Khawar Raja

Project Manager

Ashburn,VA

Summary

An experienced IT professional with a decade of expertise as a Certified Security Analyst, certified PMP, certified Scrum Master, certified CISM and certified SAFe Agile Scrum Master. Diverse background in roles such as Project Manager, DevSecOps/Security Analyst, Data Scientist, and Scrum Master. Proficient in implementing the Agile methodology, facilitating communication between stakeholders and development teams, and in assessing system security risks, as well as managing Authorities to Operate (ATO). Demonstrated expertise in risk analysis, risk mapping, and risk mitigation, with a proven track record of identifying cybersecurity threats and automating security responses, and leveraging data science to enhance decision-making processes. A results-driven and collaborative team member committed to achieving cybersecurity goals within project objectives.

Overview

years of professional experience

Certifications

Work History

Project Manager

National Science Foundation (Booz Allen Hamilton)

12.2021 - Current

Leading the development of the Proposal Submission Modernization (PSM) system for NSF, replacing the legacy FastLane system
Take ownership of end-to-end delivery
Create project and process specifications, coordinate with teams to ensure that projects are delivered on time
Create Project Playbook to highlight all of the key components such as Project overview, constraints, potential risks, roles and responsibilities, task and assignments, project timeline, project scope, deliverables, etc
Develop detail workplans, schedules, project estimate/budget, resources, and weekly status reports
Facilitate Scrum Events and PI Planning
Oversee complete backlog management and refinement
Coordinate and resolve impediments to support the team's progress
Monitor progress and provide metrics for decision-making
Collaborate with stakeholders and Product Owner on requirements and design
Ensure security principles are followed to maintain regulatory compliance and overall data integrity
Serve as a liaison between the line of business and the company's Information Risk Management Security Team
Provide routine updates to leadership regarding Security Health and on-going Risk Management status
Prepare assessments for senior management and various stakeholders
Stay current on emerging cyber threats and assess their potential impacts for the organization
Conduct assessments to evaluate the efficacy of the organization's control suite
Provide guidance and recommendations on enhancing the organization's security framework.

Project Manager/DevSecOps (SSA - Social Security Admin)

Deloitte

11.2020 - 09.2021

Supported the integration of Cyber security and compliance into SSA's DevOps lifecycle and Risk Management Framework
Developed comprehensive project plan, scope, timeline, and resource allocation
Lead cross-functional teams to achieve project goals
Provided regular updates on project progress, milestones, and potential risks to senior management and business partners
Established and enforced quality standards for project deliverables
Helped work toward establishing streamlined processes to support rapid development efforts while maintaining a strong security posture and compliance with SSA policy and regulatory standards
Lead the project closure process, including finalizing project documentation and conducted post-project evaluations
Identified security gaps and technical requirements to highlight security risks and threats
Assisted with DevSecOps architecture and roadmap to outline the future state of enhanced security integration into CI/CD pipelines
Managed toolset migration and modernization for the development teams
Supported ongoing program management
Facilitated Agile ceremonies and managed product backlog
Provided expert knowledge on current and potential data security capabilities and standards
Assumed a leadership position in pinpointing cyber risk areas, offering oversight, conducting analysis, provided effective challenges, and delivering risk-informed recommendations for improvements
Conducted technical assessments of cybersecurity measures and assessed the design and effectiveness of security controls
Monitored the performance and usage of Azure DevOps services
Continuously optimized build and release pipelines for efficiency and speed in Azure
Implemented best practices for CI/CD to enhance the overall development and release workflow in Azure
Maintained documentation for Azure DevOps configurations and processes
Assisted in the implementation and automation of NIST Security Controls within the Risk Management Framework, aiming for robust security, optimal performance, and the measurement of the efficiency in securing and automating applications
Conducted security audits to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of SSAs Security Controls, identifying vulnerabilities, and recommending remediation strategies to enhance overall cybersecurity posture.

Project Manager/Scrum Master (USCIS/DHS)

