Venkat Sami
Wishart,QLD
Summary
Certified and results-driven Scrum Master with over 13 years of experience in the end-to-end lifecycle of software development, testing, and leading cross-functional Agile teams in fast-paced environments. Adept at removing impediments, fostering collaboration, and driving continuous improvement. Proven success in delivering complex software projects on time and within scope by promoting Agile best practices and coaching teams on Scrum principles. Experience in Agile Methodology with Continuous Integration / Continuous Development centralized environment. Insightful and results-driven IT professional with notable success while participating in the planning, analyzing, and implementing solutions in support of business objectives. Hands-on experience and knowledge in insurance, superannuation, banking, wealth management, and finance domains in leading all stages of system development efforts, including requirements definition, design, coding, testing, and support. Able to coordinate and direct all phases of project-based efforts while managing, motivating, and guiding teams.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Agile Scrum Master
Heartland Bank Australia
Brisbane/Melbourne
10.2023 - Current
- Coordinated sprint planning sessions to align project goals and timelines.
- Participated in design discussions with architects and developers to ensure solutions meet customer requirements, while adhering to established standards and best practices.
- Collaborated with product owners to define user stories and acceptance criteria effectively.
- Defined release plans based on available resources, timelines and budget constraints while ensuring quality assurance is maintained throughout the process.
- Assisted product owners in developing user stories and acceptance criteria for upcoming sprints.
- Organized sprint planning sessions to ensure team members understand user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Trained team members on Scrum methodologies to improve engagement and understanding.
- Delegated tasks to each team member, regularly assessing workloads to complete tasks on time and within project parameters.
- Facilitated daily stand-up meetings to discuss progress, impediments and plan for the day's tasks.
- Led retrospective meetings to identify process enhancements and gather team feedback.
- Acted as a primary contact between development teams, product owners, stakeholders, and other external parties throughout the entire lifecycle of a project.
- Provided timely project status updates to keep all relevant parties informed.
- Developed retrospectives after each sprint or milestone to identify areas of improvement for future projects.
- Collaborated with other Scrum Masters across the organization to share best practices and lessons learned from previous projects.
Agile Scrum Master
SS&C Technologies
Melbourne
02.2022 - 09.2023
- Involved in the preparation and execution of System Testing, Integration Testing, and Data Migration Testing.
- Specialization in Prism, Repricing, and Super Stream areas.
- Involved in weak sprint planning and coordination between the manual and automation teams to explain the functionalities.
- Interaction with the BA to understand the functionalities of the FSDs and CRs for UK clients.
- Working in the Prism project team to test API-related client bank account, FX transaction digital messages, which act as an integration layer between the front-end application and the registry application.
- Worked in the Registry back office to deliver the key functionality for the Illustration and Pension module of the application.
- Managed and provided technical leadership to the onsite and offshore team.
- Involved in triaging UAT defects raised by clients.
- Involved in supporting clients in UAT execution.
- Responsible for preparing the SQL queries for BSA's to validate test results.
- Responsible for JST, system testing, and SIT execution.
- Client(s): SJP (St.) James’s Place Wealth Management.
- Monitored progress of each sprint through metrics tracking tools like JIRA.
- Facilitated daily Scrum meetings to enhance team collaboration.
- Engaged with stakeholders to gather requirements and feedback consistently.
- Conducted regular retrospectives with teams to analyse successes and failures of each iteration.
- Facilitated sprint planning meetings and daily scrum stand-up meetings.
- Trained team members on Agile methodologies such as Kanban and Lean Six Sigma.
- Mentored junior developers on Agile principles, processes, techniques and toolsets.
Scrum Master
Challenger Bank (formerly MyLife MyFinance)
Melbourne
10.2021 - 02.2022
- Involved in requirement analysis and interaction with the BA to understand the functionalities of the BRS.
- Responsible for understanding the business requirements and solutions in a short period, and conducting walkthroughs with co-team members to prepare the test plan.
- Involved in preparing test cases with a positive and negative functional flow approach, and the execution of system integration, unit acceptance, and regression testing.
- Involved in developing a test approach with the developer to build test cases in line with the functional requirements.
