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Varun Wadhawan - Business analyst

[email protected]

Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Relocation: YES

Visa: Green card

PROFILE SUMMARY: Over 8+ years of experience as a Business Analyst in the IT industry, specializing in business gathering, reporting, documentation, process mapping, scheduling, planning, and data analysis. Proficient in documenting business processes, including Business Requirements Documents (BRD), Use Case Specifications, Functional Specification Documents (FSD), Detailed Design Specifications (DDS), and User Interface Specifications (UIS). Extensive knowledge in creating As-Is/To-Be processes and performing gap analysis, quality assurance, and documenting enhancements to meet end-user requirements. Skilled in conducting Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions to derive functional and non- functional requirements. Expertise in gathering and translating business requirements into software plans, applications, and specifications. Experience in business analysis and impact analysis to assess the implementation of third-party controls. Outstanding documentation skills and knowledge to create Traceability Matrices, BRDs, and Functional Requirements Documents (FRD). Extensive experience with development methodologies including Waterfall, SDLC, Rational Unified Process (RUP), Agile (Scrum), and Kanban. Strong understanding of Time Management, Budget Management, Resource Management, Risk Management, and Change Management practices. Led and managed requirements through a Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM). Assisted Project Managers with SOP, RFP, planning, and budgeting activities. Experience in sprint planning, sprint review, and sprint retrospective within Agile frameworks. Capable of understanding and implementing Scrum and other technology frameworks. Strong understanding of all phases of SDLC and Software Testing Lifecycle (STLC), including requirements gathering, analysis, design, release, version control, and testing. Experience in testing backend applications, data validation, and database maintenance with MS-SQL Server and MS Access. Conducted User Acceptance Testing (UAT), GAP analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and ROI analysis. Experience reviewing and executing Test Plans and Test Cases using Test Director. Worked closely with software quality analysts and developers, gaining insight into test plans and test cases. Proficient in analyzing data, validating results, mapping, and maintaining databases. Hands-on design and implementation of AI, machine learning (ML) algorithms using Python and R. Conducted process modeling using Unified Modeling Language (UML), including use case, sequence, activity diagrams, and mockups. Proficient in Salesforce (service and health clouds) and data analysis tools, including MS Excel (graphs, pivot tables, VLOOKUP), Visio, and MS Project. Extensive experience in E-Commerce, Credit Card Application Processes, Electronic Payment Processing, Stocks, Investment Banking, Inventory Management, Accounting, and Mortgage Industry. Knowledge of telecommunication, retail, and healthcare industry, as well as understanding of point of sale and epic. Hands-on experience in the Education, Insurance, and Finance domains. Skilled in tools like Test Director, PowerPoint presentations, MS Visio, and MS Excel for creating diagrams, reports, and models. Knowledgeable in Agile Scrum methodologies, capable of performing roles such as Scrum Master, writing user stories, and analyzing Iteration Burn Down charts. Skilled communicator, able to relate and liaise with multifunctional teams, including business owners, stakeholders, managers, architects, developers, and testers. Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to build and strengthen relationships across the organization. Experience working closely with business users, SMEs, offshore teams, and senior management. Ability to facilitate workshops, interpret business needs, and communicate effectively with top stakeholders in the organization. Self-starter with a willingness to adapt and work independently or in a team environment. Enthusiastic, professional, and a strong believer in teamwork. Strong judgment and analytical skills, capable of making informed decisions and solving problems. Skilled in working with geographically scattered teams and coordinating effectively. EDUCATION: Bachelor of Commerce - Lucknow University - India High School St Teresa s Day School & College Business Analyst Certificate- Northeastern Illinois University- Chicago, IL SKILLS: Certified Business Analyst Project Management tool Jira & Confluence, SharePoint MS Office (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint) Software Project Knowledge Relationship Building & leadership. RUP, UML, Agile, Waterfall Rational SoDA, Rational Requisite Pro Rational Suite, Test Director, HP ALM Excel (spreadsheets), MS Access, RDBMS, SQL, DB2 Microsoft Visio, Rational Rose, Rational Software Architect Business Definition Requirements, Use Case Modeling, JAD Sessions, Requirement Gathering, Use Case Development, Solution Design, Process Flow Design, Prototyping, Data Analysis Rational ClearCase, JIRA WORK EXPERIENCE: Citizens Bank - Johnston, RI Sr. Business Analyst Jun 2023 Till Date Responsibilities: Analyzed requirements, developed workflow charts and diagrams, and assessed legacy systems for system specification documentation. Conducted JAD sessions, GAP analysis, and facilitated interviews with stakeholders, end users, and SMEs to understand critical business processes and gather requirements. Documented User Stories and created Business/Functional