01.2019 - 11.2020

Provided DevSecOps services for USCIS ELIS, supporting application development and modernization
Maintained and improved DevSecOps pipelines by incorporating best security practices
Coordinated with the customer for pipeline migration
Gathered requirements and translated them into user stories
Facilitated Agile ceremonies and backlog management
Created test cases and executed manual testing for user story validation
Provided feedback on code implementation status to ensure alignment with the project timeline and objectives
Monitored project progress and identified areas that could produce potential delays and proactively took steps to mitigate them
Maintained high-quality project deliverables by monitoring and assessing project performance
Identified and developed mitigation strategies for cybersecurity threats and security vulnerabilities
Assessed Risk Management Framework (RMF) NIST 800-53 information in order to automate the security controls
Assessed and assisted with implementation recommendations of countermeasures of mitigating controls
Interpreted, documented, and advised customers on emerging security, governance, and continuous monitoring policies
Articulated cybersecurity risks to Senior Leadership and provided recommendations for remediation/risk acceptance
Developed and supported successful development of cybersecurity processes and procedures
Proficient in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) frameworks and methodologies
Implemented and maintained GRC processes to ensure regulatory compliance
Performed risk assessment, analysis, and mitigation strategies within the context of GRC
Developed and implemented policies and procedures to align with industry standards and regulations
Conducted GRC audits to assess the effectiveness of internal controls and compliance measures
Supported SDCL for USCIS Biometrics Enrollment Tool (BET), focusing on application development and deployment
Facilitated communication with the customer to gather and document requirements to further modernize BET
Supported Agile development and backlog management
Documented system requirements and use cases
Coordinated UAT sessions with stakeholders for product approval
Maintained DevSecOps pipelines by automating security testing and scanning to improve code quality
Utilized AWS Cloud services and Jenkins to create a CI/CD environment
Maintained project documentation, including requirements, schedules, and change requests
Contributed to the development and improvement of the project management processes and best practices
Ensured that the project team completed all deliverables on time and within the budget.

Project Manager/Data Scientist

Wells Fargo

10.2016 - 10.2018

Served as a servant leader for the team
Facilitated the adaption, implementation and sustainability of Agile processes, principles and practices
Helped the scrum team focus on creating high-value increments
Supported three different Agile teams on different applications
Partnered with all three scrum teams to estimate backlog and then prioritizes ongoing sprints to maintain Roadmap
Helped with AI-IS and TO-BE analysis and documentation
Defined and documented business, functional & technical requirements
Created multiple Visio diagrams to show the current & future state
Analyzed and communicated stakeholder needs by translating business requirements into software requirements
Analyzed and synthesized process and strategy documents into process flows with clear next steps
Documented Epics, User Stories, Tasks, Technical Stories, and other artifacts as required by Avenue agile development policies
Ensured that all User Stories are independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, sized appropriately, and testable
Acted as liaison between business stakeholders, vendors, customers and the development team
Coordinated and facilitated discussion sessions between vendors, customers, business stakeholders, product team, subject matter experts, and other contributors as necessary
Identified business challenges and opportunities for improvement, evaluated impact to the business, and proposed strategic solutions
Used modeling, testing and data models to improve the flow of information through an organization to enhance project success
Developed and deployed machine learning models to predict customer churn
Analyzed large data sets using Python, and SQL to extract actionable insights that informed key business decisions
Created data pipelines for ETL processes, automating data collection, cleaning, and transformation, reducing manual effort
Utilized data visualization tools such as Tableau to present complex data trends to stakeholders, improving data-driven decision-making
Implemented Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques to analyze customer feedback, enhancing product development strategies
Conducted A/B testing to optimize marketing strategies
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to integrate data science solutions into existing business processes, improving overall efficiency
Built predictive models for sales forecasting
Mentored other data scientists, providing guidance on model development and data preprocessing
Automated data reporting processes, significantly reducing the time required to generate weekly and monthly reports
Worked with big data technologies like Hadoop and Spark to process and analyze large-scale datasets, enhancing data processing speed
Conducted exploratory data analysis (EDA) to uncover hidden patterns and trends, leading to new insights and strategic initiatives
Integrated machine learning models into production environments, ensuring seamless deployment and scalability.

Education

Bachelor of Arts - Business Administration

Skills

Operating Systems: Windows NT/XP/2000, Windows 10

Project Methodology: Agile SCRUM, Rational Unified Process (RUP), Waterfall

Tools: Jenkins, GitHub, Bitbucket, Maven, Microsoft Azure DevOps, Splunk, Crowdstrike, MS Office Suite, MS Project, MS Visio, JIRA, Kubernetes, Confluence, AWS, SoapUI, Fortify, ServiceNow, Azure, SonarQube, OWASP ZAP, Blackduck, Checkmarx, Nessus, XACTA, JFROG, Nexus, OpenShift PaaS, Docker, Ansible, New Relic, Nagios, gradle, Chef, Puppet, Salesforce (CRM), A/B Testing tools: Google Optimize and Optimizely, SailPoint

Database: SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, TOAD, Teradata, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Snowflake

Programming Language: SQL, Python

Risk Management Frameworks: NIST Management Framework (RMF), ISO 3000, COBIT, ITIL

Awards: "Team of the year - 2021" by USCIS for developing a Biometrics Enrollment Tool for the agency

Project Management skills: Project Planning, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Change Management, Schedule Management, Budget and Forecasting, Resource Allocation, Project Lifecyle

Certification

PMP

Timeline

Project Manager

National Science Foundation (Booz Allen Hamilton)

12.2021 - Current

Project Manager/DevSecOps (SSA - Social Security Admin)

Deloitte

11.2020 - 09.2021

Project Manager/Scrum Master (USCIS/DHS)

01.2019 - 11.2020

Project Manager/Data Scientist

Wells Fargo

10.2016 - 10.2018