- Involved in weekly Sprint Planning, Retrospective, Showcases, and Sprint Review.
- Involved in functional and non-functional testing.
- I have experience in preparing test cases and test execution using Microsoft Azure DevOps.
- Responsible for preparing the SQL queries for BSA's to validate test results.
- Involved in triaging UAT defects raised by the UAT team.
- Responsible for allocating the test cases for execution among the team members, and providing them with the SME support during the execution. The level of support provided includes explaining the requirement, providing the functional and technical knowledge from the execution perspective, assisting in preparing the data setup, and ensuring the execution runs smoothly.
- Responsible for reviewing the business requirement document, providing feedback to the BAs, and tracking them as static defects.
- Responsible for providing timely updates on the status of the execution, and proactively taking necessary actions in case there is any delay in execution.
- Facilitated daily stand-up meetings to enhance team collaboration.
- Managed backlog refinement to ensure prioritized tasks for development cycles.
- Implemented retrospective meetings to identify improvement opportunities within the team.
- Resolved conflicts within the team, fostering a positive working environment.
- Maintained product backlogs, ensuring that items are well defined and prioritized based on business value.
Application Lead
Ampion (formerly Revolution IT)
Melbourne
08.2021 - 10.2021
- Responsible for understanding the business requirements and solution in a short period and conducting walkthroughs with co-team members to prepare the Test plan
- Responsible for interacting with the business to understand the requirements and act accordingly to satisfy the client’s expectations
- Responsible for conducting the defect triages and coordinating with BAs and the development team to resolve the defects on time without any delay that impacts the execution
- Responsible for sending the Daily Status Reports to the respective stakeholders of the project
- Responsible for tracking the efforts that we spend during the various phases of testing against the allocated efforts
- Responsible for providing timely updates on the status of the execution and proactively taking necessary actions in case there is any delay in execution
- Responsible for responding to and resolving Client and Operations team queries as a part of BAU activities
- Analysing the issues and finding the root cause analysis within the SLA
- Client(s): Aware Super
Senior Test Consultant
Ampion (formerly Revolution IT)
Melbourne
04.2021 - 07.2021
- Involved in preparation and execution of System Integration, Regression Testing
- Involved in requirement analysis and Interaction with BA to understand the functionalities of the BRS
- Involved in developing a test approach with the Developer to build test cases in line with the functional requirements
- Involved in Functional and non-functional testing
- Have experience in preparing Test cases and Test execution using Microsoft Azure Dev Ops
- Responsible for preparing the SQL queries for BSA’s to validate Test results.
- Involved in triaging UAT defects raised by the UAT team.
- Have hands-on experience in BlackRock technologies
- Client(s): IFM Investors
Test Lead
SS&C Technologies (formerly DST Bluedoor Pvt Ltd)
Melbourne
02.2016 - 03.2021
- Involved in the preparation and execution of System Testing, Integration Testing, and Data Migration Testing.
- Worked extensively in ACS, LUCRF, State Plus, and AMP Bluedoor applications, SuperStream system, and other superannuation ATO services.
- Specialization in repricing and super stream areas.
- Testing and supporting ACS and LUCRF teams with verifying transaction flows of ATO’s SuperStream system.
- Involved in weak sprint planning and coordination between the manual and automation teams to explain the functionalities.
- Interaction with the BA to understand the functionalities of the FSDs and CRs for the Illustration and Pension Module for UK clients.
- Working in the messaging team to test the digital messages, which act as an integration layer between the front-end application and the registry application.
- Worked in the Registry back office to deliver the key functionality for the Illustration and Pension module of the application.
- Managed and provided technical leadership to the onsite and offshore team.
- Involved in triaging UAT defects raised by clients
- Involved in supporting clients in UAT execution
- Responsible for preparing the SQL queries for BSA's to validate test results.
- Responsible for JST, system testing, and SIT execution.
- Client(s): Australian Catholic Superannuation (ACS), LUCRF Superannuation, State Plus, and AMP Super, Investment and Retirement, SJP (St. James’s Place Wealth Management, OMW (Old Mutual Wealth), the UK.
- Led test planning and execution for multiple software projects.
