Darren Rafter Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

I have a strong analysis background acting as lead client contact working to capture business requirements and translating them into functional specifications and system designs.Over a number of projects I have successfully managed key business relationships with several business units in an ever changing, competitive environment.Provided key consultancy and support as a recognised knowledge expert within several key systems.I took sole responsibility for the coordination of the IT activities to support a multi-million pound tender, which we successfully won. Where I managed the content of the IT response to the technology related Requirement and Method Statements; and the IT department in a support role during high level contract negotiations.

London, United Kingdom

Agile team analyst on several agile and scaled agile projects.I actively partner with multiple Product Owners; our goal to prioritise and groom product backlogs with a focus on delivering immediate business value within onscreen testing; online orders and invoicing. Over the past 6 years I have successfully delivered multiple projects using Lean/Agile methodsRegularly facilitate grooming sessions to assess and size product backlog items in preparation for sprint planning. Stepping up to act as a proxy or in lieu of the Product Owner.Skilled at conducting workshops and breakout groups of various sizes to further illicit requirements alongside smaller focused discussions with developers and stakeholders.Conducting end of sprint showcases to demo the completed features and illicit feedback from stakeholders.Working in collaboration with team members to identify and promote guidelines to assist the IT team and business Product Owners in the adoption of Lean/Agile work practices.I have been successful in turning around several teams who have struggled adopting Agile/Lean practices, addressing issues largely relating to backlog maintenance and acceptance criteria.An active participant within a team chartering initiative where we took on the responsibility and ownership to define the vision, goals and objectives of our team.

London, United Kingdom

Working within the e-Learning & development business unit supporting the development of competency based training applications to support field operations across Europe, Middle East & Africa. I was responsible for the capture of business requirements (local and global) to support and enhance web applications and translating these into functional designs. I took an active role with various business and development groups (local & global) to implement above requirements and champion the EMEA business interests within the global IT department. Facilitated the local rollout and support of global applications (user base up to 2000 users).

London, United Kingdom

I was working in a voluntary capacity to update and enhance an MS Access membership/CRM database for a support organisation advising NHS Primary Care Trusts and GP Practices. Capturing business requirements from the Chief Executive and Office Manager relating to the management of the membership database. Undertook sole responsibility for the data migration/cleansing exercise required to import data from external data sources. Re-developed system data model, database design and user interfaces.

London, United Kingdom

I was responsible for the analysis and design of multiple web based projects, running over several North American and pan-European offices to over 300 users.Successfully managed key business relationships with the Voice and Billing business units in an ever changing, and extremely competitive environment. Collaborated with vendors and internal teams to capture and verify user and business requirements. Producing functional designs and data models for web based applications and back office applications to support or replace legacy based systems across multiple platforms. I was actively involved in establishing quality control and design documentation procedures, in addition to preparing and running training programs for the above systems. Participated in the initial stages of a development outsourcing initiative to an offshore software house.

London, United Kingdom

I was responsible for business requirements capture and clarification, analysis and configuration of a CRM & Billing system. The applications supported a cable television service expanding into residential telephony and the convergence of these services. Successfully moved into a lead role that required building close business relationships with key stakeholders in a very short space of time; providing system configuration consultancy they required. Facilitated the migration process during a major product upgrade to the system, including systems support and data cleansing.

London, United Kingdom

Analysis & Design ManagerI was responsible for an analysis & design team of 10 providing business and systems analysis support at all levels to all new development projects. My goal was to work in collaboration with the Project Mangers to plan, resource and support the successful deployment of medium to large scale projects. I also provided product knowledge and mentoring support to team members. Ensured ISO 9001 compliance within a structured development environment.Lead Business Systems AnalystI was responsible for the analysis and design of billing and invoicing enhancements to a customer care & billing system running on INGRES/OpenVMS. Lead client contact working to capture business requirements and translating them into functional specifications and system designs. Also provided key consultancy and value added support to facilitate and comply with the client’s business and operational requirements.Team LeaderI was responsible for a team of 14 system analysts and developers during the development and system test phases. Successfully managed several key areas working to aggressive timescales and budget. Implemented own initiative to split the team into smaller more focused groups and re-scheduled work to complement the multi-tasking nature of the roles within the team.

Bsc (Hons), Computing Science

Education record