Grant is available for hire
Hire GrantGrant Schuleman
Verified Expert in Project Management
Project Manager
Location
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Toptal Member Since
March 24, 2021
Grant is a technical project manager with a degree in computer science. He has in-depth expertise in software development, systems architecture, infrastructure, and networks and brings this knowledge to his IT-project management roles. Grant managed the implementation of an equities-trading platform for the largest stock exchange in Africa. He is proficient in using Waterfall, Scrum, and Kanban methodologies.
Project ManagementIT Project ManagementSoftware Project ManagementSoftware DevelopmentTechnical Project ManagementProcess Improvement Project ManagementProject Management Professional (PMP)Web App DevelopmentProgram ManagementScrum MasterWeb DesignProject Management Office (PMO)Scrum CoachingSoftwareWaterfall Delivery
Project Highlights
Ghana Android Point-of-sale (POS) Rollout
I managed the software development, testing, and rollout of an Android biometrically-enabled point-of-sale device for a client in Ghana.
Integrated Trading and Clearing Program
Delivered ten sub-projects as part of this multi-year systems replacement program.
Expertise
Work Experience
Senior Project Manager
2022 - PRESENT
SecuritEase
- Delivered a new trading, clearing, and settlement solution for clients to invest in retirement annuities.
- Implemented substantial system enhancements to cater for operational and systemic improvements to the managed funds asset class's trading, clearing, and settlement functions.
- Created project management processes and tools that are used across the organization to ensure a consistent and predictable approach to project delivery is used for all licensee projects.
Agile Project Manager
2021 - PRESENT
Marketplace Gold/Silver
- Joined a team to deliver an eCommerce marketplace trading platform for precious metals. Duties included product visioning, business analysis, systems design, story writing, prioritization, backlog grooming, and MVP delivery.
- Participated in and facilitated the completion of UX and UI designs and workflows to ensure the system look and feel were consistent with the existing web interface.
- Facilitated business prioritization sessions to ensure product features were developed and delivered according to business needs and value-added.
- Managed the testing of the newly built trading feature, which included conducting functional and integration testing, facilitating user acceptance testing as well as coordinating beta testing activities.
- Provided coaching to the development team on agile user story-writing techniques.
Project Manager
2023 - 2023
AI Trading (via Toptal)
- Joined a Toptal team to run a discovery phase for a client to define and plan the development of an AI Chatbot for various industries.
- Facilitated discovery workshops, compiled a prioritized product backlog with estimates, defined a product roadmap, and planned resource requirements.
- Put together discovery summary and project kick-off presentations. Used Google Docs to create a project management log comprised of risks, actions, issues, decisions, and scope.
Project Manager
2022 - 2022
HR Client
- Joined a Toptal team to deliver a new website for a client in the HR software space.
- Duties included facilitating project discovery workshops, business analysis, story writing, prioritization, backlog grooming, and MVP delivery.
- Used tools such as Jira, Figma, Google Docs, Google Drive, and WordPress.
Project Manager
2021 - 2022
Pharmaceutical Client
- Joined a newly formed PMO team with the objective of implementing an ERP solution. Oversaw setting up documentation repositories and relevant processes to engage with stakeholders for the cloud integration tool implementation.
- Managed the deliverables for the finance workstream, which included identifying the as-is business processes, and subsequently documenting them in Visio and ensuring alignment with other workstreams.
- Documented the systems and data flow for the Finance division to identify system touchpoints and data inconsistencies.
- Conducted analysis of invoice data produced on system reports vs data stored in the source database. Provided root cause analysis and proposed solutions for resolving data discrepancies.
Senior Project Manager
2019 - 2022
Paycode
- Implemented an offline, biometric-enabled payments system for Zambian farmers with smart-card technology.
- Delivered a project to a client in Ghana that has transformed the general use of a bank card, allowing different applications to run on the same bank card.
- Handled the implementation of a social-grants project for the underprivileged citizens of Mozambique using offline technology.
- Carried out a smart-card solution catering for biometrics enabled via the Mastercard Community Pass/InclusiveID technology.
Senior Agile Project Manager
2021 - 2021
Digital Marketing Client
- Joined a software development team as a consultant to analyze people, processes, and technology to improve software delivery and quality. This then evolved to coaching team members on best practices.
- Provided Agile coaching to the product owner on product visioning, backlog creation, backlog grooming, and user story writing to ensure the delivery of business value to the organization.
- Provided coaching to the scrum master on agile ceremonies such as sprints, sprint planning, daily scrums, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
- Coached the Scrum team on agile delivery with a focus on minimizing work-in-progress and maximizing throughput.
- Implemented an Excel-based scrum-reporting tool due to the limitation of the software (Wrike) already being used. This reporting included sprint burndown and burnup charts, velocity charts, and cumulative flow diagrams.
Freelance Developer
2010 - 2021
Freelance Clients
- Developed a hotel management booking system for a new motel used by three reception desks. Development was completed in VB.NET with a MySQL database.
