Rakesh Patel

In this role, I led Agile delivery across multiple cross-functional squads within a high-governance health sector environment. I was responsible for guiding teams through Agile transformation, fostering collaboration, and ensuring successful delivery of key digital and infrastructure initiatives.

Key Achievements

• Revitalized a low-morale Agile squad post-restructure, achieving Scrum adoption through tailored coaching.
• Led Agile transformation across three squads with no prior Agile experience-building practices from the ground up and boosting team maturity and confidence.
• Successfully delivered the Microsoft Intune rollout across multiple NSW Local Health Districts, managing high-compliance deployment pipelines end-to-end.
• Encouraged and implemented the use of GitHub with Azure DevOps, streamlining code review processes and enabling timely and efficient development cycles across the team.
• Increased delivery velocity and product quality through targeted Agile coaching, backlog refinement, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Drove cross-functional alignment across multiple dependent teams, enhancing collaboration, reducing bottlenecks, and ensuring smooth delivery of integrated solutions.
• Established transparent reporting frameworks with Jira and Azure DevOps and Agile KPIs (velocity, burndown), enabling clear insights and leadership visibility.

Key Responsibilities

• Led the end-to-end delivery lifecycle for digital products with a strong focus on UI/UX, customer-facing platforms, and backend infrastructure.
• Facilitated all Scrum ceremonies and coached teams in Agile values, helping embed a culture of iteration, feedback, and ownership.
• Worked closely with Product Owners and Business Analysts to define and prioritize user stories, manage scope and dependencies, and translate business needs into deliverables.
• Maintained team capacity plans, delivery roadmaps, and sprint progress using Jira and Azure DevOps, with visual collaboration via Figma and Miro.
• Created customised reports for Product Owners and Project Managers, ensuring each teams reporting needs were met efficiently.
• Ensured compliance with NSW eHealth delivery governance and security frameworks throughout all project stages.
• Facilitated a Scrum of Scrums to manage cross-team dependencies, improving alignment, delivery timelines, and communication across squads and delivery leads
• Provided senior stakeholders regular delivery updates, highlighting milestones, risks, and mitigation strategies.
• Conducted PI Planning sessions involving multiple interdependent teams, aligning roadmaps and priorities to ensure coordinated delivery and successful achievement of quarterly goals.

Led Agile transformation, transitioning teams from Waterfall to Agile frameworks. Managed a team of 13 developers to deliver an e-commerce platform, integrated payment systems, UX/UI enhancements, and cloud-based course migration. Collaborated with cross-functional teams and leadership to embed Agile practices and drive delivery of innovative educational technology solutions.

Key Achievements

• Successfully led UTS Open transformation from Waterfall to Agile, embedding a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement across product and delivery teams.
• Coached multiple cross-functional squads, uplifting Agile maturity and delivery effectiveness, resulting in a significant boost in team velocity and predictability.
• Launched six major product releases, driving over 12,000 student enrollments and contributing $3M in revenue.
• Implemented and tailored Jira for Agile delivery, significantly improving backlog management, reporting, and cross-team visibility.
• Introduced and tracked Agile metrics (Velocity, Burnup/Burndown, Sprint Reports, Defects) to support data-driven decisions and continuous improvement.
• Implemented seamless integrations within EpiServer, CANVAS, Boomi, and Salesforce, enhancing system interoperability and data consistency across the platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Facilitated core Agile ceremonies including stand-ups, sprint planning, retrospectives, showcases, and backlog refinement across multiple teams.
• Partnered closely with Product Managers and Designers to prioritize and manage product backlogs, ensuring clarity, value alignment, and smooth delivery.
• Provided hands-on coaching on Agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban), continuous integration, test automation, and release planning.
• Conducted Agile training workshops and 1:1 coaching sessions, empowering teams to self-organize
• Collaborated with engineering leads to identify and resolve delivery blockers, external dependencies, and technical impediments.
• Shielded teams from external disruptions, enabling focus and maintaining steady sprint cadence.
• Served as Release Manager, coordinating release planning, across different teams to delivery product on time
• Developed team-level OKRs and guided squads to align their efforts with strategic goals through outcome-driven planning.
• Used tools like Jira, Confluence, Figma and Miro to manage workflows, visualize progress, and promote collaboration.
• Maintained high visibility of delivery progress through dashboards, sprint reports, and stakeholder updates.
• Created and delivered engaging stakeholder showcases and demos, improving business alignment and transparency.

Led Agile delivery across digital payment (RPay, QR Code Payments) and cloud infrastructure (Rakuten One Cloud) initiatives, managing a team of 14 developers. Facilitated Agile adoption, managed end-to-end feature delivery, and oversaw global-scale data center expansion projects.

