Betfred : 2014 – 2016 – Mark Whitfield

Betfred

December 2014 to January 2016:

Betfred Limited (UK) –
Westgate House, Totepark, Chapel Lane, Wigan, Lancashire. WN3 4HS

Position: IT Senior Digital Project Manager, Online and Mobile Division –
Registered PRINCE2 Practitioner, Agile SCRUM and ITIL

Worked as a Senior IT Project Manager in the Gambling and Casinos industry delivering multiple projects for both Betfred online and mobile (iOS, Android and Windows) using the Agile SCRUM framework. Project deliveries covered payment gateways and methods, sportsbook for football and horse racing amongst others and the online virtual (computer generated) gaming components.

Projects varied in size and cost and extended over multiple phases requiring the management of many software suppliers, each delivering different aspects of the solution from fraud detection, frontend, middleware, payment services and mobile apps.

Betfred Senior PM Role includes:

Taking responsibility for leading the delivery of multiple projects for Betfred online and mobile. This includes Agile application code development and management, integration and migration and involves the responsibility for the delivery of business change and transformation
Responsibility for each project budget (weekly effort burn rates and tracking using MS Excel) and ensuring delivery against financial forecasts set
Managing the monthly release cycle of internet-based software to the Betfred online real estate for both .COM and .mobi including iOS, Android and Windows native apps
Seeing through emergency system change requests (SCR’s) for the above relating to the latest gambling regulations plus industry compliance issues and directives and compromised financial trading online
Supplier management for external software suppliers like Degree53, Playtech, Onionsack, Intelligent Payments (Myriad), Inspired, iovation, StreamUK, Finsoft, Ineda, OtherLevels, Appsflyer, Income Access, Activewin, Virgo, Virtue Fusion, In Game Media, Satellite Information Services (SIS) and IGT
Ensuring the project is managed in accordance with the Betfred project management methodology, with regard to planning, control, status reporting, documentation, quality, change control, risk analysis and management
Ensuring appropriate and timely project reporting and escalation (within Betfred and to the supplier)
The definition of each element of the project plan (MS Project, MS Excel). The scheduling and management of all project activities, including the overall and detailed delivery schedules, project milestones and dependencies, acceptance criteria, quality criteria, commercial arrangements and financial parameters and management of sub-contractors / partners
Ensuring that all project ‘stakeholders’ (internal product owners, BAs, PMO, internal development and test teams) are identified and sufficiently informed and involved during all stages of the project
Ensuring each individual ‘stakeholder’ provides high levels of personal and public support to the project
Establishing and agreeing robust user acceptance criteria for each element of the project, and its individual streams, which can be used to measure project performance and ensuring appropriate levels of customer ‘sign off’
Management of all human resources assigned to the project to ensure high levels of performance
Ensuring the highest levels of customer satisfaction throughout the project life cycle
Management of project performance against the agreed and base lined plan and initiate ‘remedial’ action (or escalation), when required

Course: Advanced Microsoft Excel 2013
(e-Learning)

Feedback from Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwhitfield

Christian Grundy

Lead Business Analyst at UK Tote Group

November 17, 2019, MARK worked with Christian in the same group

Mark and I worked on several complex projects during his time at Betfred and it was clear from when I started working with him, he is a very experienced project manager with a wealth of knowledge of managing projects in the software and technology industries. You could tell Mark was used to working on challenging projects as he always had an understanding of where each project was at and what needed to be done next. We worked very well together and as all good project managers do, he allowed me to grow in my role and had no hesitation in allowing me to step in to cover him while he was focusing on higher priority projects. I would have no hesitation is recommending Mark to a future employer especially one who was looking for a project manager to manage a portfolio of complex projects.

Chris Wroe

Lead Business Analyst at FDJ GAMING SOLUTIONS

November 9, 2019, Chris reported directly to MARK

I worked with Mark Whitfield during my time at Betfred and from the very start his aptitude at project management became clear. He immediately aligned, what was a chaotic, waterfall workstream, adding structure and putting in place the necessary building blocks to transition us to more Agile processes. In particular I found his engagement with the technical details to be a massive asset to the project. He could immediately recognise the significance of issues and blockers, and his autonomy offered the team respite by him shouldering the burden, where possible, and focusing the group on their respective tasks. He was exceptional to work with and the Agile guidelines he implemented as part of his workstream were adopted across other project teams even after he’d left.

Claire Wilson

IT Compliance Analyst at Betfred

August 22, 2016, MARK worked with Claire in the same group

I am currently employed as an IT Compliance Analyst at Betfred and worked with Mark during 2015. During this time Mark was employed as a Senior Project Manager managing both the .COM and mobile delivery for Betfred’s online real estate. This involved managing many of Betfred’s suppliers, the monthly web releases to the live production site and internal resources concerned with UAT testing delivered components. For compliance analysis and verification, Mark worked with myself and the compliance team to ensure that appropriate supplier deliveries were in line with PCI industry directives and that appropriate documentation was updated for both internal and external audits. I would highly recommend Mark for his ability to successfully multi-task under significant pressure whilst still maintaining a diplomatic, professional and friendly approach to dealing with project stakeholders and delivering software. On leaving Betfred, Mark produced a very comprehensive handover document for his many areas of responsibility within Betfred. He showed no signs of winding down through to his day of departure in early 2016 and remained online for those taking up his role responsibilities after leaving.

Helen Phillips

Business Analyst at Greensill

December 16, 2015, MARK worked with Helen in the same group

I have worked with Mark for about a year now. I would be happy to recommend him for any future role. He is driven and motivated. His digital knowledge is excellent and he is a great team player. He would be an asset to any future company.