- Coordinated with cross-functional teams to ensure quality standards.
- Mentored junior testers in best practices and testing methodologies.
- Developed and maintained test cases and documentation for clarity.
- Conducted regular status meetings to track progress and address issues.
- Collaborated with developers to troubleshoot defects and improve solutions.
- Managed a team of testers in the execution of manual and automated tests.
- Documented all test results, including successes and failures, for future reference.
- Conducted system integration testing to identify compatibility issues between components in complex systems.
- Performed regression testing after each iteration of code changes to verify functionality is still intact.
- Produced test scripts for new automated software testing rounds.
- Worked with off-site teams to complete timely tests and facilitate smooth product releases.
- Wrote and updated manual test cases for team use, maintaining optimal organization for maximum productivity.
- Worked with Agile and Scrum methodologies to accomplish project milestones and meet demanding timelines.
Test Lead
Wipro
Melbourne, Australia
07.2014 - 02.2016
- Responsible for understanding the requirement document and preparing the high-level test scenarios.
- Responsible for the Functional design document review and providing feedback to the BSA(Business Support Analyst) and tracking them as a static defect.
- Understanding the solution in a short period.
- Responsible for interacting with the business to understand the requirements and act accordingly to satisfy the client’s expectations.
- Responsible for the delivery of the project without any deviation from the scheduled dates.
- Responsible for providing timely updates on the status of the execution and proactively taking necessary actions in case there is any delay in execution.
- Responsible for conducting the defect triages and coordinating with the BSA and development team to resolve the defects on time without any delay that impacts the execution.
- Responsible for sending the Daily Status Reports to the respective stakeholders of the project.
- Responsible for tracking the efforts that we spend during the various phases of testing against the allocated efforts.
- Responsible for coordinating with the offshore and onshore teams to understand the issues /obstacles they face during the execution and provide solutions to their concerns.
- Responsible for SIT execution which involves End-to-end testing hence liaising with the other teams efficiently.
- Responsible for maintaining effective communication within and outside the team.
- Client: AMP Financial Services
Senior Support Analyst
Wipro
Melbourne, Australia
02.2012 - 06.2014
- Active involvement in Incident Management, Change Management and Problem Management.
- Hands-on experience in ticket-based production support activities.
- Technical Design preparation.
- Application Performance tuning.
- Root Cause Analysis.
- Single Point of contact for Client Communication from the team.
- Domain expert in Wealth Management and Wealth Protection.
- Development of shell scripts and SQL.
- Create and Manage Schedules for batch jobs (The tool used was Control-M 6.04).
- Application break-fix co-ordinator for Development implementations.
- Release Co-ordinator.
Senior Support Analyst
Wipro
Sydney, Australia
01.2010 - 02.2012
- Managed end-to-end transition.
- Conducted playbacks to demonstrate knowledge of the application.
- Documented high-level overview of the Panorama system overview, database details, tools, online and batch architecture and important online and batch business processes, and interfaces in Panorama System Maintenance Technical Document (SMTD).
- Sorted out issues encountered with Onsite offshore link/set-up.
- Handled Primary shadow and Secondary shadow.
- Managed support and maintenance activities as per the agreed SLAs.
- Handled overnight support calls and provided 24/7 support.
- Streamlined Service delivery in Onsite-Offshore model.
- Documented Execution Process Document. This document aims to demonstrate the client's onsite and offshore execution delivery model.
- Weekly/Monthly reports concerning SLA adherence.
Support Analyst
Wipro
Melbourne, Australia
07.2008 - 01.2010
- Provide secondary support from Offshore for application maintenance.
- Review the fixes done by the team members.
- Review the enhancement work done on the application.
- Resolve Incidents, Problems & Service requests.
- Maintain SLA norms for the whole team.
- Resolved many defects that escalated earlier and were crucial for the Business.
- Handled the complete project and interacted with the Client.
- Sending WSR, MSR & Audit reports.
- Performing Monthly processes.
- Assisting the System Integration and User-Acceptance testing.
- Mentoring new resources.
- Team Representative -Offshore CLAS and COMPASS teams.
Analyst Programmer
3i Infotech Pvt Ltd.