Requirements Documents (BRD), obtaining stakeholder approvals. Used Agile/Scrum methodologies to gather requirements, facilitate user story workshops, and support Agile ceremonies, including Daily Standups, Sprint Planning, and Retrospectives. Documented requirements traceability using tools like Requisite Pro to ensure comprehensive coverage in testing. Maintained system protocols by writing and updating specification documents, including Application Functional Design Documents (AFD/FRD). Created Data Mapping Documents and collaborated on transformation rules using SQL. Developed and documented use cases, sequence diagrams (using MS Visio), and test-case scenarios. Created and maintained Requirement Traceability Matrix, functional requirement documents, and use case specification documents. Documented regulatory compliance to ensure projects meet industry standards, especially for financial projects. Acted as a Scrum facilitator, supporting Agile project execution with Scrum and Kanban methodologies. Participated actively in Agile events, including Daily Standups, Biweekly Sprint Planning, and Retrospective Sessions. Organized project status meetings, provided updates to Senior Management, and managed project issues lists. Coordinated development of worksheets, dashboards, and stories, raising change requests for UAT transitions. Worked on SQL Server databases for data extraction, creating SQL queries for testing, reporting, and resolving data issues. Participated in source-to-target mapping for metrics reports and validated SQL queries. Designed SQL queries and scripts for QA testing and reporting, and developed SQL-based test plans to assist in System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Supported the budgeting and forecasting process by performing variance analysis, assisting with monthly and quarterly reports, and managing data consolidation for budget reporting. Coordinated User Acceptance Testing (UAT) tasks and developed UAT plans to ensure requirements are met. Created and executed SQL test scripts for data validation, assisting QA teams with test plans and issue resolutions. Reviewed test plans and scripts, ensuring all requirements were fully covered and tested. Performed data modeling, validation, and systematic testing to support quality assurance. Conducted budget analysis, monthly and quarterly variance analyses, and annual budget preparation. Coordinated with Accounting on budget and monthly accrual processes. Prepared budget versus actual reports, maintaining financial reports for accurate tracking. Supported dashboard design, development, and deployment in Asset Management reporting. Provided feedback on technical issues and collaborated with teams to resolve bugs. Managed the transition of completed dashboards to the UAT environment for further testing. Worked closely with technical teams to address bugs and technical issues during development. Assisted development and delivery teams throughout system implementation, providing feedback and support. Participated in functional design sessions, ensuring technical and business alignment. Ameriprise Minneapolis / MN Oct 2021 May 2023 Business Analyst Responsibilities: Communicated release-level business requirements to business owners and teams. Met business needs of delivering MVP (Minimum Viable Product) by establishing proper and accurate acceptance criteria. Elicited, extrapolated, and simplified business needs into User Stories through close collaboration with clients and stakeholders. Worked with stakeholders to elicit, analyze, communicate, and validate non-functional requirements related to business processes, policies, and information systems. Defined and documented business and non-functional requirements, describing goals, objectives, or needs of stakeholders. Captured current and future state processes and documented requirements to support them. Facilitated communication between business units and IT from initial requirements to final implementation to obtain consensus. Acted as a liaison between business staff and technical staff to articulate and communicate their needs, issues, and concerns. Conducted requirements walkthrough sessions and sent the requirements, logical, and physical designs for review and sign-off to SMEs and IT leads. Produced User Stories with Acceptance Criteria and Use Cases. Wrote Epics, User Stories with Acceptance Criteria, or User Stories with Use Cases using Jira and uploaded documents using Confluence. Created workflow diagrams, UML diagrams, process models, activity diagrams, and use cases for incorporating business process modeling & design changes. Documented and demonstrated information, led discussions on high-level business requirements, functional requirements, UI mock-ups, user test scripts, and process flows. Developed Business Cases in collaboration with Product Management. Created Business Requirement Documents (BRDs), Functional Requirement Documents, and Data element documents. Planned, supervised, and evaluated requirements throughout the Roadmap and Release Planning to ensure continuous delivery to development teams. Planned, coordinated, and monitored project levels for performance and activities to ensure project completion using Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in MS Project. Provided input to estimates for project management and change management activities through analysis of requirements effort, resources, and technology. Facilitated daily stand-ups and managed task board with user stories and board. Established, assisted, and maintained an uninterrupted feedback loop from the Customer to Product Manager, Product Owner, and Scrum team. Led Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions to