Paul Esson Email & Phone Number

London, United Kingdom

Principle Consultant, Business Analyst and Project Manager of Business Flow Monitoring projects within the banking and retail sectors currently working on payments, accounting and anti-financial crime (regulatory) projects at Deutsche Bank, also major E2E monitoring initiatives at H&M.

Sky Central, Osterley

Responsible for ongoing product development of the MySky customer application (iOS/Android) as well as the migration of existing responsive content to feature rich native pages.Managing the relationship between stakeholders and technology with regard to digital first self-service mobile application initiatives.Ensuring full utilisation of relevant mobile functions and features (native speed & navigation, push notifications, camera, QR code features, GPS, ease of deployment, seamless data access, etc.) as well as promoting a mobile first approach to usability within teams.

London, United Kingdom

As the technology manager in this small SME performed multiple roles and personally responsible for all business analysis, design and delivery of all technology and business process improvement projects & products, as well as business continuity of all IT equipment and associated infrastructure including systems and software; management of the e-commerce hybris website development team.• IT Strategy – Own and align technology with the business strategy and vision; Develop the technology platform & roadmap; Management of required IT skills to support the vision.• IT Operations – Management of security access and integrity; Administration of all business tools & infrastructure; Support business reporting requirements.• Project Governance – Management of the PMO; Manage the quality of project artifacts; Implementation of agile methods; Shaping and elaboration of solution requirements; Scoping/estimating complexity, timescales and budgets; Modelling ‘as is’/‘to be’ processes and driving efficiency; Arbitration between business and IT stakeholders.• Software delivery – Management of software delivery; Ensuring testing of product functions and features to a very high standard with minimum user exposure to software defects or usability issues; Management of JIRA.• Change management – Ownership of the change management processes, feasibility and risk assessment; manage the relationship between the wider business teams, IT and 3rd party developers.• Communication – Manage the engagement of business stakeholders, keeping abreast of key responsibilities, milestones, events and decisions.• Product Manager – of the replacement WINE+ wine brokerage system for internal Front/Back office users.• Product Manager – of the Dynamics CRM customer & supplier management system.• Office Management – of the relocation and consolidation of all IT services to Centennium House.• Business Continuity – >99.9% continuity through active management of voice, data and cloud services.

London, United Kingdom

Responsible for agile development and process improvement covering the full customer journey interactions strategy from self-service order processing and account administration through to order fulfillment and portfolio management. Working closely with sales, customer service, back office and finance teams to deliver a complete overhaul of both internal and customer facing systems including Dynamics CRM, WINE+ Brokerage System and the new hybris-based website (Tools & Techniques: Product Management, Stakeholder Workshops, Process Analysis, FreeMind, Axure, Visio, Balsamiq, Scrum, JIRA).Achievements included:• Development of the business architecture, delivery plan and design (requirements & wireframes) for the replacement WINE+ Front/Back office system for managing sales and order processing: Buying wine, selling wine, storage & portfolio management.• Design (wireframes & requirements) and delivery of a number of tactical product enhancements to the existing WineDesk systems including Assisted Payment Processing, Pre-Authentication, Address Book Management and Condition Report Processing.• Working closely with the Data Architect, re-engineering both business and data models to deliver a stock-card tracking model to work across both bonded and duty paid wines across international borders and multiple-warehouse locations.• Enterprise integration and service layer mapping of multiple ‘best-of-breed’ systems including hybris (ecommerce & self-service), WordPress (Blogs) and Microsoft Dynamics (customer & supplier CRM).• Consolidation and (MoSCoW) prioritisation of stakeholder requirements (Epics, User Stories and Delivery Points) for the replacement hybris website for customer self-service order enquiry and profile/portfolio management functionality.• UX design through prototyping, wireframes and usability workshops for front office users and self-service processing including customer interactions, order/payment enquiry processing and preference management.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Of The Congo

