After internal merger of two IT companies, Group Corporates Division I built in previous years had to be dissolved to Product teams (Departments).My focus shifted to areas that were not well covered with recent transformation. First was digitalization of sales process in Large Corporates area. The proposed vision for automating Loan Origination and sales process got the acceptance of sales and risk. Small team of experts is assembled to build MVP, based on cloud versions of MS Dynamics and Pega. After successful implementation of MVP (fully in operation after 6 months), the project continued with further digitalization of the entire process.Second area is enhancing internal, reatail front-end ("George") with trading capabilities and offering for retail clients. Project is now in implementation phase.In parallel, took over Chapter Lead role for Business Analysis. Aim is to further improve training offer for BA's, building career path and BA community. The existing development program was extended with Product Design and Management modules.

A decade ago, my boss told me: "You are excellent Project Manager, but your presentations are boring. Board members almost fall asleep during the last steering. You must do something about it."Sure, but what? You can go to seminars and read books about presentations, but nothing beats practice. But where can you practice speeches? You can't waste your bosses time for a practice. So, I answered a "call for papers" for one conference and got invited to speak. It was disaster - I was nervous and despite extensive preparation, still very boring. This made me a bit pissed, but also motivated. If kids can deliver TED talk, why can't I? So, I continued with my speeches, learning on the run and after one year and a few delivered speeches - one of them was voted 2nd best overall by conference participants. Since then I am commonly invited to hold speeches and keynotes and also chair conferences. By now I delivered more than 80 speeches and the last 40 in the row were among top 3 by participant's evaluations. Speeches covered areas of: Digitalization, Digital Strategy, PSD2, Outsourcing, Cooperation with FinTech and InsureTech companies, Transformation of Corporate Culture, Blockchain, Project Management / Agile Project management, Shared Service Centers, Process Automatisation and RPA, Presentation Skills and Gamification.Recent Speeches- Global Back Office & Operational Efficiency (online)- Speaker and workshop leader: Customer Experience Summit (Vienna/online)- Back Office excellence Summit & Digital Transformation Summit (Vienna/online)- Chairmen & Speaker: 5th Global Back office and Operational Excellence Summit (Amsterdam/online)- OPEX in Financial Services Summit (Berlin/online)- Smart Payments forum (Barcelona/online)

After Group Corporate department exceeded 38 employees, it was transformed into separate Division. Matrix organisation got formalized. Chapters became departments that ensure expertise in the areas of: Business and IT Consultancy, Project Management, Project Steering, Process Improvement, Budgeting, IT Architecture, Integration, Development and Solutions Management. (IT) Product teams followed Agile "self organizing" setup.Major deliverables: 1) Account Management structure - ensuring proper Customer Interaction and strong Client Relationship.2) Digital Strategy for (Large) Corporate Payment channels (Electronic Payments), covering Digital Transformation of processes and products and using new mobile and web technologies. 3) Payment Channels Strategy - consolidating Architecture of business critical environments to decrease redundancy, increase reliability and ensure Cost Reduction in Operational Activities.4) Four persons I personally hired in the last 5 years were promoted to line managers (outside my division) and three of them received annual achievement award.Buzzwords [related to responsibilities, skills needed, activities performed and tools used]: Bid Pricing, Business Acumen, Business Analysis, Business Consultancy, Business Correspondence, Business-to-Business (B2B), Corporate Development, Customer Service, Diversity, Information Systems, Integration Planning, Intercultural Awareness, Intercultural Skills, Intercultural Teams, IT Management, Leadership, Management, Multi-Cultural Teams, Organization Skills, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Office, Project Plans, Project Planning, Project Work, Recruiting, Resource Management, Sales Operations, Sales Process, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Multi-Cultural Skills, Supervisory Skills, SWIFT, Technological Innovation, Team Leadership Skills, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, Vendor Management, Written Communication.

