Anitha Palanisamy
Chennai
Summary
Agile Coach / Scrum Master with 17+ years of experience leading Agile delivery, SAFe transformation, and coaching across fintech and technology domains. Skilled in Product Owner enablement, backlog management, KPI tracking, and value delivery across Agile Release Trains. Achieved 95% on-time releases and improved predictability by 35% at HCL Technologies. Open to relocation for global Agile transformation opportunities.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Project Manager (Agile Coach)
HCL Technologies
02.2023 - Current
- Oversaw Agile Release Train (ART) execution across 15+ cross-functional teams under the SAFe framework, enhancing predictability and flow efficiency by 35%.
- Coached Product Owners and Product Managers on backlog quality, user story writing, acceptance criteria, and prioritization to align with business value and PI Objectives.
- Managed program and team backlogs to ensure alignment with Business Owner objectives and product vision.
- Designed and maintained KPI dashboards (flow metrics, predictability, quality) using Jira, Confluence, and Power BI for data-driven performance reporting.
- Coordinated Advisory Board preparation and stakeholder communication plans to report value delivery, risks, and dependencies.
- Facilitated Agile ceremonies including PI Planning, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives, driving continuous improvement and collaboration.
Chapter Leader (Agile Coach / Scrum Master)
Fidelity Investments
03.2021 - 01.2023
- Supported Product Managers and Product Owners in backlog prioritization, roadmap alignment, and delivery planning to achieve business objectives.
- Drove backlog transparency and readiness across teams, improving velocity by 25% and enhancing PI planning efficiency.
- Introduced CI/CD automation and regression testing practices, reducing manual testing from 3 days to 15 minutes and increasing release stability.
- Delivered KPI-based reporting (throughput, dependency tracking, predictability) for executive portfolio reviews and quarterly planning.
- Conducted Agile maturity assessments and leadership workshops to foster organization-wide SAFe adoption.
Test Manager / Scrum Master
Comcast
03.2020 - 10.2020
- Standardized Scrum and Kanban practices across 5 distributed Agile teams, increasing sprint forecast accuracy by 25%.
- Supported backlog refinement and sprint planning for cross-functional squads under hybrid Agile model.
- Implemented key flow metrics (velocity, cycle time, burndown) for proactive risk identification and delivery transparency.
Project Lead (QA / Agile Delivery)
Photon Interactive
11.2016 - 02.2020
- Delivered Agile digital transformation programs with iterative delivery cycles and KPI monitoring.
- Collaborated with Product Owners for backlog grooming and prioritization aligned to customer value streams.
- Integrated CI/CD pipelines and automated testing, reducing manual QA effort by 30%.
Project Lead (Automation Tester)
E-Biz Applications
08.2015 - 08.2016
- Built Selenium-based automation frameworks with CI/CD integration, cutting regression cycle time by 50%.
- Supported continuous delivery through test automation and early feedback mechanisms in Agile sprints.
Lead Engineer (Automation Tester)
HCL Technologies
08.2010 - 04.2015
- Designed scalable automation frameworks reducing execution time by 50% across projects.
- Promoted shift-left testing and continuous integration to improve release reliability and stability.
Software Engineer (Java Developer)
3i-Technologies
03.2006 - 06.2008
- Developed enterprise applications using Java, Spring, and Hibernate within iterative Agile cycles.
- Practiced TDD and peer code reviews to enhance software quality and minimize production issues.
Education
Master of Science - Computer Science
PSG College of Technology
Coimbatore03-2005
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
PSG College of Technology
Coimbatore03-2003
Skills
- Agile Coaching
- SAFe Framework
- Scrum Facilitation
- Product Owner Coaching
- Backlog Prioritization
- User Story Refinement
- PI Planning
- Program Increment Objectives
- Agile Release Train Management
- Value Delivery Reporting
- Stakeholder Communication Plan
- KPI & Flow Metrics
- Risk & Dependency Management
- Jira, Confluence
- Azure DevOps, Power BI
- Continuous improvement
- Predictability Optimization,
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
Certification
- Project Management Professional (PMP) — PMI
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) — PMI
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM) — Scrum Alliance
- SAFe 5.1 Agilist — Scaled Agile
Languages
English
Advanced (C1)
C1
Tamil
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Timeline
Senior Project Manager (Agile Coach)
HCL Technologies
02.2023 - Current
Chapter Leader (Agile Coach / Scrum Master)
Fidelity Investments
03.2021 - 01.2023
Test Manager / Scrum Master
Comcast
03.2020 - 10.2020
Project Lead (QA / Agile Delivery)
Photon Interactive
11.2016 - 02.2020
Project Lead (Automation Tester)
E-Biz Applications
08.2015 - 08.2016
Lead Engineer (Automation Tester)
HCL Technologies
08.2010 - 04.2015
Software Engineer (Java Developer)
3i-Technologies
03.2006 - 06.2008
Bachelor of Science - Computer Science
PSG College of Technology
Master of Science - Computer Science
PSG College of Technology