Responsible for the delivery of customer experience (acquisition and churn) and NPS analysis, business process re-engineering within key contact centre and billing touch points, plus implementation of replacement call-centre, loyalty and CRM systems & initiatives (Tools & Techniques: Stakeholder & Vendor Management, Customer/User Workshops & Surveys, NPS Management, Google Analytics, Scrum, Axure RP, JIRA).Achievements included:• Performed customer satisfaction analysis and benchmarking, workshops, call centre and face2face interviews, plus implemented standard monthly collation processes for the new ‘Customer Report’.• Drafted requirements and systems change specifications for NPS analysis ‘quick wins’ including SIM swap BPR.• Analysis of 'interconnect' call data to determine high value competitor customer leads for the corporate team, at the same time implementing the open-source Sugar CRM for sales automation and account management.• ExCo (stakeholders) management, Sign-off proposals and associated delivery plans.• Consolidation and (MoSCoW) prioritisation of stakeholder requirements for the call-centre replacement solution to include PABX, IVR,CMS, CRM Campaigns interface, CQM, Workforce Management, SMS, Chat, Social Media and Email channel integration• Production of the ITT (functional/non-functional requirements, user stories and QA acceptance criteria) and management of the 3rd party vendors during the two round selection process workshops and shortlist presentations (Genesys v Collab)• Analysis to define the data bundle recommendations for all 5 million non-data and out-of-bundle data usage prepay customers, draft proposal for the 'Anniversary Loyalty Program' based on annual (monthly average) spend with sub-categories for data spend, proposal for implementation of the iNSight / 'Imagine' loyalty program for both corporate accounts and individual MSISDNs.• Customer Champion role definition, local resource training/mentoring and handover.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Responsible for the Product Management and SSMART (Search, Social Media, Alliances, Return Traffic) Marketing functions during the launch of Monster South Africa. Responsible for all user experience product configuration and content management, CRM activities, Value Proposition, B2C interactions strategy and Launch Partner Program (Tools & Techniques: JIRA & Selenium, Google Analytics, Visio/UML Use Case & Activity Diagrams, SSMART Marketing).Achievements included:• Competitor Analysis and management of customer feedback, surveys and associated initiatives.• Social Media channels implementation and content strategy, CRM reporting and associated Sales & Marketing correspondence.• Website localization and management of all subject matter expert content, online customer experience analysis, usability workshops, interviews and surveys.• B2C & B2B Websites functionality and features product backlog management, quality assurance testing, defect tracking, reporting and test case management.• Website and Mobile channel market analysis and product strategy for Africa plus management of product enhancements into the global development team.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Multi-tasking role as Head of Analyst & Development as well as Architecture & Infrastructure Design and Support functions, responsible for new and existing digital products delivery, information architecture, user experience guidelines, product backlogs and quality assurance testing (Tools & Techniques: Agile/Scrum, JIRA/Greenhopper, Selenium, UML, Balsamiq, Axure RP, Sphinx, ClickHeat, Google Analytics/Optimizer).Achievements included:• Aligned the delivery team to products and implemented Scrum methods to support development of .NET and open-source products.• Implementation of customer experience ‘usability’ workshops, A/B testing, reviews and customer survey methods to complement and support the features backlog and associated stakeholder release prioritisation.• Cleared the existing ‘.net’ product backlog to free-up developers for ‘Python School’ open-source training.• Reverse engineered the existing website into use case, activity and object diagrams thereby minimising information architecture changes and deploying the new www.careerjunction.co.za with minimal migration risk.• Managed delivery of the Standard Application Codebase to facilitate use of the new SOA modules across new product object models, whilst at the same time reviewing UX/CX feedback to add features and common patterns to enhance and improve usability.• Delivered www.autojunction.co.za, www.propertyjunction.co.za and the social wrapper www.junction.co.za to the marketplace.• Delivery a single (cross-channel) Content Management System for all new products and integrated the existing content management requirements for the website www.careerjunction.co.za, supporting a single content database across products.• Delivery of the Sphinx search server strategy and services to facilitate intelligent search across multiple datasets, plus design and configuration of search indexes with fast ‘fuzzy’ results across candidate CVs, jobs, autos and property websites.

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Responsible for project delivery of digital channels, the replacement www.pamgolding.co.za website wireframes, online customer experience and processes, and stakeholder management through 3rd party ITT (Tools & Techniques: SDLC/Prince2, Visio/UML, Axure RP prototyping, Joomla/PHP, ITT & Spec artefacts, Business Process Re-engineering).Achievements included:• Website Replacement Project – took the high-level concepts and delivered finalised data requirements, UX guidelines and design specifications in readiness for the tender process. In addition, tabled an alternative to the proposed ‘big bang’ delivery, based on SCRUM rapid development cycles allowing for a more ‘flexible’ approach towards the requirements backlog.• Took the signed-off designs for the new (Joomla) CMS based Intranet, completed the requirements analysis, associated catalogue and rules matrix project artefacts. Also ran gap analysis against the existing Intranet and identified a number of missed features and UX ‘fold’ concerns.• Project managed and documented the requirements for the online (Marketing) collateral ordering system. Formalised the requirements and identified project blockers, as well as porting the solution into the company intranet and managing the relationship with the 3rd party vendor.

London, United Kingdom

Manager and Lead Analyst within the Customer Group (Marketing, Sales, CS Operations) responsible for the analysis team (12 BAs) and associated website and contact centre initiatives, as well as conducting NPS analysis, workshops and face2face interviews (Tools & Techniques: Agile/Crystal, Prince2/4Ds, Visio/ArgoUML, Business Process Re-engineering, spec artefacts, Axure RP prototyping).Achievements included:• Management of a diverse group of stakeholder, their requirements and KPIs though to strategic initiates delivery onto the program backlog.• Identified key process improvements to maximise contact centre sales acquisition performance. Identified a number of key issues and ‘red flag’ point, translated these into change requests including new graphical/customer data driven call scripts and ‘needs assessment’ tools resulting in a 1% increase in conversion ratio (GBP34,000,000/month).• Defined and deployed changes to the contact centre sales processes for residential apartments to achieve the same customer experience as home owners. Changes included forwarding all calls to direct sales advisers to take customers through a predefined needs assessment Q&A, identify installation requirements and determine the best product fit.• Analysis and design of 'recommendation' module for new prospect acquisitions based on various criteria including data held within the 'Olive' marketing DB as well as customer location, family profile, likes and usage requirements. Performed analysis for a project to offer upsell 'next best' recommendations to be offered at the end of successful inbound customer service calls.• Corporate consultant to project ‘Carlsberg’, implementing the Sky ‘Customer Charter’. Identified and co-interviewed relevant subject matter experts across functions, and co-hosted a number of customer closeness sessions to identify the ‘burning platform’ and develop the fourteen point charter and drill-down CRM strategy for presentation to the exec committee.

