Raj Vekria

Experience

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  Discount Double Glazing, London

  Jan 1992 - Jan 1994

  Manager

  Dealing with customer's orders, accounts, stock control and sales.Taught all aspects of sales and customer services and how to deal politely and in a friendly manner with the public and achieve all sales targets on an annual basis.

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  William Hill Bookmakers, London

  Jan 1994 - Jan 1997

  Manager

  Trained in cost control, maximising turnover and maintaining winning form.Duties included high level customer service, staff training, marketing commercial and competitor awareness.

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  HBO & CO (Computer Centre)

  Jan 1997 - Jan 1998

  Senior Analyst, Operations

  As a Senior Operator in a structured and finite environment duties consisted of assisting the Shift manager in fulfilling all processing requirements in the field of Health Services.Monitored and process all actions on a OPEN_VMS V6.2 platform of clustered Vax nodes, data stored on a number of shadowed disks, processing was affected via interactive Digital Command Language instructions and the execution of batch driven command files furnished by in-house Application and Systems Teams.Duties included Help desk, overnight processing, backing up of health service critical data and media management, downloads from remote terminals, maintenance of hardware and fault calling, use of systems utilities such as EDIT, EVE, KERMIT, PHONE, MAIL, analysis of application error logs, incident reporting and problem escalation. Show less

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  Citigroup, London

  Dec 1998 - Mar 2008

  Shift Leader, Operations

  Responsible for all processing requirements for Citibank Money Market and Foreign Exchange Systems located at the London Command Centre, on Variety of platforms DecVax, DecAlpha, DecUnix, Sun Unix and Windows NT, Distributed Platforms which consist of SSSB, CitiSwitch, SOC and Midrange PlatformsExecuting all business requirements and ensure online services are constantly available within the agreed Service Statements for business, notifying users in a timely manner when delays to services anticipated. My roles at Citigroup have; My Responsibilities included but were not limited to providing programme support and delivery to internal Citigroup businesses on a regional basis. Citigroup EMEA consists of approximately 2,000 employees. My Role was primarily focused within the EMEA Command Centre, which is part of the CTI Data Centre Division. The EMEA Command Centre provided 24x7x365 centralised monitoring, escalation and incident / service management within region. Provide first line Helpdesk support out of Core Business hours when regional helpdesk customers report errors directly to Command Centre and the error is escalated within a limited timeframe.Monitor all systems and resolve or escalate problems in accordance with the documented process and procedures to prevent any financial impact to the business.Effective time management and communication, ensuring timely notifications to Customers are performed regarding all service outages.Multi-tasking across various platforms, executing all instruction and complying with standard Level agreements (SLA).Extensive knowledge of monitoring tools such as Netcool/Tivoli and problem management package, such as GPMS, Infoman and Virtual Tech. Show less

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  MFI, London

  May 2008 - Aug 2008

  Shift Leader, Operations

  Responsible for all processing and to provide application development and support to MFI's mission critical VMS based systems for EPOS, Financial Services and Distribution functions. Provide effectively estimates costs, timescales and resource requirements for the successful delivery of the project(s) to an agreed scope.Operates the firms systems in accordance with the organisations agreed standards, methods and procedures. Manages the Operations team shift members, ensuring coverage is maintained.Effectively ensures that new systems developments and procedures are compatible with the organisation's existing systems, infrastructure and strategic plans and in line with best practice. Provides expertise to implementations as required.Facilitation of business process definition and modelling.Responsible for managing, designs, tests and produces documentation for applications and systems.Logs and updates all support requests. Allocates appropriate resources to restore system functionality in a timely manner and according to agreed standards and procedures. Informs users and other interested parties of progress to avoid or minimise delays to system functionality.Contributes fully to multi-specialist teams.Escalates problems in an appropriate and timely manner.Currently involve with multiple projects due to MFI separating from Galiform, which involves implementing Data Centre for MFI and working with the Support Teams to implement new applications including SAP database. Show less

