategic roadmap for the program.
- Introduced Agile frameworks and practices, boosting delivery throughput.
Facilitated portfolio pipeline planning between Westpac GI and Allianz to align strategy, leading to updates in the portfolio strategy, delivery plan, and benefits. - Implemented process improvements, standardizing project management artifacts according to Enterprise PMO standards.
- Managed vendor and third-party relations with Allianz and Braintree.
Simultaneously oversaw the Braintree New Payments Platform and Home & Contents Retention SMS initiatives while handling program management duties. Resulting in a 20% improvement in project delivery timelines and a 15% increase in portfolio efficiency.
Senior Project Manager
Suncorp Group
06.2019 - 10.2019
- Successfully delivered 5 releases within first 4 months of the Sonata New Reconciliation Reporting project via Agile delivery to meet aggressive KPMG timeframes
- Managed DevOps delivery including requirements, development, testing and implementation activities
- Coached and mentored project team and business stakeholders on Agile practices & tools
- Acting Scrum Master for parallel initiatives, driving sprint outcomes, managing dependencies, and removing blockers to drive delivery
- Directed Bravura vendor procurement and contract engagements for assigned projects
- Facilitated and chaired Project Steering Committee/Group with required executive general managers (EGM), executive managers and other key stakeholders
Agile Project Manager | Iteration Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2019 - 06.2019
- Iteration Manager for the Insurance in Super Village, orchestrating the successful synchronization of 5 Agile teams
- Spearheaded development of program/village delivery strategy & roadmap
- Standardised program artefacts including project 'Go/No-Go' reports, project/program status, implementation and change readiness reports
- Directed a multifaceted team of Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, Project Managers, and Implementation Leads within the village, resulting in a cohesive and high-performing unit that consistently met project milestones, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
- Facilitated Agile ceremonies including Daily Stand-up, Story Kick-offs, Retrospectives, Showcases and Iteration/Release Planning
Agile Project Manager
National Australia Bank
12.2018 - 05.2019
- Spearheaded the Member Account Transaction Service (MATS) initiative.
- Managed 95 resources, including DevOps delivery teams, with a $6.8 million budget.
- Executed 7 releases in just 5 months using Agile methodology, ensuring project alignment with compliance deadlines in April and May 2019.
Agile Project Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2018 - 12.2018
- The first project within the Advice Business to be delivered using Agile. Negotiated and handled procurement contract renewals with KAPLAN and Androgogic (education technology providers)
- Led DevOps and architectural delivery for this initiative
- Implementing new and modified business processes and controls across the Advice business aligned with regulatory obligations and in accordance with NAB's controls management system (CMS) framework and governance model. Led project steering committees with Sponsors Line 1 & 2 Risk, management assurance and Program Management
- Facilitated Scrum framework – sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily scrums, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives.
- Planned Agile best practices and encouraged team cohesion, overcoming impediments, and hurdles to productivity.
Agile Project Manager | Product Owner
National Australia Bank
03.2018 - 05.2018
- Led and managed a team of 27 project resources, including DevOps, Business Analysts, Change Analysts, Implementation Leads, and Scrum Masters, while overseeing a $3.1 million budget.
- Acted as Product Owner, prioritizing and maintaining the product backlog, and providing the Agile team with strategic direction to ensure the delivery of agreed business objectives.
- Broke the project into epics and implementable user stories.
- Collaborated with the product and development teams to facilitate requirement breakdown.
- Implemented sprint planning and delivery enhancements, resulting in a remarkable 30-point increase in team velocity.
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2007 - 04.2018
- Led delivery of business analysis technology (DevOps) security testing and implementation streams
- Directed procurement and contract management with all partners including IRESS
- Implemented pilot of data feed upgrade within Advice business across NAB Direct Advice (Gateway)
- Led project steering committees with Advice Services, Management Assurance, Technology Heads Of, Risk & Operations
- Led Defect Triage & Resolution meetings for System Integration Testing (SIT), Security Penetration Testing and Business User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
01.2016 - 12.2016
- First project delivered within NAB to migrate data onto a new strategic data archive platform
- Facilitated focus on speed to value creating early realisation of benefits/business outcomes through iterative and continuous delivery with a total of 7 released delivered within 12 months. Directed Architecture Technology / Application (DevOps), Testing, Implementation, Change Management and Quality Assurance resources
- Delivered new eRollovers integration points to support MLC Life Insurance transition to Nippon Life
- Directed vendor procurement and contracts for a total of six vendors including SuperChoice, Fujitsu, NAB SuperPay, and Accenture (entailing creation and modifications of statements of work (SOW))
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
09.2014 - 12.2015
- Budget management of up to $8 million across solution architecture technology implementation and third parties
- Led a team of 72 project resources (including DevOps) and had 3 direct reports. Led delivery for key technology areas including Work Management (CRMS) WRAP / Navigator, Digital, TIBCO, Finance Technology, Enterprise Data Warehouse, Digital Online, JBWere Securitease, Antares One Vue and asset management institutional CIMS
- Led data mapping (source to destination) activities between MLC Online, Compass, Workflow, Data Warehouse and Norkom (partner)
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
04.2014 - 11.2014
- Delivered technology (DevOps) and implementation streams of the project across ten technology divisions (Compass, Eclipse, CLOAS, Superb/PLUM, WRAP / Navigator, Capsil, Prompt, Heritage Investment (R&I), Heritage Risk (R&S), CRA) within ATO regulator timeframes
Project Manager | Environments Program Manager
National Australia Bank
10.2012 - 04.2014
- Delivered infrastructure, integration & environment components for the program within agreed ATO regulatory timeframes.
