Summary
Overview
Work history
Education
Skills
Certification
Languages
References
Other Initiatives
Quote
Timeline
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Snizhana Chaikina

Snizhana Chaikina

London

Summary

Results-driven professional with 14 years of industry experience. Committed manager with exceptional leadership, organisational and communication skills able to lead distributed teams in highly uncertain situations like war in Ukraine, with no impact on delivery and team performance. Practical expertise in Agile methodologies, shaping digital transformation, managing Tribes and multiple Squads. Proven track record of building teams from scratch for successful product launch.

Overview

14
14
years of professional experience
2
2

Certifications

Work history

Software Delivery Manager

Thomas Cook
London, Greater London
01.2020 - Current
  • Defined teams structure required to relaunch Thomas Cook brand and successfully hired necessary resources in Ukraine within 2 months organising office space, licenses, etc
  • Planned and prioritised resources across technology teams to ensure company relaunch will occur by date planned (September 2019)
  • When war in Ukraine has started prepared business contingency plan and ensured Ukrainian cross-functional teams delivery and morale wasn't affected
  • Introduced and successfully implemented all required processes and procedures from scratch, embracing software best practices, including quality assurance, release management, to uplift speed and accuracy
  • Led digital department comprised of 30+ engineers across 5 locations (Ukraine, Poland, UK, Montenegro and Austria), managed team performance implementing OKRs, PDPs, training, risk assessments and performance evaluations
  • Defined and implemented new structure and ways of working using Agile methodologies, adapting model to company needs (SCRUM, Kanban) to increase team capabilities
  • Organised and planned pre-peak preparation activities to ensure platform is stable and is able to cope with predicted load
  • Effectively managed technology teams including task assignment, workload distribution, and staffing to meet delivery timeframes

Agile Coach/Agile Practice Mentor

Thomas Cook
Kyiv, Ukraine
02.2019 - 12.2019
  • Defined and implemented new structure and ways of working for 100+ nearshore engineers based on Spotify Tribe model to merge IT development structure and digital ones in order to improve efficiency, decrease duplication and reduce costs
  • Led multiple Squads and developed continuous improvement environment, encouraging teams to inspect and adapt their practices to increase effectiveness
  • Contributed into development of digital transformation in the company
  • Set up and optimised Agile working practices to increase cross-functional teams performance and decrease time to market
  • Changed culture by breaking silos between Developers, QA and DevOps (putting in place shared goals and responsibilities), providing teams with clear ownership and responsibilities, and putting customers and values delivered at the heart of development practices
  • Acted as a guide on enabling agile metrics to enable teams and the organisation to drive better outcomes, with an emphasis on end-to-end flow

Senior Scrum Master

Thomas Cook
Kyiv, Ukraine
10.2017 - 01.2019
  • Set standards for Agile working environments across 12 cross-functional teams, through best practices and new perspectives, fostering healthy team dynamics and routines
  • Owned all planning-related work within teams, ensuring intentional and effective planning resulting in impactful and realistic plans
  • Focused on guiding and coaching, dealing with impediments, fostering proper communication, and whatever else needed to create high-performing and self-organising teams
  • Built high performing teams by recruiting and developing employees to work optimally together and cooperate in large organisation

Agile Project Manager/ Scrum Master

Matrix42
Kyiv, Ukraine
03.2017 - 10.2017
  • Managed 3 cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality solutions within agreed timescales
  • Led daily stand-up, project planning and sprint reviews to enable progress evaluation

Co-Owner

Quick2Outsource
Kyiv, Ukraine
12.2013 - 02.2017
  • Established and successfully managed software outsourcing business together with partner based on outsource and outstaff model, demonstrating exceptional entrepreneurial, communication and negotiation skills
  • Managed day-to-day office functioning, ensuring smooth operation for 20+ full time employees and contractors
  • Proactively identified opportunities for new projects at existing and new clients through solid client relationship management and exceptional delivery performance

Quality Assurance Lead

Luxoft: BMW client
Odessa, Ukraine
08.2012 - 11.2013
  • Managed testing process throughout software development life cycle (SDLC), from requirements gathering to deployment, resulting in 20% reduction in defect rates
  • Mentored junior testers to establish high-performing quality assurance teams
  • Reviewed team performance and recognised training requirements to upskill quality assurance staff

QA Engineer

Exigen Services: AIG client
Odessa, Ukraine
01.2012 - 07.2012
  • Established and enforced standards for quality across cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment with agreed Definition of Ready and Definition of Done standards from start to production
  • Coordinated testing efforts, achieving 95% on-time delivery rate for project releases

Quality Assurance Engineer

Lightcraft
Odessa, Ukraine
06.2010 - 12.2011
  • Developed formalised quality assurance process and used continuous improvement techniques to refine processes.
  • Helped team implement and enforce optimum best practices in quality assurance.

Education

Bachelor's degree - Management of Organisation

Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics
Kyiv (Ukraine)
1995/1995 - 2000/2000

IT Leader - Management

Stratoplan Management School
Kyiv, Ukraine
09/2018 - 08/2019

Skills

  • Leadership
  • Delivery Management
  • Team Management
  • Agile Methodologies
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Communication skills
  • ICAgile Certified Professional in Delivery Management
  • Certified ScrumMaster® by Scrum Alliance

Certification

  • ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Project and Delivery Management - Track: Delivery Management (2018)
  • Certified ScrumMaster® - SCRUM Alliance (2017)

Languages

English
Fluent
Ukrainian
Native
Russian
Native

References

References available upon request.

Other Initiatives

  • Organise and lead online monthly leadership sessions for IT professionals to help them resolve various challenges occurring during their daily work as managers
  • Discussing with the UK authorities opportunity to initiate leadership development program for children and youth because by investing in leadership development, we create a pipeline of capable leaders who can drive positive change and lead UK toward greatness.

Quote

Opportunities Don't happen.You create them.
Chris Grosser

Timeline

Software Delivery Manager

Thomas Cook
01.2020 - Current

Agile Coach/Agile Practice Mentor

Thomas Cook
02.2019 - 12.2019

Senior Scrum Master

Thomas Cook
10.2017 - 01.2019

Agile Project Manager/ Scrum Master

Matrix42
03.2017 - 10.2017

Co-Owner

Quick2Outsource
12.2013 - 02.2017

Quality Assurance Lead

Luxoft: BMW client
08.2012 - 11.2013

QA Engineer

Exigen Services: AIG client
01.2012 - 07.2012

Quality Assurance Engineer

Lightcraft
06.2010 - 12.2011

Bachelor's degree - Management of Organisation

Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics
1995/1995 - 2000/2000

IT Leader - Management

Stratoplan Management School
09/2018 - 08/2019

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Snizhana Chaikina