SURAJ SAWANT
Pune
Summary
Dynamic Senior Business Analyst and Scrum Master with a proven track record at Simplify Alpha, driving 95% sprint predictability through effective Agile facilitation and servant leadership. Expert in backlog grooming and risk management, fostering cross-functional teamwork to enhance delivery efficiency and continuous improvement.
Overview
1
1
Certification
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Business Analyst — Scrum Master—Aligned Delivery
Simplify Alpha
Pune
01.2024 - Current
- Facilitated core Agile ceremonies — Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives, and PI Planning — for cross-functional teams within a SAFe Agile Release Train, achieving 95% sprint predictability across two consecutive Program Increments.
- Acted as servant leader and coach to delivery teams and stakeholders, guiding adoption of Agile/SAFe practices, unblocking impediments, and building a culture of ownership, transparency, and continuous learning.
- Drove continuous improvement by facilitating retrospectives, surfacing recurring bottlenecks, and implementing workflow changes that measurably improved cross-team collaboration and delivery flow.
- Identified and resolved cross-team dependencies across multiple concurrent programs within ART, negotiating priorities and schedules with Product and Delivery leads to ensure timely delivery.
- Established and monitored delivery metrics and KPIs with Tech and Domain Leads, using data to flag risks early and provide leadership with insights into delivery predictability.
- Facilitated Story Refinement sessions to ensure backlog items were clearly elaborated with unambiguous acceptance criteria, contributing to a 20% reduction in development rework.
- Led UAT cycles and coordinated go-live activities across business and technology stakeholders, ensuring full defect traceability for audit-ready releases.
Business Analyst
Atos
Pune
08.2022 - 12.2023
- Analysed user behavior across 1M+ platform interactions to identify delivery risks and enhancement opportunities, guiding data-driven sprint prioritization.
- Facilitated stakeholder workshops and JAD sessions to elicit and prioritize requirements, supporting Agile delivery and improving development cycle efficiency by 15%.
- Partnered with UI/UX designers, developers, and Product Owners to align scope, feasibility, and sprint priorities, enhancing cross-workstream communication.
- Facilitated UAT with a 95% first-pass acceptance rate, ensuring full requirement traceability throughout delivery lifecycle.
Business Analyst
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Pune
10.2019 - 07.2022
- Facilitated requirement workshops, translating complex payment and technical concepts into clear language, fostering shared understanding across teams.
- Collaborated with compliance and operations stakeholders to ensure sprint deliverables met regulatory (AML/KYC) requirements and governance standards.
- Coordinated cross-functional delivery teams across payment lifecycle programmes, mapping dependencies in initiation, clearing, and settlement stages to enhance Agile solution delivery.
Business Analyst
Velocity Technology Solutions
Pune
06.2017 - 10.2019
- Analyzed business requirements and defined project scope for various initiatives.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to gather and document functional specifications, aligning requirements with business objectives.
- Managed end-to-end delivery activities for multiple concurrent Agile and Waterfall projects, facilitating workshops and securing stakeholder sign-off to ensure project alignment.
- Oversaw UAT planning, execution, and sign-off while maintaining RACI matrices and stakeholder registers to enhance delivery accountability and transparency.
- Facilitated workshops to identify process improvements and streamline workflows.
Business Analyst
Ecentric Solutions Pvt Ltd
Pune
11.2016 - 06.2017
- Facilitated core Scrum ceremonies — Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-ups, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives — enhancing team alignment and maintaining delivery cadence.
- Collaborated with Product Owners on backlog prioritisation and story estimation, identifying and addressing risks and impediments to sustain team velocity.
- Analyzed business requirements and documented processes for various projects.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify improvement opportunities.
- Facilitated workshops to gather stakeholder feedback and align project goals.
Manual Tester (BA Transition Role)
Syntel Ltd
Pune
11.2014 - 08.2016
- Coordinated with cross-functional developers to track and resolve defects via Jira and Azure DevOps, enabling on-time sprint delivery.
- Provided usability and UX feedback aligning testing with business expectations; mentored team members on testing best practices to enhance overall team quality.
- Executed manual tests, identifying defects and documenting results accurately.
- Collaborated with developers to clarify requirements and resolve issues promptly.
- Developed comprehensive test plans to ensure software quality and functionality.
Education
MBA -
D Y Patil University
Mumbai06-2026
Master of Computer Applications (MCA) -
Savitribai Phule Pune University
Pune06-2014
Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) -
Shivaji University
Kolhapur06-2011
Skills
- Agile facilitation
- Sprint execution
- Backlog grooming
- Impediment resolution
- Continuous improvement
- Stakeholder engagement
- Cross-functional teamwork
- Risk management
- Jira, Confluence, and Azure DevOps
- Executive reporting
- Servant leadership
- Team enablement
Certification
- SAFe POPM – Product Owner / Product Manager, Scaled Agile
- Project Management Essentials, Management & Strategy Institute
- Digital Skills: User Experience, Accenture
- ITIL Foundation, Axelos
- AI Prompting Essentials, Management & Strategy Institute
Timeline
Senior Business Analyst — Scrum Master—Aligned Delivery
Simplify Alpha
01.2024 - Current
Business Analyst
Atos
08.2022 - 12.2023
Business Analyst
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
10.2019 - 07.2022
Business Analyst
Velocity Technology Solutions
06.2017 - 10.2019
Business Analyst
Ecentric Solutions Pvt Ltd
11.2016 - 06.2017
Manual Tester (BA Transition Role)
Syntel Ltd
11.2014 - 08.2016
MBA -
D Y Patil University
Master of Computer Applications (MCA) -
Savitribai Phule Pune University
Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) -
Shivaji University