Shobana Gopinath

An International Program Management professional with over 20 years’ experience encompassing Europe, Asia and the USA in IT &T, Finance and Retail organisations. Delivery focused professional thriving in diverse, challenging and problematic environments. By managing all phases of the delivery process and simultaneous management of numerous multi-million-dollar projects, I have successfully managed the implementation of complex and strategic mergers and acquisitions, high profile, multi-million business and technology transformations and other innovative technology executions to ensure the achievements of business outcomes, within the program parameters of risk, budget, and time.

• Versatile Program Manager with experience in managing a diverse portfolio of programs including: Large Merger and Acquisitions, Tech and Business transformation programs, application upgrades, new system implementations and Robotics automation. All projects were managed from concept to implementation/launch including transition into the Business.
• Exceptional consulting skills stemming from great attention to detail and the ability to grasp new information and quickly translate that to operational knowledge to help guide the business in their decision making.
• Comfortable with getting my hands dirty and make the effort to understand the nuances of the day to day and integral system details so things do not get missed, cross check against other areas (testing, architecture etc), to ensure an optimal outcome.
• Highly relationship driven and team oriented having worked across business of all scales in Finance and IT industries.
• Delivery focussed and highly customer orientated spanning both Business and Technical domains.
• Extensive experience in the management and influence of key stakeholders such as CFO and Managing Directors on the direction of the programs. Driving the strategic direction. Strong Project Leader with ability to communicate at all levels and concurrently manage multiple stakeholders.
• Successful PM known for delivery and ability to balance management of project KPI’s with building relationships to ensure project team engagement. Able to see the big picture whilst being “hands-on”.
• Acted as the interface between IT and other functional areas of the business to translate marketing plans and strategy into a program of activities.
• Directed large cross-functional, multi-discipline teams both internal and external in complex integration environments, driving results from direct and indirect reports.
• Managed multi-million-dollar budgets (in excess of $100M), all project resources, vendors, subcontractors to deliver projects on time, within specification and budget while maintaining quality and project profitability.

• Suncorp, Sydney, 08/2022, present, Program Manager, SUNCORP NZ Life Transition Program is a complex Program to transition SUN’s New Zealand Life Business to Resolution Life Australia (RLA). Working on both the Business and Technology streams: Responsible for the successful separation of Suncorp's Core Business Platforms, Claims/ Underwriting, Product and Pricing, Distribution channels and various regulatory/ compliance functions (eg complaints). Successfully completed joint Program planning between Suncorp and RLA by managing/ identifying all dependencies between the various Technical and Business teams, vendors, solution architects, developers, testing etc. Responsible for the production of key Sales contractual planning artefacts, such as, Program Charters, Blueprints, Business Operational Model and Technology segregation roadmaps., Bank Transition Program is a complex and strategic program to enable the sale of Suncorp Bank to ANZ for $4.6bn. Responsible for the successful separation of Suncorp's Core Banking Platforms, Automation, Marketing Applications, CRM platform (Salesforce), Correspondence and Document platforms to ANZ. This portfolio consists of 300+ applications. Working closely with the technology teams to define the current state architecture for transition to ANZ for initial separation and future ANZ target state (Day 2). Working closely with the Business to ensure Technology solutions for separation maintain continued operational efficiency and continuity of service to meet financial targets. Responsible for building out Suncorp’s Digital Marketing capabilities (eg Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target, Oracle Responsys, InMoment, etc) in readiness for transition to ANZ.
• Westpac, Sydney, 07/2021, 08/2022, Program Manager, Westpac Life Transition Program is a multifaceted Program to transition Westpac’s Life Business to TAL. Responsible for the DAY 1 separation of the Life Business to TAL for Contact Centre, Complaints, Remediation and Retention streams which included: The successful transition of the Contact Centre, Complaints, Remediation and Retention Teams including all application access segregation and operational processes to enable Business continuity. Migration to TAL of contractual data assets both structured and unstructured (eg Share Drives, SharePoint, Group E-mails). Complaints processes, data and applications transitioned to TAL to ensure teams remained reg compliant. Migration of the end-to-end Telephony platforms. Digital Strategy including the migration of digital content into TAL’s microsite and associated changes to WBC’s digital platforms.