London, United Kingdom

Responsible for stakeholder management and requirements analysis artefacts on projects within the corporate and new media business functions, analysis and design of systems solutions and collation of requirements for relevant replacement system tenders and core support function HR, Finance and Security system projects (Tools & Techniques: Prince2/4Ds, Visio/UML, Business Process Re-engineering, SAP HR, Crystal Reports, ITT & Spec artefacts).Achievements included:• Implementation of SAP HR updates and improvements• Project managed and designed a replacement ‘Sky Interactive’ content monitoring system, significantly reducing downtime and as a consequence increased interactive sales revenue.• Documented the requirements and performed a feasibility study for the consolidation of HID proximity card functions across campus (physical security, cashless canteen, employee bus, vending machines and photocopiers, etc.).• Documented the requirements and chaired the tender process to select a new corporate recruitment solution across all sites and integrating with SAP HR & Payroll. On selection of the product worked closely with HR to implement process changes and, as a consequence, achieved increased recruitment through the company website as well as a reduction in agency fees.

London, United Kingdom

Contract client facing stakeholder management role within this boutique consultancy, tasked with design and delivery of a thin-client contact centre solution, membership and events management system for Business Links across the UK (Tools & Techniques: Stakeholder Workshops, Agile/DSDM, Visio/UML, Business Process Re-engineering, Prototyping).Achievement included development and delivery of acquisition, membership and loyalty modules, plus integration with 'best of breed' document and knowledge management system modules. This involved management of multiple stakeholders and 3rd party service providers, as well as delivery of the functional specifications and database models for client identification and enquiry management components, document management system integration, Events and Seminars interaction modules, whilst at the same time managing the software development team and supporting user acceptance testing.After successful delivery was tasked with ‘Phase 2’ post implementation requirements analysis which included enhancements to the order processing and supplier chain management modules, the training brokerage system and integration with CRM outbound sales automation.

London, United Kingdom

Responsible (through management of 3rd party vendors) for delivery of enhancements to contact centre, loyalty program, digital channel and CRM systems, SAP Financials debt and commission management implementation, customer touch point and business user process improvement initiatives (Tools & Techniques: Prince2, Visio/UML, Dreamweaver, Business Process Re-engineering, Business Case & Specification artefacts).Achievements included:• Performed the analysis to consolidate all disparate/brand loyalty programmes into a single central Forte loyalty programme with rewards based on both guest spend and stay nights (to cater for single night 5 star and multiple night Travelodge loyalty), plus recommended the launch of a Forte credit card for double points and to acquire addition customer spend information.• Review of worldwide commission payment processes and development of the business case to centralise the payment function for all hotels. Design and delivery of the reconciliation interface and establishment of a new team to manage and consolidate the multi-currency payments, resulting in a streamlined payment process and preferred status with many agencies and clients.• Analysis and design of the guest stay data migration project, creating ‘one view of the customer’ by consolidating guest stay folios within the central booking system. This enabled Forte Hotels and Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts to deliver a consistent customer experience worldwide and to create a single loyalty program across hotel chains.• Requirements gathering for all central system Y2K date and dual invoicing (GBP/EUR) change requirements within central systems including reservation, billing and hotel (POS) systems, as well as development of the currency exchange rate interfaces.

Farnborough, United Kingdom

Management of the web development team deliverables as well as object modelling/coding, architecture design and deployment of multiple B2B travel management portals & central booking systems. Responsible for all PC server and web development deliverables, management of the collaboration with external users and 3rd parties to develop the eBusiness strategy, and assisting corporate sales with client contract negotiations and travel spend tracking (Tools & Techniques: Prince2/DSDM, Rational Rose/UML, MoSCoW, object modelling, MS Visual Studio, C/C++ & VB Frameworks, SourceSafe VCS, Crystal Reports, GDS: Galileo, Amadeus, Apollo, etc.).Achievements included:• Delivery of the central reservation processing system, Galileo GDS interface and multi-channel fax confirmation service.• Implementation of the corporate data warehouse, travel expense and account reporting suite.• Delivery of the British Airways electronic ticketing interface and faxed itinerary solutions.• Collaboration and management of various 3rd party stakeholders and vendors.

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Analysis, design and deployment of industrial process control systems including the delivery of control solutions for twin-axis winding machines, vacuum metalizers and various paper making and printing press control systems (Tech: Microcontroller design, object modelling, SQLServer, C/C++, PLM & Assembler development, PLC Control Systems).

Higher National Certificate, Electrical And Electronics Engineering, Distinction

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Mathematice & Computer Science