capture and elicit requirements, prepared BRD and FRD, and obtained sign-off on final documents. Conducted structured walkthrough sessions with the project team and project sponsor to obtain approval on presented artifacts before sign-off. Conducted workflow, process diagram, and GAP analysis, as well as ROI analysis, to derive requirements for existing system enhancements. Conducted SWOT Analysis, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and ROI Analysis. Created workflow diagrams, UML diagrams, process models, and activity diagrams to document and improve business processes. Conducted workflow and process analysis to support business process modeling and design changes. Built codebase for a natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) framework. Fine-tuned, troubleshot, and comprehended application functionality from the user s perspective. Translated high-level business requirements into specifications for the IT organization and managed changes to these specifications. Utilized Visio to create Use Cases, training manuals, and conduct training sessions. Interacted with the technical team to resolve bugs and other technical issues. Ensured constant communication with various internal and external stakeholders by creating and maintaining storyboards. Facilitated communication between business units and IT to obtain consensus on requirements and implementation. Conducted JAD sessions, collaborated on requirements gathering, and ensured sign-offs from business owners and stakeholders. Amazon - Seattle, Washington Business Analyst Mar 2019 Sep 2021 Responsibilities: Conducted Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions with stakeholders, end-users, and SMEs to determine critical business processes and identify key functional requirements. Communicated with stakeholders to understand project scope, gathered and documented requirements. Interviewed SMEs to record detailed requirements, ensuring they were understood by both business and technical teams. Created user requirement specifications and converted them into functional requirements, business cases, and glossaries. Maintained requirements traceability to keep all teams updated with project progress. Gained exposure to retail business processes with knowledge of retail store/eCommerce operations, sales audit, inventory & accounting, and payment card processes. Responsible for gaining a good understanding of user needs and accurately representing them in well-documented software functional specifications. Worked with external BAs to develop portals into external company websites, enhance existing applications and processes, and retire obsolete processes. Communicated with business users and technical teams to build applications based on business requirements. Identified and defined actors and grouped them into UML Use-Case, Activity, and Sequence diagrams using MS Visio. Extensively prepared Business Requirements Documents (BRDs) and Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs) to finalize business requirements and provide deliverables. Created mock-ups and wireframes for GUI requirements during the requirements gathering process. Designed and developed use cases and business process models to a detailed level appropriate for technical analysis and system design. Documented, reviewed, and verified testing procedures for compliance with Interface Quality Assurance and Development standards. Communicated project status and details to the Retail Applications team and key stakeholders through weekly meetings, conference calls, and email. Ensured meetings remained on task and facilitated necessary decisions, guiding discussions towards desired outcomes. Planned and hosted various scrum meetings for sprint/release planning, demos, release planning meetings, and retrospectives. Conducted backlog refinement and prioritized the iteration and delivery of iterations with the Scrum team. Established interlocks with source systems and attended their scrum calls to follow the completion of user stories. Recommended important additions or changes to projects that resulted in cost savings and increased revenue for the company. Used Test Director to manage and track defects, prioritized defects with each build, and communicated them to appropriate teams. Worked with the QA team to create test plans and test scripts, participating in the development of test plans and test cases based on use cases and functional specifications. Assisted in generating test scenarios using Test Director and performed various tests such as GUI tests, regression tests, and load tests. Coordinated with the project team and testing team to revise project artifacts to reflect requirement changes. Held walkthroughs with developers and QA teams to communicate enhancement requests and address queries. Communicated with stakeholders to gather and document requirements, providing regular verbal and written status reports to IT management and the business community. Conducted and participated in brainstorming sessions to find solutions, identifying assumptions, constraints, risks, and issues. Designed and prepared weekly reports for Senior Project Managers, including status updates on projects, products, and clients. Worked with a team to design workflows, wireframes, and mockups for the entire process from product search to checkout, payment, and delivery. Worked with the technical team to implement the application and published the site online. Provided valuable suggestions to the business for enhancing the website and business model. BYJUS- Lucknow/India Jan 2017 Sept 2018 Business Analyst Responsibilities: Facilitated Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions and brainstorming meetings