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Manish Jha
Summary
Dynamic and highly accomplished Technical Program Manager with 25+ years of progressive experience leading enterprise-scale software development, delivery management, and transformation programs across Tier-1 banking and financial institutions. Adept at steering complex, multi-platform initiatives from concept through deployment, with a proven ability to align technology execution with strategic business objectives. Recognized for driving operational excellence, strengthening engineering maturity, and leading globally distributed teams through high-impact, regulatory, and mission-critical initiatives. Combines deep BFSI domain expertise with strong governance, stakeholder management, and Agile leadership to deliver predictable, high-quality outcomes in fast-paced environments.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Project / Delivery Manager
Citibank
11.2023 - Current
- Lead CSI initiatives within a high-complexity L3 support environment, ensuring deep technical resolutions translate into long-term operational stability. Strengthen system resilience by converting incident learnings into permanent engineering improvements.
- Key Achievements & Responsibilities
- Conduct trend and performance analysis across core banking systems to identify recurring failure patterns and systemic risks.
- Govern post-incident RCA processes, ensuring actionable, permanent fixes rather than temporary workarounds.
- Define and track KPIs including MTTR, system uptime, and SOP automation effectiveness.
- Apply Lean/Six Sigma principles to streamline L3 workflows, reduce technical debt, and accelerate deployment readiness.
- Ensure alignment with banking regulatory and security standards; support audit remediation and documentation.
- Deliver executive-level reporting that translates technical improvements into measurable business value.
Technical Project Manager
Citibank
07.2021 - 11.2023
- Directed the Safety & Soundness program, driving enterprise-wide security uplift, encryption modernization, and remediation of audit findings across global technology platforms.
- Cybersecurity & Regulatory Remediation
- Led migration of legacy data connections to TLS 1.2+, ensuring compliance with ASPCAS standards.
- Directed decommissioning of weak ciphers and deprecated encryption protocols across enterprise systems.
- Remediated non-embedded middleware instances identified during BCM audits, clearing past-due GCT backlogs.
- SDLC Governance & Tooling (MRA 3.1)
- Managed the roadmap for Standard Tools Adoption, migrating PBWM assets to approved SCM and deployment toolsets.
- Represented PBWM on the Standard Tools Adoption Committee; authored automated scoping rules approved by the CTO EAC.
- Implemented automated UKI reporting processes, reducing manual overhead and improving compliance accuracy.
- Agile Delivery & Team Leadership
- Led a 16-member cross-functional team for the SCRA program, delivering high-volume regulatory solutions.
- Served as Scrum Master, driving sprint ceremonies, backlog refinement, and continuous delivery improvements.
- Elevated team Scrum maturity, promoting transparency, sustainable pace, and proactive technical debt reduction.
- Governed RAID processes and collaborated with Product Owners to resolve impediments through structured change control.
Project Manager
Citizens Bank
08.2019 - 07.2021
- Partnered with client leadership to assess project health, financial performance, and risk posture.
- Strategic Leadership & Client Engagement
- Led a nine-member Talend/DataStage development team ensuring high-volume data stability and compliance.
- Introduced delivery frameworks that improved team efficiency and strengthened client satisfaction.
- Agile Product Ownership & Release Management
- Managed the product backlog for a centralized customer knowledge base, delivering all releases on time and within budget.
- Directed full release lifecycle including environment readiness, dependency mapping, and Go-Live execution.
- Chaired CAB sessions to manage dependencies, mitigate risks, and uphold deployment quality.
- Collaborated with DevOps to enhance automation, reducing manual effort across build and deployment pipelines.
- Project Controls & Talent Development
- Published executive dashboards tracking milestones, ROI, and delivery performance.
- Managed resource allocation and infrastructure synchronization using SharePoint and Project Server.
- Designed professional development plans and training schedules, improving team capability and internal mobility.
- Authored comprehensive documentation governing configuration management and release processes.