Bangalore, Bangladesh
07.2006 - 07.2008
- Development and customisation of core banking product as per customer requirements.
- Preparation of technical design.
- Review of programs and modules.
- Provided onsite support for implementation activities.
- Primary contact for any issues from the client during implementation.
- Client: BASIC Bank, Dhaka in Bangladesh
Education
MCA - Computer Applications
Madras University
ChennaiSkills
- Sprint planning
- Problem solving
- Effective communication
- Team mentoring
- User story creation
- Stakeholder management
- Sprint retrospective facilitation
- Release planning
- Requirements gathering
- Resource allocation
- Project management
- Kanban knowledge
- Time management
- Documentation and reporting
- Disaster recovery
- Team leadership
- Automation and defect management
- User acceptance testing
- System and mobile testing
- Integration and functional testing
- Database analysis
- Windows, Unix, and Linux proficiency
- Salesforce integration
- XML and SQL/PLSQL knowledge
- Shell scripting capabilities
- SQL Server Management Studio 2012 proficiency
- Agile methodologies and JIRA usage
- Xray and TOSCA tools
- Confluence collaboration platform
- VMWare virtualization skills
- Remedy ticketing system usage
- MS Azure DevOps experience
- QTP/UFT automation tools knowledge
- HP ALM/Quality Centre proficiency
- Postman API testing tool usage
Certification
- ISTQB Certified Tester – Foundation Level Extension, Agile Tester
- ISTQB Certified Tester – Foundation Level
- Salesforce certified administrator
- ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management
- Oracle SQL and PL/SQL certification at Wipro Technologies
- Insurance domain certification at Wipro Technologies
- Banking domain certification at Wipro Technologies
Significant Awards
- Outstanding Performer Award from AMP for the successful delivery of the Platform Consolidation Project.
- Best performer award at Wipro onsite for significant task completion as the Senior Test Engineer person with flexibility between applications.
- AHM State-level Award for Karnataka (Bangalore) for best performance at Wipro, for the quality delivery in the Panorama project.
- Awarded with the “Feather on My Cap” award from Wipro.
Domain Expertise
- Banking
- Insurance
- Finance
- Wealth Management
- Trading
- Superannuation
- Investment
- Retail Banking
- Core Banking
- Feedlot Finance
Timeline
Agile Scrum Master
Heartland Bank Australia
10.2023 - Current
Agile Scrum Master
SS&C Technologies
02.2022 - 09.2023
Scrum Master
Challenger Bank (formerly MyLife MyFinance)
10.2021 - 02.2022
Application Lead
Ampion (formerly Revolution IT)
08.2021 - 10.2021
Senior Test Consultant
Ampion (formerly Revolution IT)
04.2021 - 07.2021
Test Lead
SS&C Technologies (formerly DST Bluedoor Pvt Ltd)
02.2016 - 03.2021
Test Lead
Wipro
07.2014 - 02.2016
Senior Support Analyst
Wipro
02.2012 - 06.2014
Senior Support Analyst
Wipro
01.2010 - 02.2012
Support Analyst
Wipro
07.2008 - 01.2010
Analyst Programmer
3i Infotech Pvt Ltd.
07.2006 - 07.2008
MCA - Computer Applications
Madras University
Similar Profiles
Richie BrarRichie Brar
Lending Manager (Credit) at Heartland Bank AustraliaLending Manager (Credit) at Heartland Bank Australia
KELLY MALINOWSKIKELLY MALINOWSKI
Marketing Manager at Heartland Bank and Trust CompanyMarketing Manager at Heartland Bank and Trust Company
Amanda HarmerAmanda Harmer
Senior Mortgage Underwriter, AVP at Heartland BankSenior Mortgage Underwriter, AVP at Heartland Bank
SATYA NANDLALSATYA NANDLAL
Visiting Research Fellow/ Private Consultant (Innovative Aquaculture) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Visiting Research Fellow/ Private Consultant (Innovative Aquaculture) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
RIYA PATELRIYA PATEL
Assistant in Nursing at Blue Care Carina Aged Care FacilityAssistant in Nursing at Blue Care Carina Aged Care Facility