with stakeholders to clarify requirements. Conducted system analysis to enhance user interfaces, data quality, business processes, and reporting coverage. Gathered and documented business requirements, created Business Requirements Documents (BRDs) and Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs), and ensured traceability across the SDLC. Analyzed workflows and performed gap analysis to recommend process improvements. Collaborated with data modelers on data mapping and metadata for areas like Suspicious Activity Management and Customer Wealth Management. Created comprehensive documentation, including process flows, high-level business requirements, functional requirements, and UI mockups. Developed storyboards, workflow diagrams, UML diagrams, activity diagrams, and use cases for technical analysis and system design. Used tools like JIRA to document Epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and use cases, and maintained requirements traceability for project updates. Created visual aids like prototypes and mock-ups to enhance understanding among stakeholders and leadership. Coordinated between the technical team, support team, and business units to ensure business needs were met and timely solutions were delivered. Supported product managers by maintaining a continuous feedback loop with customers and providing tactical objectives to the Scrum team. Planned and facilitated scrum ceremonies, including sprint/release planning, retrospectives, backlog refinement, and weekly status meetings. Maintained sprint burndown/burn-up charts and managed sprint progress, ensuring impediments were addressed. Developed test plans and scripts, collaborated with the QA team to review test cases, and documented issues during testing phases. Conducted User Acceptance Testing (UAT), coordinated with stakeholders and QA teams, and used HP Quality Center for test management. Performed data profiling and validation through SQL queries using Teradata, supporting data cleansing and enrichment. Ensured incidents were tracked and resolved during testing, and recommended additional security measures to address risks. Functioned as the primary liaison between stakeholders, technical, and QA teams throughout the SDLC. Communicated regularly with business users, technical teams, Customer Service Representatives, and SMEs to ensure alignment on requirements and project progress. Provided weekly reports to senior project managers, including updates on project status, risks, and client feedback. Worked closely with client service teams to ensure timely identification and resolution of issues. Collaborated with compliance teams to ensure all developments were approved, and created programs to manage, protect, and ensure compliance. Documented dependencies, interrelationships among requirements, and assumptions to streamline project processes. Established processes for managing daily logbooks and tracking reference data changes, supporting compliance and governance initiatives. Recommended cost-saving and revenue-increasing project changes, along with additional security steps to address identified risks. Collaborated with the analytics team to establish processes for documenting reference data changes and managing file sources. Supported data governance efforts by documenting file sizes, types, processing schedules, and sources for tracking purposes. TATA AIG GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY-Lucknow/India- May 2015 -Dec 2016 Business Analyst Collaborated with stakeholders and clients to simplify business needs into user stories and establish acceptance criteria for the minimum viable product. Elicited and analyzed requirements from the business and created necessary deliverables. Conducted walkthrough meetings and presented approved requirements to the team for alignment. Facilitated Joint Application Development (JAD) sessions and partner refinement sessions to ensure clarity on requirements. Managed and stored data using computers, software, and databases to maintain data integrity. Responded to ad-hoc data inquiries from end users and data consumers. Implemented new data reports as requested by end users, aiding in data-driven decisions and management reports. Worked closely with product management to build business cases as needed. Planned, monitored, and analyzed requirements throughout the roadmap and release planning process. Utilized application lifecycle management tools to log, track, report, and maintain defects, changes, and issues, ensuring up-to-date recordings for production efficiency. Participated actively in Go-Live phases, ensuring smooth transitions to production. Created and executed SQL queries to assist in testing and data validation. Collaborated with QA and developers in meetings to discuss and resolve defects. Analyzed test results, recommended corrective actions, and participated in various testing strategies, including black-box and load testing. Performed User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and participated in writing test plans for improved testing coverage. Identified software defects and coordinated with clients for timely resolution, systematically testing application functionality. Developed programs to manage, protect, and ensure compliance with standards and regulations. Created use cases using Visio, prepared training manuals, and conducted training sessions to support end users and team members. Reviewed, assessed, and evaluated client requests for proposals to ensure alignment with project goals. Keywords: quality analyst artificial intelligence machine learning user interface active directory rlang information technology golang hewlett packard microsoft Illinois Minnesota Rhode Island