• Suncorp, Sydney, 11/2018, 07/2021, Program Manager, SUNCORP Life Transition Program is a complex Program to transition SUN’s Life Business to TAL. This includes the transition of over 200 applications, 400+ Resources, Data Migration, integration to TAL systems and Infrastructure, as well as SUN’s application and infrastructure decommissioning. Continuing from separation responsible for delivering the following Program Streams: Claims Integration (migration from SUN’s legacy Claims platform to TAL’s target Claims platform), Operations (eg Contact Centre and Corporate Telephony Migration and Other Operational Functions) and Policy Correspondence and Admin. Successfully delivered DAY 1 Separation of the Life Insurance Business from SUNCORP’s Corporate landscape in preparation to transition to TAL. This involved logical and physical separation of over 200 applications, associated infrastructure, accesses, security protocols, resources, business processes and formation of short and long term “Transition Services Agreements”. Responsible for the Claims Integration steam which involved transitioning from SUN’s legacy Claims platform to TAL’s target platform FINEOS including all aspects of the end-to-end Claims Process (Data Migration, Application integration, Payments, Inbound and Outbound correspondence). Responsible for the Operations Stream which included full transition of all Telephony services and associated Telephony applications (eg Contact Centre and Corporate Telephony) relating to Life Insurance products from SUNCORP Group (Suncorp, APIA, GIO, AAMI, Asteronlife) to TAL. Policy Correspondence – Responsible for delivering the transition of all outbound correspondence channels from SUNCORP to TAL, for example; document generation, integration to Product Administration Systems, document delivery mechanisms as well as, document storage archive/retrieval. Responsible for the transition of multiple Product Administration and Workflow systems and subsequent decommissioning from SUN’s environments. Assisted with Roadmap planning of different Transition States and phased delivery approaches.
• Perpetual Limited, Sydney, 07/2018, 11/2018, Senior Project Manager, Senior Project Manager for Telos Program. Telos objective is to develop a digital based end-to-end platform that delivers an enhanced user experience for Perpetual Corporate Trust (PCT) staff and clients utilising new and emerging digital technologies to transform the application ecosystems for the PCT business. Project managing multiple streams of work to deliver remediation of the existing SalesForce instances (Client Connect) to minimise the number of customised objects to create a best of breed customer relationship management platform on which Perpetual’s future digital strategy can be built. Implementation of further Salesforce functionality with a view to automating integration into other middle office systems. Client Connect will serve as the single source of truth and platform for client information. Replacement of multiple, existing client facing systems and development of a Secure Client Portal as a single point of contact and information exchange.
• BT Financial Group (Westpac), Sydney, 07/2017, 07/2018, Program Manager, Business and IT Program Manager for BT Life Insurance Transformation Program (Claims). This program is delivering the systems to support, retain and grow BT’s Insurance business as a result of BT Life Insurance being selected as the preferred insurance partner for BT Superannuation corporate products. Program managed multiple streams of work to deliver an end-to-end Claims Management solution including implementation of a new Claims Management Platform (FINEOS), related Business activities to support transition to the new Operating model and associated environments. Integration with the new Oracle Insurance Platform (OIPA) and the broader BT and Westpac legacy systems/ environments. Overall Program Management activities such as Vendor Management, Stakeholder Management, Financial Management, Resources, Business engagement, risk and issues. The overall Gemini Program budget is ~$60M over two years, with the Claims component approx. $15M. The Program was managed in a combined Agile / Waterfall delivery methodology.
• Australian Security and Investment Commission (ASIC), Sydney, 02/2017, 06/2017, Program Manager, Program Manager for the ASIC funded project portfolio delivering key strategic initiatives across the organisation enabling greater operational efficiencies and legislative compliance. Managing, mentoring and providing strategic guidance to a team of project managers to facilitate the Portfolio's smooth and coordinated delivery.