- Provisioned environments for up to 5 projects within the program and identified cross program environment dependencies.
- Managed a team of project resources operating within a complex and multi-platform technical environment.
Project Manager | Environments Program Lead
National Australia Bank
02.2011 - 10.2012
- Led environment migration & integration of Aviva insurance systems across to NAB and MLC, including responsibility for infrastructure build and provisioning of environments across multiple technology divisions / DevOps teams based across Sydney and Melbourne locations.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
University Of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Sydney, NSW09.2006
Diploma - Information Technology (Software Development)
TAFE NSW
St Leonards, NSW12.2002
Skills
- Program Management
- Agile Methodologies
- PI Planning and Facilitation
- Stakeholder Management
- Risk Management
- Financial Management
- Strategic Planning
- Continuous Improvement
- Change Management Process
- Contract Negotiation Expertise
Accomplishments
- API Remediation
- API Discovery & Security Assessment Capability
- Post Breach Readiness
- Better Data Better Insights Program
- Customer Data Investigation & Remediation
- Home & Contents Retention SMS
- Braintree New Payments Platform
- Sonata New Reconciliation Reporting
- Wealth Life Transition
- Insurance in Super Program
- eCommerce ATO Simplification Program
- Adviser Professional Standards
- Straight Through Processing (STP) Efficiency
- Advice Efficiency – Masterkey Data feed Upgrade
- eRollovers Transition Wave 3
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Reforms Program
- Member Contributions Statement (MCS) Reporting
- Super Stream Program
- Insurance Resurgence Program
Certification
- Professional Certification in Customer Experience (CX) – In Progress
- PMP - Project Management Professional
- MoP - Management of Portfolios
- AgilePgM - Agile Programme Management
- SAFE 5.1 Release Train Engineer
- SPOC - Scrum Product Owner Certified
- P3O - Portfolio, Programmes and Project Offices
- MSP - Managing Successful Programmes
- SMC - Scrum Master Certified
- AgilePM - Agile Project Management
- SAFe Agilist
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
- Lean Management
- AgileSHIFT Certification
- PRINCE2 Foundation
- ITIL V3 Foundation
Timeline
Release Train Engineer | Agile Program Manager
Optus
08.2023 - Current
Senior Project Manager | Agile Program Manager
Westpac Group
11.2021 - 08.2023
Senior Project Manager | Release Train Engineer
Westpac Group
08.2021 - 11.2021
Senior Project Manager
Westpac Group
04.2021 - 07.2021
Senior Project Manager
Commonwealth Bank
08.2020 - 02.2021
Senior Project Manager | Program Manager
Westpac Group
11.2019 - 08.2020
Senior Project Manager
Suncorp Group
06.2019 - 10.2019
Agile Project Manager | Iteration Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2019 - 06.2019
Agile Project Manager
National Australia Bank
12.2018 - 05.2019
Agile Project Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2018 - 12.2018
Agile Project Manager | Product Owner
National Australia Bank
03.2018 - 05.2018
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
01.2016 - 12.2016
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
09.2014 - 12.2015
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
04.2014 - 11.2014
Project Manager | Environments Program Manager
National Australia Bank
10.2012 - 04.2014
Project Manager | Environments Program Lead
National Australia Bank
02.2011 - 10.2012
Project Manager
National Australia Bank
05.2007 - 04.2018
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
University Of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Diploma - Information Technology (Software Development)
TAFE NSW
Technical Skills
SAFe | Kanban | Scrum | JIRA | Confluence | PRINCE2 | SDLC | JQL | ITIL | Mural | Figma | Agile HIVE | Microsoft Project | SharePoint | Visio | PPMC | CA PPM | Cybersecurity | ServiceNow | Risk Management | Budgeting | Scheduling | Project Initiation
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