After major reorganization and establishing Erste Group IT (spin-off from Erste Group Bank and sIT Solutions), "Org/IT Group Corporate" department had to be built from the scratch by bringing together Lending, Transaction Banking, Project Management and Solution Management teams. Department covered "Orga" functions (Business Consulting, IT Consulting, Budget Planning, IT Architecture, Project Management) and IT Delivery and Operations for Group Corporate business line. Team delivered projects in CRM, Digital, Payments, Lending and Transaction Banking area. Major delivery during this period was implementation of new lending system (LoanIQ) for Holding.Due to organisational constraints (no formal teams below department level), team was organised experimentally in Agile-like matrix with "horizontal" Chapters covering specific capabilities (Business Analysis, Project Management, Solution Management) and "vertical" Product teams covering development and maintenance of systems under management.In initial setup Department had 15 employees. When it grew to 38 employees, it was transformed into own Division.Project Managers in Department were trained and supported to deliver projects combining Waterfall and Agile Methodologies which were adapted to the needs and specifics of each individual project. Buzzwords [responsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Bid Pricing, Business Acumen, Business Consultancy, Business Correspondence, Channel Strategy, Integration Planning, Intercultural Awareness, Intercultural Skills, Intercultural Teams, Leadership, Management, Multi-Cultural Skills, Multi-Cultural Teams, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Office, Project Plans, Project Work, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Recruiting, Resource Management, Supervisory Skills, Technological Innovation, Team Leadership Skills, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, Written Communication.

After 5 years of uphill battles (with line management, among others) to deliver projects in Erste Group, I got a chance to help other Project Managers deliver their projects.Department was formed after reorganization in which Project Managers, together with Project Portfolio supporting functions were moved into a single department. I got a chance to hire 3 excellent Project Managers who together with the rest of the team, helped further improve PM Know-how and projects delivery within Group Corporates and Real Estate (GCR) area. As a result, we changed client's focus from "let's utilize budget", to "let's focus on what matters"; decreased number of projects by 60%, but increased delivery quality. The Team formed the base of future Corporate Division.In addition, department covered "cross functions" (including Project Portfolio Management, Financial Management, IT Architecture and Enterprise Architecture). Achievements: setup of Financial Management and Budgeting processes, Project Governance model and Budget Governance model.Buzzwords [terms related to responsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Bid Pricing, Channel Strategy, Integration Planning, Intercultural Awareness, Intercultural Skills, Intercultural Teams, Multi-Cultural Teams, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Office, Project Plans, Project Work, Recruiting, Resource Management, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Supervisory Skills, Technological Innovation, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, Written Communication.

Major projects delivered:1) Erste Reload: Inception and Definition phase of Core Banking and DWH transformation in Erste Bank Hungary.2) CB SUNrise: Setup of strategic partnership with external (core banking) solution supplier and pilot development of the new solution.Due to nature of work and number of involved companies, all project teams were Multi-Cultural and often dislocated which required Multi-Cultural Team Leadership skills. Sizes of team were between 15 (in smaller feasibilities) and 290.Projects were delivered combining Waterfall and Agile Methodologies which were addopted to the needs and specifics of each individual project. In parallel to full time job, finished General Management Program (Business Administration) and internal Expert Project Management Program with PMP Certificate (comparable to PRINCE2 Practitioner and IPMA Level B).Buzzwords [terms related to resonsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Agile, Bid Pricing, Channel Strategy, Flexible Schedule, Integration Planning, Intercultural Awareness, Intercultural Skills, Intercultural Teams, Multi-Cultural Teams, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Leadership in an international environment, Project Office, Project Planning, Project Plans, Project Work, Resource Management, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Supervisory Skills, Technological Innovation, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, Written Communication.

Managing (Multi-Cultural) Team of 12 experts in Core Banking, Business Consulting and process management areas.Delivered Core Banking strategy for four Banks running the same Core system which lead to decision for building strategic partnership with solution provider.