- Created a fully automated Excel application (VBA) that integrated with SharePoint and Sage One via APIs (.NET) for a manufacturing company. The sales team used the application for quotes and the manufacturing team for production.
- Developed a healthcare management system to manage doctor's/clinic's submissions to medical insurance companies. The system was written in Delphi using an Oracle database.
- Built an application suite used for electronic signboards. The application suite was written in a combination of Delphi and C++, integrating via COM ports and TCP/IP connections to electronic signboards.
- Created a pet grooming parlor management system that was deployed at five parlors. The system was highly configurable and mostly self-managed. This application was written in VB.NET and could use both MS Access and MySQL databases.
PMO Lead
2017 - 2019
EOH Holdings
- Implemented a project management framework to cater to projects to be delivered following Waterfall, Agile or hybrid methodologies.
- Implemented a project-management tool (PPO) to assist with project tracking and reporting.
- Coached and mentored six project managers to use the Agile methodology when delivering projects for clients.
- Completed the full IT services transition from another ICT company to EOH within three months without any system downtime.
Senior Project Manager
2009 - 2017
JSE
- Delivered ten sub-projects as part of a multi-year systems replacement program.
- Implemented a new company-wide brand and website with multiple third-party suppliers.
- Completed the implementation of an electronic-procurement solution, resulting in huge operational efficiencies and reduced costs.
Project Manager
2008 - 2009
Barclays Capital
- Managed projects relating to the ongoing maintenance of the surveillance system for trading and compliance monitoring.
- Managed the delivery of the sizeable holdings-system project for regulatory reporting purposes.
- Integrated the operational processes between different IT teams to ensure efficient hand-offs between departments.
Project Manager
2006 - 2008
Investec Group
- Implemented the credit mitigation project for the Basel II program.
- Delivered a credit risk-management project for Investec entities in South Africa, the UK, Mauritius, Ireland, Australia, and Switzerland.
- Completed the business analysis for the Basel II program, focusing on the credit workstream.
Project History
Ghana Android Point-of-sale (POS) Rollout
https://www.ghipss.net/index.php/services/merchant-businessI managed the software development, testing, and rollout of an Android biometrically-enabled point-of-sale device for a client in Ghana.
During this project, I was responsible for managing the delivery and rollout of the Android point-of-sale device. This included the hardware and software, which integrated with our internal payment systems. A third-party provider (based in France) was used to deliver the hardware, and another third-party was used for the software development.
The third-party responsible for developing the software was based in Ireland, and I managed their delivery using an Agile SDLC approach. This team was made up of four team members.
Our internal QA team, which was overseeing the testing of the solution, reported to me. A combination of Jira and Confluence was used to track progress and report issues.
The rollout to the client (Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited) entailed detailed panning regarding logistics within Ghana to ensure the devices were delivered to all merchants and financial institutions using our solution.
The third-party responsible for developing the software was based in Ireland, and I managed their delivery using an Agile SDLC approach. This team was made up of four team members.
Our internal QA team, which was overseeing the testing of the solution, reported to me. A combination of Jira and Confluence was used to track progress and report issues.
The rollout to the client (Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Limited) entailed detailed panning regarding logistics within Ghana to ensure the devices were delivered to all merchants and financial institutions using our solution.
Integrated Trading and Clearing Program
https://www.jse.co.za/learn-how-to-invest/learn-how-invest/itacDelivered ten sub-projects as part of this multi-year systems replacement program.
Managed several software development teams following different project methodologies, i.e., Waterfall, Agile, and hybrid. My responsibilities included facilitating agile ceremonies, providing project status updates across the workstreams, and managing the scope as well as the risks and issues across the program.
Project Jaya
https://www.fanews.co.za/article/investments/8/general/1133/jse-s-new-equity-trading-platform-in-sa-after-decade-in-london/12145The equity market trading and information solution was being run out of London using the LSE's system. I was responsible for implementing the new system locally in Johannesburg, South Africa.
I managed the delivery of the equities trading solution, which was developed by a third-party supplier in Sri Lanka. During this project, I was also responsible for managing the internal software development and testing teams to deliver the integration to the internal systems. The project team ranged from 30 to 100 people at different points in time throughout the project lifecycle.
Education
1998 - 2003
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
University of South Africa - Pretoria, South Africa
1995 - 1997
Diploma in Datametrics: Information Systems
University of South Africa - Pretoria, South Africa
Certifications
DECEMBER 2017 - PRESENT
Manager of Managers Executive Program
Wits Business School
FEBRUARY 2015 - PRESENT
Agile Fundamentals
PM.Ideas
OCTOBER 2009 - PRESENT
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Project Management Institute (PMI)
JUNE 2004 - PRESENT
ITIL Foundation Certification
Examination Institute for Information Science
JANUARY 2003 - PRESENT
IT Project Management
Rand Afrikaans University