Colin Christison ITIL, PRINCE 2

Experience

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  Vertex Data Science

  Feb 1996 - Apr 2001

  Senior Project Manager

  Senior Project Manager (1999 – 2001)Responsible for the delivery of business and IT solutions for Vertex's major client, North West Water (NWW). Responsible for the support and development of the then current IT systems owned by NWW. The main system supported was the Water Billing System which billed in excess of 3 million customers and was used by over 1000 users. Continued to demonstrate ability to deliver large scale projects to time and budget ($7.5m operational and $3.5m Capital) whilst retaining a highly motivated team of project managers, business analysts and developers (numbering 75). Developed awareness of Call Center operations and Customer Relationship Management principles and systems. Established a PMO to support the IS team plan, record and report efficiently and effectively to the client.Project Manager (1996 – 1999)Recruited and developed a team of 80 resources to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to support, maintain and develop a major Customer Billing Application for Norweb (a major electricity supplier in the UK). This Oracle based client server system, allowed the client to communicate with and bill over 3 million customers and had in excess of 2000 users. Managed a budget of $5.5m and a 9 month window in which to achieve the results and demonstrate the effectiveness of the team. This achievement was clearly demonstrated when the team delivered 2 large maintenance releases (each in excess of $1.5m) with zero errors.Utilized PRINCE II methodologies to ensure timescales, quality and budgets were maintained and met.Worked closely with Accenture (who supplied and enhanced the product for 3 years prior to Vertex taking the system over) to develop a structured approach to the knowledge transfer.Developed processes to allow for offshore development capability Show less

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  Barclays UK

  Jan 2001 - Jan 2003

  Program Manager

  Responsible for all development activities within a Barclays program of work to implement a common PC platform across the whole of the bank supporting in excess of 55,000 users. The program of work included the development of a number of large scale server farms at key sites, the development of all infrastructure and networks; the creation and development of a company-wide Active Directory and a Server based environment to deliver applications through thin client technology (Citrix). Responsible for a budget in excess of $40m, over 80 staff, up to 4 different suppliers (including Microsoft and Unisys) and communications to all interested stakeholders up to Director level. Show less

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  American Family Insurance

  Jan 2004 - Jan 2007

  Senior Project Manager

  Responsible for the successful delivery of a program of work to replace all the Policy viewing applications for the company. This required an annual budget of in excess of $10m and over 40 staff including Business Analysts, Developers, Testers, UI specialists and Technical Architects. This Web Based application supported over 10,000 staff members and over 1m direct customers. The system was based on Service Oriented Architecture, promoting a component based approach and loose coupling.

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  StoneRiver

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2009

  Senior Project Manager

  Directly responsible for programs of work to implement strategic software and COTS products for the multiple clients. Managed teams of 30+ staff and professional services budgets of $12m+ for each project. Successfully implemented products to the required business specifications and objectives agreed with the client. In addition, provided guidance and mentored to 2 other Project Managers responsible for smaller implementations of the same product. Each project covered multiple project areas including customization to and configuration of the base product, interface development, enterprise wide conversions, document delivery, establishment of a data warehouse, implementation of COTS software and all infrastructure requirements to support the final solution.Key achievements : Significant involvement in improvement of processes and quality within the Project Management discipline, including the formalization of the RUP process, defect management, requirements definition and quality improvements within the development lifecycle. Managed the PMO organization improving processes and relations with the offshore development organization used to deliver the majority of the change requested by the clients. Provided consultative services to other projects which had fallen behind schedule and helped them to re-plan and re-focus the project. This allowed them to successfully re-baseline the overall project and ultimately delivering to the new plans. Show less

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  StoneRiver

  Mar 2009 - Jan 2011

  Program Manager

  Providing oversight and guidance for multiple large scale implementations of a leading Workers Compensation software product. Responsible for in excess of $10m budget and over 50 staff.

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  StoneRiver

  Apr 2011 - May 2016

  Director of Professional Services

  Responsible for the annual delivery of over $23m in professional services revenue (over 20% of the organization's annual revenue), utilizing and coordinating over 200+ staff across multiple programs of work delivering enterprise software solutions to insurance carriers throughout North America. These implementation projects were typically in excess of $10m over a 12 to 24 month period and resulted in ongoing support and maintenance contracts. Responsible for the direction and development of the PMO ensuring that Project and Program Managers (15 to 20) conformed to the required standards and processes, while successfully delivering the required portfolio of projects to external and internal clients. Worked directly with client executives to maintain and develop the ongoing relationship and wherever possible, identify potential up-sell opportunities that mutually benefited both organizations. Developed and reported on key performance indicators demonstrating program effectiveness and identifying potential improvements.Key achievements: Developed and maintained detailed program plans for active and future programs of work. Then either directly managed the deliverables in line with the those programs of work or managed them through the team of project managers. Managed the PMO organization redefining and refining project processes and methodologies resulting in annual operational savings in excess of $1m Key member of executive team located in the Denver office providing oversight for that location, acting as a cultural champion leading to high employee retention and productivity. Provided day to day leadership and performance feedback to direct reports, project teams and project engineers in a fully matrixed organization. Show less

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  Flatirons Solutions®

  Apr 2017 - Apr 2018

  Program Manager

  Responsible for the delivery of a $2.3m program of work over a 6 month period to implement a product using fully Agile methodologies and practices that will allow a major airline to view OEM aircraft data. They will then use this data to service and maintain a fleet of over 100 aircraft. This program of work involves over 30 global resources in 5 different countries.

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  North Highland

  May 2018 - now

  Senior Project Manager

  Responsible for a number of Infrastructure and Software development related projects in a highly changeable environment on a global scale. Working at all levels within the organization, I have successfully established myself as a person that can get things done and deliver to the defined scope and objectives.