Key Achievements

• Delivered multiple feature releases for RPay and QR Code Payments, enhancing digital payment ecosystem and user experience.
• Implemented a Scrum of Scrums model to manage inter-team dependencies and align multiple infrastructure teams across distributed locations.
• Played a critical leadership role in setting up and expanding cloud data centers across Japan, the EU, and the US, enabling Rakuten platform scalability.
• Successfully led the conversion of 1,900 VM data stores (Thick to Thin) in partnership with Nvidia, improving system efficiency and reducing infrastructure costs.
• Coordinated and delivered SNAT (ACL) deployments across global data centers following the build and launch of secure DC environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Led Agile delivery for RPay, QR Payments, and cloud development projects, ensuring sprint goals aligned with product and engineering strategies.
• Facilitated all Agile ceremonies: sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily stand-ups, retrospectives, reviews, and release planning.
• Coached the team on Agile/Scrum best practices, estimation techniques, and cross-functional collaboration with Product Owners, helping improve team predictability and output.
• Monitored delivery progress using Agile metrics (velocity, burndown, cycle time) and reported performance to senior management.
• Managed technical impediments, scope changes, and blockers to maintain delivery flow and protect team focus.
• Encouraged high team performance through servant leadership, 1:1 coaching, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and ownership.
• Served as the primary liaison between developers, DevOps, product managers, and external vendors to ensure alignment and technical readiness.
• Educated stakeholders and managers on Agile values, roles, and workflows, increasing engagement and collaboration across business units.
• Oversaw release coordination and change management, aligning with organizational frameworks (PRINCE2, ITIL) and compliance standards.
• Spearheaded the Scrum adoption across teams, cultivating an environment of collaboration and efficiency, which enhanced project delivery timelines and quality.
• Took ownership of Jira administration, setting up customized Scrum and Kanban boards, workflows, and permissions for improved visibility and delivery management.

Led end-to-end delivery of complex infrastructure and workplace transformation projects across Westpac Group brands, including St George, Bank of Melbourne, and BankSA. Oversaw cross-functional teams, vendor management, change readiness, and rollout of enterprise-wide technology.

Key Achievements

• Successfully migrated 360 retail branches and 10,000+ users from Windows 7 to Windows 10 across multiple Westpac brands within time, scope, and quality benchmarks.
• Completed the migration of over 4,000 user mailboxes to Office 365, improving collaboration, productivity, and security across the business.
• Led the VDI migration for approximately 10,000 virtual desktops, enhancing system performance and user accessibility across distributed teams.
• Managed and resolved over 400 project risks and issues, maintaining strong governance, minimizing disruption, and ensuring smooth delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Managed the delivery of infrastructure transformation projects, including Win10 upgrades, Office 365 migration, and VDI replatforming across the retail business units.
• Oversaw a team of 19 cross-functional team members, including vendor partners, ensuring accountability, communication, and alignment to delivery goals.
• Collaborated closely with IT vendors, ensuring solutions met Westpac design and engineering specifications, while holding vendors accountable for SLAs and delivery quality.
• Partnered with operations, service desk, and engineering teams to plan cutovers, coordinate technical resources, and maintain operational continuity.
• Worked with the Change Management team to ensure business units were well-informed, trained, and supported throughout transitions.
• Led training and documentation initiatives, ensuring knowledge transfer and support readiness for IT support teams and business end-users.
• Conducted stakeholder engagement across executive, technical, and operational teams to ensure project alignment, transparent communication, and smooth escalations.
• Leveraged Agile delivery principles to enable iterative progress, fast feedback loops, and adaptive planning in a fast-paced, highly regulated environment.
• Utilized SharePoint, MS Project, and Remedy for project planning, tracking, configuration management, and risk/issue reporting.
• Fostered robust relationships with stakeholders, expertly navigating risk management and effectively addressing issues to ensure projects remained on track and vendor commitments were consistently met.

Supported enterprise infrastructure delivery across network, OS, and cloud-based services. Coordinated cross-functional teams and vendors to implement business-critical IT changes and platform upgrades, aligned to governance and compliance standards.

Key Achievements

• Successfully led the end-to-end Network and Citrix upgrade, improving system performance and reducing legacy technical debt.
• Delivered a data centre relocation project, including physical server migration and environment replication, with no unplanned downtime.
• Identified and decommissioned outdated network dependencies, modernizing connectivity and security.
• Contributed to the successful Office 365 migration, coordinating mailbox transfers with minimal user impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Managed infrastructure project delivery across network, server, OS, and messaging platforms, ensuring business alignment and technical readiness.
• Acted as the central point for vendor management, overseeing delivery timelines, escalations, and compliance with HSBC standards.
• Partnered with business systems, operations, and technical teams to coordinate service changes, upgrades, and platform rollouts.
• Led stakeholder engagement, project reporting, and delivery planning, ensuring cross-team alignment and risk transparency.
• Supported BI and ledger system transitions, ensuring stability and continuity of reporting systems.
• Utilized Prince2, ITIL, Remedy, and SharePoint to manage delivery governance, risk/issues, service desk alignment, and documentation.
• Collaborated on change and release planning, ensuring smooth handover and operational continuity post-deployment.
• Orchestrated cross-functional teams to deliver complex infrastructure projects, ensuring seamless transitions and adherence to HSBC's compliance standards.

Key Projects

• Network & Citrix Upgrade, Office 365 Migration, OS Rollout & Configuration, Data Centre Relocation