Agile Process Coach seeks Dynamic Team in Toronto!

Resume of Deborah Hartmann
software development coach for agile teams and their customers

[ PDF version of this Resume with Contact Information ]

OBJECTIVES

I enjoy the challenge of building resilient software teams, capable of fast delivery and quick change of direction. As the pace of development picks up, I also work with customers, improving their ability to rapidly identify and communicate high-priority needs to their development teams. Customers and teams will be better equipped to handle the rapid pace of change prevalent in business.

Over time, I will encourage the realignment of responsibility with accountability, an Agile best practice which builds trust between project participants and promotes inter-departmental effectiveness. Another important change I advocate is to make project status more visible to team members and stakeholders, removing the mystery from software planning and tracking.

I believe that the best process emerges when teams intelligently apply agile practices according to their own situation’s needs. These practices can appear deceptively simple, but I coach teams in the complementary values and practices that make process change ‘stick’. One way in which I encourage this shift to new practices is through active participation – as an assistant to the customer team, or on the development team as a business analyst, designer or tester. With active management and team participation, it is possible to take team performance to a whole new level!

CAREER SUMMARY

For over twenty years I have energetically helped teams produce better software by improving their work habits. While filling the role of programmer, o-o analyst, business analyst and team lead, I have actively addressed each team’s most pervasive problems, collaborating with team members to introduce practices such as Feature Driven Development, design patterns, Scrum and Extreme Programming. Working as a consultant and in permanent positions, experience has revealed to me that software’s toughest problems are often “people issues”, and so my focus has increasingly shifted toward team-building and facilitation, including training in the Scrum Agile project management methodology, and the Open Space meeting methodology.

BUSINESS DOMAINS

Publishing – Sales, Customer Service, Magazine Production, Pricing, Distribution
Sales – Mobile invoicing with hand-held device, Mail-order invoicing
Finance – General Ledger, Accounts Payable
Insurance - Property and Casualty Claims, Wealth Management
Web Portal product – Online Chemical Properties Database
Judicial Procedures and Documentation


EMPLOYMENT HISTORY


Senior Business Specialist (Business Analysis Team)
Solcorp Inc., Toronto.
September 2004 to present

Co-ordinated a small User Acceptance Testing team, including development of manual and automated processes and tools:

• Co-ordinated acceptance testing of deliverables from multiple teams;
• Supported testing team: daily meeting, troubleshooting, liaison with other teams, including extended-hours support;
• Participated in test planning;
• Executed detailed XML-level testing of insurance services;
• Clarified insurance product requirements with Business Analysts and technical developers;
• Tracked defects using HEAT problem-ticket software and a daily meeting of team leads.

Business Systems Analyst/Methodology Lead,
Trader Media Inc., Toronto.
2003 to 2004

Built a new development team and their processes, to handle the creation and maintenance of internal business software;

• analysed customer problems with automated and manual business processes;
  
• assisted department manager with daily administration of the team (ScrumMaster role).
  
• Coached the development team as they adapted this Agile methodology over time to their specific situation;
  
• collaboratively designed software solutions with customers, developers;
  
• implemented an iterative, Agile software development methodology in the Enterprise Development department (Scrum)
  
• support of live o-o application systems for Finance, Publishing, Customer Service;
  
• developed software tools for planning and tracking of teamwork;
  
• organised cross-training of team members to become more responsive.
  

Systems Analyst/Designer/Component Modeler,
Castek Inc., Toronto.

December 2001 to April 2003

• designed Policy objects for use within the Claims system architecture, in conjunction with Application Architect;
  
• contributed to Use Case sessions to drive out user requirements;
  
• led Interfaces design effort for messaging strategy between Claims and external Policy and Party components;
  
• co-ordinated requirements of various teams on interface architecture and technology;
  
• specified large-grained web-service interfaces between Policy and Claims components for multiple Lines of Business;
  
• wrote and tested XSL transformations between (customised) ACORD XML and Claims XML format (using XMLSpy);
  
• tested, assisted in debugging web service interface to Policy system, supported developers using these services;
  
• promoted implementation of Scrum (XP) lightweight methodology, including Continuous Integration test strategy.
  

October 2000 to December 2001

• produced architecture-level UML models for a component-based, multi-tier Insurance Claims application;
  
• transformed requirements into object-oriented specifications using using UML with Together/Java CASE tool;
  
• led Joint Application Design (JAD) sessions with users and IT personnel;
  
• supported Java J2EE developers in an XP, Continuous Integration environment (adaptation of Scrum methodology).
  
• used RUP methodolgy with Rational Rose, Rational RequisitePro, prior to adoption of Scrum.
  

Business Analyst / Systems Analyst / Designer,
Groupe Progestic Consultants, Montreal.
1989 to 2000

As a permanent employee, participated in various projects in Quebec and abroad, alone and on teams.

• architected and designed an o-o Business-to-Consumer E-Commerce application for Java on BEA WebLogic server;
  
• analysed client requirements, documenting them in various formats: Use Case, Feature Driven Development, DMR;
  
• designed automated systems for Java/VB/Natural/Cobol, using object-oriented and structured analysis methods;
  
• developed system test plan and supported developers in writing / executing tests and debugging in Java and Oracle;
  
• wrote, tested, implemented software using COBOL, IDMS/R, VSAM, Total DBMS, RPG, IBM Assembler;
  
• designed and delivered system documentation and end-user manuals and training;
  
• improved and maintained existing accounting systems, including software package upgrade and customisations;
  
• studied manual and automated processes (BPR with and without CASE tool).
  
• evaluated and recommended middleware tools for multi-tier, enterprise application development;
  
• researched hardware options for industrial mobile computing (handheld radio-frequency computers);
  

Public Sector Clients: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, U.N. High Commission for Refugees, Regie regionale de la sante et des services sociaux des Laurentides, Montreal Municipal Courthouse, Federal Business Development Bank, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Quebec Ministry of Justice;
Private Sector Clients: Standard Life Corporate Systems, Natrel Foods, Gaz Metropolitain, McGill Conservatory of Music, Messageries Dynamiques ( a division of Groupe Quebecor, publisher ), Equifax Canada, McGill University.


Several Analyst / Programmer positions,
Montreal, Quebec.
1982 to 1989
Detailed information available upon request.


EDUCATION

Professional Training: 1987 - present

• UDS Forte O-O Framework Language (Sun Education);
  
• Certified ScrumMaster Training / level 2 (Ken Schwaber);
  
• Thinking in Patterns (Bruce Eckel & Bill Venners);
  
• XML with ACORD;
  
• MS FrontPage;
  
• Object-Oriented Analysis;
  
• Visual Basic with MS Visual Design Studio;
  
• FirstStep Enterprise Modelling (BPR Case tool);
  
• MS SQL SERVER for WINDOWS-NT - Installation & administration, Database Administration;
  
• Numerous IDMS/R Courses, including: Database Concepts and Facilities, Database Analysis and Design.

1986-1990 Concordia University / Faculty of Fine Arts:
Bachelor in Art History and Studio Art. 1 year remaining.

1984-1985 McGill University / Certificate in M.I.S.
First year of a three-year certificate.

1977-1981 Champlain College (CEGEP):
Diploma of Collegiate Studies (DEC) in Data Processing,
awarded First in Class.


OTHER INTERESTS

For two years I have provided leadership within the ScrumAlliance, and to the XP/Agile Toronto and Scrum Toronto interest groups. In addition, I enjoy gardening, painting, good science fiction, and exploring old cities.


[ PDF version of this Resume with Contact Information ]


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