Project Manager
Citibank
07.2011 - 08.2019
- Directed full lifecycle delivery from requirements (BRD/FRD/LLD) through deployment and post-production support.
- Project Management & Governance
- Partnered with Change Control Boards to secure approvals and ensure “Green Zone” deployment readiness.
- Managed distributed onshore/offshore teams providing 24/7 coverage across UAT, QC, and production cycles.
- Release Engineering & Environment Management
- Led installation and Go-Live of SAS platform suites across UAT, PROD, COB, and PTE environments.
- Managed build/deployment workflows using TeamCity, uDeploy, and Unix; migrated legacy code from PVCS to Bitbucket.
- Enforced strict governance over release schedules, ensuring zero-defect deployments.
- Provided Tier-3 support for complex stability issues and environment bottlenecks.
- Technical Leadership & Optimization
- Improved application performance through advanced SQL/PL-SQL tuning using Explain Plan and TKPROF.
- Developed custom scripts for schema validation and debugging; managed job scheduling via AutoSys and Cron.
- Conducted code reviews ensuring alignment with architectural and business requirements.
- Enforced compliance with organizational change management policies.
Change / Release Manager
Pune, India
12.2009 - 07.2011
- Defined and executed enterprise release milestones, aligning Product, Engineering, and Operations.
- Expanded Release Management frameworks and standardized governance practices across development teams.
- Maintained enterprise release calendars, preventing environment contention across global platforms.
- Strengthened integration between Release, Change, and Incident Management to reduce MTTR.
- Ensured IAM and configuration compliance for all releases; improved approval cycles through automation.
Project Lead
Pune, India
05.2003 - 08.2009
- Developed a Request Categorization Matrix to standardize effort estimation and resource allocation.
- Built real-time dashboards providing visibility into request status, ART, and productivity metrics.
- Implemented Large Request Tracker to optimize bandwidth and refine SLAs.
- Standardized peer-to-peer review processes, reducing delivery errors.
- Facilitated KAIZEN forums to drive continuous improvement and workflow optimization.
- Served as escalation point for complex client requests; delivered high-impact presentations to senior leadership.
- Designed onboarding and mentorship programs, accelerating new-hire productivity.
Education
Master of Science -
MGKVP
Skills
- Program & Delivery Leadership
- Enterprise SDLC Governance
- Agile & Scrum Execution
- Release & Configuration Management
- Risk, Compliance & Audit Remediation
- CI/CD Optimization & Engineering Maturity
- Cross-Functional Team Leadership
- Stakeholder & Executive Communication
- KPI, Metrics & Operational Reporting
- Process Reengineering & Continuous Improvement
- Technical Strategy & Roadmap Execution
- High-Volume, Multi-System Deployment Management
- Build & Deployment: ANT, TeamCity, uDeploy, Maven, Git, Ansible, Docker
- Source Control & ALM: Jira, Bitbucket, PVCS, ClearCase, SVN
- Languages & Scripting: Java, Pro
- C, Unix Shell Script, ASP, XML, XSD
- Databases: Oracle 9i/10g, MS SQL Server, SQL Developer
- Application Servers: WebSphere 61, Web Services
- Networking: TCP/IP, FTP, SFTP, HTTP
- Analytics: SAS V8, SAS/BASE, SAS/ACCESS, SAS/SQL
- AI & Emerging Tech: OpenAI API, Azure OpenAI
- Concepts: Model Development Life Cycle (MDLC)
- Operating Systems: UNIX, Linux, Windows
Certification
SAFe Scrum Master 6.0
Timeline
Project / Delivery Manager
Citibank
11.2023 - Current
Technical Project Manager
Citibank
07.2021 - 11.2023
Project Manager
Citizens Bank
08.2019 - 07.2021
Project Manager
Citibank
07.2011 - 08.2019
Change / Release Manager
12.2009 - 07.2011
Project Lead
05.2003 - 08.2009
Master of Science -
MGKVP