• AMP Financial Services, Sydney, 04/2012, 02/2017, Senior Project Manager, Part of the NZ Integration and Customer Experience Program of Works which enabled AMP New Zealand with the ability to take advantage of a wide range of AMP's Enterprise platforms to enhance customers’ experience and operational effectiveness. Managing the integration of NZ Product Administration Systems into the Enterprise Group Enterprise Data Warehouse flowing through to the Customer Relation Management system and Customer Master Data Management Systems. This provided improved Single Customer View and extended the functionality of the workflow (BPMS) and CRM systems to the Operations Teams. Migrating users from their legacy workflow system to BPMS, helping the organisation take another significant step forward in the integration journey by providing a common servicing platform. Implementing the IT foundations for Customer Analytics and the Digital online services for NZ Customers and Advisers, enabling customer self-service. Robotics Process Automation. End-to-End Project Manager for the rollout of “Pilot Robots” (Robotics Process Automation) across AMP Australian Operations. This included: Successfully managing all activities associated with the deployment of “Robots” into Production (ie analysis, design, build, test, “Robots On-Boarding”/ provisioning, security access, deployment and output monitoring). System Architecture and Solution Design including Technical Feasibility Study. Robotics vendor evaluation and tool section (Blue Prism/Automation Anywhere). This has resulted in the successful deployment of Pilot Robot currently achieving 100% quality and meeting Business Benefit targets. Operations Transformation Program with the objective to lower operational costs within the Operations Business. This included partnering, automation, digital and other initiatives aimed at driving sustainable lower cost base, while maintaining or improving AMP’s service offering. Managed automating the application of SG contributions sent via AMP's clearing house to member accounts. This project was delivered predominantly using AGILE methodology/ AGILE techniques. Delivered the automation of the interaction with third parties for raising and receiving medical requests from online new business lodgements. This including enhancing the existing automated underwriting process to automatically arrange these medical requests. Finance Transformation Program delivering the alignment of the actuarial reporting and valuation processes between AXA and AMP. Scope of work included: Aligning AXA Product Systems with the AMP methodology of data flow into the Enterprise Data Warehouse. This involved the creation of new system interfaces, enhancements to existing interfaces and configuration/ enhancements of the data quality within each system. Aligning the valuation spreadsheet and reporting processes such that the AMP process is now also used for the AXA Product Systems including configuration of Business Objects to enable this. Uplifted existing AMP/ AXA infrastructure to cater of the additional capacity driven by combining the AXA and AMP Actuarial Processes. Working as both the Business and IT Project Manager, responsible for managing projects that delivered an integrated management and servicing platform for the combined Customer Services teams between NZ AMP and NZ AXA. This project was part of the AMP/ AXA Integration program of works. Scope of work included end to end project managing: The migration of the workflow management systems from NZ AXA to NZ AMP achieving the goal of implementing a common servicing and processing platform to bring the two companies together. This stream of work included: system changes to enable processing of the AXA Business within BPMS, integrating the CRM and Workflow Management Systems and the migration of the processes across the organisations. A CRM platform which provided a consolidated view of the merged AMP customer base enabling a better service experience for both customers and advisers. The implementation of a Management Operating System (MOS) that delivered a systematic method of managing resources within Customer Services to effectively match resource levels to labour demand and eliminate waste within the business. The changes were implemented across Australia, New Zealand and India.
• Westpac Banking Corporation, Sydney, 10/2009, 04/2012, Senior Project Manager, Worked in both the Service Delivery Applications and Infrastructure Teams with WBC IT/ Technology Division. Managed the end-to-end delivery of multiple work streams focused on delivering a stability and maintenance program, for the Bank’s CRM (Siebel) system. This CRM system is used by over 10,000 front line staff across branches, call centres and internal teams. End to End Project Management of multiple streams of works. Scope of work includes: CRM Application upgrade (Siebel 7.8 to Siebel 8.1) Implementation of a Data Management Strategy (eg Archiving Software/Hardware implementation), Monitoring and Tools Solution (both at the Application and Infrastructure level), and Replacement of redundant functionality as a result of the upgrade (eg Reporting Tools, Outbound/Inbound E-mail Integration etc).