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  Thomson Reuters, London

  Oct 2008 - Sept 2009

  Network Controller

  Responsible to ensure that services supported within the Transactions and Third Party Networks from GTC-London comply with Company targets and standards.Ensure those business critical task checklists are followed and that all scheduled events are completed correctly in a timely and efficient manner.To liaise with the Service Operations Team leader and take responsibility for the resolution of GTC-L operational system issues, ensuring correct referral and escalation of such issues.To ensure that all work is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Quality Management System operated at GTC London.To identify and report deficiencies in systems, services and procedures, and ensure that corrective actions identified are completed.To produce routine daily logs, exception reports, network statistic reports and to produce reports on major service incidents.Responsible to carry out scheduled system software and hardware upgrades and verification as required maintaining the service levels of the network.To liaise with internal and external customers answering queries and resolving service issues in a timely and professional manner and ensure that customers and respective helpdesks receive timely and accurate advice of service problems. Ensure personal awareness of and adherence to established problem management procedures and personal knowledge of all supported systems is continually updated. .Assist in training and development of new and existing Network controllers, where appropriate and as requested by the Shift Operations Team Leader. Show less

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  Benning Construction Company

  Oct 2009 - Jul 2012

  Site Manager

  •Managing multiple site operations, working with contractors and subcontractors to ensure the building contract runs to schedule. •Organising and insuring deliveries are made.•Conducting regular site safety checks.•Maintaining strict quality control procedures - this necessitates regular testing of materials, visualinspections of work, and frequent tours of the site•playing a major role in pre-site and on-site meetings with a range of professionals who work to ensure a building contract is successful, including quantity surveyors, contract administrators, site foremen, subcontractors, and the client who has commissioned the work. Show less

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  Phoenix (IT Infrastructure Services)

  Sept 2012 - Mar 2013

  Data Centre Manager

  • Maintaining day to day running of the Data Centre, monitoring all aspects of the Data Centre. Rack and server installation.• Customer focused, assisting and ordering of equipment.• Arranging engineers to attend site and supervise all work being carried out to high standard.• Smart hands for clients when needed to perform certain task.• Assist with new clients and partner company to show the facility we have and can provide Tier 3 availability.

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  NTT Europe Ltd.

  Feb 2013 - Jul 2013

  Data Centre Supervisor
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  KCOM

  May 2015 - Dec 2018

  Operations Shift Manager

  • Supervise the team on a daily basis; ensuring that all processes and procedures are adhered to, exceptions are properly managed and controlled at all times and encourage the team to promote ideas to enhance Customer experience.• Work closely with other Shift Leaders to develop an operations centre of excellence and a culture of continuous improvement• In conjunction with the Service Centre Manager, manage the shift rota to ensure minimum staffing levels are maintained at all times• Effective performance management, development and coaching for team members ensuring they receive appropriate training and development to enable them to deliver high quality services to meet SLAs• Undertakes the duties of an Operations Specialist and Tier 1 Support Specialist.• During out of hours periods be the primary contact and decision maker for all Service Provides issues and the resolution of these by the engineers on shift or on-call or via other appropriate escalation• Provide effective management of High Priority Incidents and invokes & manages the Major Service Failure process• Manages, plans, schedules and carries out the operational tasks required to achieve or exceed SLA targets • Build relationships with similar teams to share experiences and maintain best practice• Provide operational input to the Implementation process to ensure that new/amended systems are: built to design specification, operationally accepted; have appropriate operational documentation and that Operations staff are suitably trained before live operation commences• Compliance with all Safety, Health, Environmental, Quality and Security processes and ISO certifications.• Supports the Service Centre Manager in the delivery of their role assisting when required in the recruitment and deployment of staff• Maintain in-depth knowledge in relation to I&S customers; providing prompt and accurate information, advice and technical guidance to colleagues and 3rd party service providers Show less

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  Sungard Availability Services

  Apr 2019 - Mar 2023

  Building Services Manager
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  Redcentric

  Mar 2023 - now

  • DataCentre Design Manager

    Jan 2025 - now

  • Senior Civil CAD Designer

    Mar 2023 - now