Most important projects delivered:1) Core Banking Competence Center (CBCC) setup in Slovenská sporiteľňa (SK): over €1 million savings in first year of operation.2) Target Cooperation Model definition: defined target cross-entity processes in Change-the-Bank area.3) Project management framework - established process for governing Group projects, job descriptions for Project Managers and PM policy.

Project and Process management in technical area of local company as well as design of service processes on the Group level. Delivered projects:1) Definition and implementation of Group Change Management process for shared services (E-commerce, Web and Mobie portal, Ticketing system).2) Definition and implementation of process and tool support for Group Demand Management process for shared services.Buzzwords [terms related to resonsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Bid Pricing, Channel Strategy, Customer Service, High-Tech industry, Incident Management, Integration Planning, Multi-Cultural Teams, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Office, Project Plans, Project Work, Sales & Marketing, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Supervisory Skills, Technological Innovation, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, Written Communication.

Coordination of Group projects: Hosting of mobile portal (used by three entities) and implementation of the Group backbone.Delivered projects:1) Technical part of Due Dilligence in Bulgarian mobile operator, bought in 2005.2) Competence Centers Strategy for hosting systems environment (including Data Center and Service Operations Center).3) Implementation of ITSM strategy on the Group level.Due to nature of work and company structure, all activities and projects were done by Multi-Cultural Teams.Buzzwords [terms related to resonsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Algorithm Development, Bid Pricing, Business Strategy, Channel Strategy, High-Tech industry, Incident Management, Integration Planning, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Multi-Cultural Teams, Networking, People Management, Problem Solving, Programme Office, Program Office, Project Office, Project Plans, Project Work, Service Transformation, Stakeholder Management, Supervisory Skills, Technological Innovation, Technology Management, Time Management, Written Communication.

Solution Development / Application Development achievements (solutions designed and developed):- one of the first services integrating internet and mobile telephony on the European market (sending SMS via web, checking e-mail in mobile phone; webmail via wap)- several E-commerce and m-commerce applications (Electronic Payments; filling pre-paid account via Handy or Web; mobile shop)- company portal (including E-commerce features and CMS - Content Management System). Solution Management - Set monitoring and IT Operations processes for web and mobile applications covering Incident Management (Troubleshooting), Problem Management and Continuous Improvement of Service Quality, this increasing Reliability, Customer Satisfaction and Cost Reduction.Development was done using combination of: Perl, PHP, SQL & PL/SQL, HTML & DHTML, CSS, JavaScript and Java; operating systems were UNIX and Windows NT and Oracle and MySQL DB's.Buzzwords [terms related to resonsibilities, skills needed and activities performed]: Algorithm Development, API, Channel Strategy, Customer Service, Flexible Schedule, High-Tech industry, Incident Management, Integration Planning, Interfaces, Networking, Problem Solving, Project Plans, Project Work, Sales & Marketing, Service Transformation, Technological Innovation, Technology Management, Telecommuting, Time Management, User Experience UX), Written Communication.

Webmaster: 1) Solution Development / Application Development - Designed and developed company web-site and the first set of web applications (back-end and front-end: web-mail, forum, web shop). Development was done using combination of Perl, SQL, HTML/DHTML, CSS and Java; operating systems were UNIX and Windows NT and Oracle and MySQL DB's.2) Solution Management - Responsible for maintenance of developd systems.

Application Development - Developed monitoring applications for FPGA chips (using C++), for a client in Semiconductor Industry.

Trainer for Windows OS, MS Office applications (Word, Excel and Access) and basics of Web page design (HTML, JS, CSS). Classes were held for adults and primary school children.

Coaching U12 ice hockey team.

Implementation and setup of LAN's for small and medium enterprises.

Won Croatian champions title four times, played for Croatian national team during WC qualifications and played on one World Championship. Career stopped due to chronic illness.

Site acquisition for advertising billboards: finding site, negotiating and signing the contract, collecting documentation and official building approval.