• Westpac Banking Corporation, Sydney, 08/2007, 07/2008, Senior Business Project Manager, Worked in Products and Operations, Group Operations - Banking Services (Business) Team. Managed the end-to-end delivery of multiple work streams focused on delivering an Integrated Banking platform across both Westpac and St George. Managed a virtual project team consisting of; Business SME’s, Developers, IT Groups and External Resources (inc multiple vendors) to deliver system within Group Operations that enabled both Westpac and St George applications to be accessed on a common desktop. This capability was delivered utilising Microsoft Customer Care Framework (CCF). Benefits delivered included: A single view of the customer across both organisations resulting in integrated access to customer information irrespective of origin (eg Westpac or St George), Integration of disparate systems across WBC and SGB enabling the amalgamation of teams and processes, and Automation of roles undertaken within Banking and Services teams, reducing the business’ reliance on legacy systems.
• Woolworths Limited, Sydney, 05/2009, 10/2009, Senior Project Manager, Responsible for the delivery of IT projects across Australia and NZ. Projects include Transitioning Out and Transitioning In a new Telecommunications Network (including Voice, Data, Mobile, Network Data Centres etc); upgrading the current Citrix Platform to XenApp 5.0 and other IT projects as determined by the Business. Managing the upgrade of current Citrix Platform from PS 4.0 to XenApp 5.0. Project scope also included: Hardware deployment, migration of the platform providing Citrix from Windows 2003 SOE to Windows 2008 SOE and the migration of staff remote access system to access gateway hardware. Woolworth’s current Master Telecommunications Services Agreement is expiring. Key responsibility is to manage the Transitioning Out and Transitioning In of these new services for all 3,000+ sites. Managing the transitioning of current EoL Telecommunication systems to the new technology platforms including the decommissioning of these platforms/ sites. Service decommissioned include: Analogue Indial, Digital Data Services etc.
• Macquarie Bank Pty Ltd, Sydney, 08/2008, 04/2009, Project Manager, Responsible for the delivery of global IT projects around IT infrastructure and service delivery. Projects included; Deployment of wireless LAN & IP telephony solutions, Windows server hardware refresh, Security Solutions, Instant Messaging platform upgrade and the implementation of various infrastructure solutions for business applications. Managed the build, test and deployment of a new Instant Messaging (IM) platform which will be used by all Macquarie Staff globally. This included the migration of 5000 users from the old IM to new platform. Managed the project to implement a Telephony solution to support 1500 users relocating to a newly constructed Macquarie Office. Requirements were to deliver a solution which supports Activity Based Working via a single telephony device. The solution needed to provide users with mobility in and out of the office, whist ensuring all PABX functionality is maintained. Managed the global replacement of the current End of Life (EoL) Web Browsing proxies (Netcache) with Ironport devices (division of Cisco). This was deployed in all Macquarie Offices globally, including America’s, EMEA, Asia and ANZ. Project involved liaising with other global offices for co-ordination of activities, communications and the migration of over 10,000 end users.
• Woolworths Limited, Sydney, 05/2009, 10/2009, Senior Project Manager

• Complex Merger and Acquisitions Programs.
• Tech and Business transformation Programs.
• Large scale infrastructure and application upgrades.
• Digital capabilities (Website) and Digital Marketing.
• Robotics Process Automation.
• Claims Management Systems.
• AML/ Know your customer.
• AGILE (hands on experience), Waterfall, PRINCE2, PMBOK and SDLC.
• Platform migrations and hardware refreshes.
• Wealth and Risk Management, Retail Banking, Superannuation and Insurance.
• CRM systems (Salesforce).
• Data Migrations and Uplifts.
• Network Security applications and tools.
• Vendor Evaluation, Selection and Management.
• Workflow Management Systems Migration/ Integration (eg BPMS).