Gaurav Shinde

Versatile and capable management professional with 18+ years of transferable experience in the technology and customer support sectors of large-scale organizations. Leads high-performing teams in continuous improvement efforts and revenue growth initiatives. Provides actionable insights focused on operations and logistics, based on customer feedback and key metrics analysis.

Able to convey complex concepts, solutions, and innovations to non-technical audiences, including customers, peers, and stakeholders.

Invafresh Systems Corp, Mississauga, ON

Director, Technical Support, June 2022 – Till date.

Demonstrated track record of enhancing customer satisfaction and improving support metrics while closely managing the costs of providing support services. Proven ability to analyze data, identify trends, and implement data-driven strategies to improve support processes and efficiency. Introduced new ITIL processes for case management using salesforce service cloud.

• Deliver a differentiated and consistent support experience across a multi-tier support framework.
• Define and drive customer retention and satisfaction programs that directly impact customer loyalty.
• Lead and develop a strong, motivated team of support and service professionals, building the necessary knowledge, skills, and capabilities to execute our business strategies and maintain the highest level of customer service.
• Provide leadership through coaching, feedback, development goals, and performance management.
• Responsible for recruiting, hiring, and training for the department.
• Improved product quality by creating multi discipline team to analyze customer case data and recommend improvements. 
• Own the overall customer support experience program; measure, monitor, and report overall customer support satisfaction and drive programs to assure continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to identify and address product issues, leading to a 36% reduction in product-related support tickets.
• Implement a knowledge management system that increased the team's problem-solving efficiency by 20%.
• Conduct regular training sessions to enhance the technical skills and product knowledge of support team members.

Security Compass Ltd, Toronto, ON

Manager Technical Support, March 2021 – June 2022

Overseeing application and training support team, maintained client relationship and SLAs for tickets via Zendesk. Producing monthly corporate matrix for management team. Mentored support representatives by guiding them on customer communication and technical issues. Provided suggestions for LMS to increase efficiency on day-to-day activities.

• Establish and maintain relationships with customer’s operational teams and maintaining high level of SLAs for all the customers. 
• Managing escalations, escalation point of contact and coordinating with internal teams to set priorities for deliverables and coordinate deliverables in timely manner to customer. 
• Voice of the customer inside the company helping to improve product usage from customer business point of view and help implement best practices.
• Implementing and streamlining internal processes for change and release management. Leading LBGUPS process in Buy, Get and Support to improve customer business journey.
• Active coaching, mentoring, leadership, guidance, and staff performance for team members help them to perform at the highest level.
• Planned and implemented centralized system for ticket management and created dashboard in Zendesk which shows matrix and KPI’s for monthly c-level and customer reporting.

Hansen Technologies, Toronto, ON

Technical Support Manager, December 2014 – March 2021

Oversaw all SaaS operations for 15 direct reports, providing high-quality sales support and controlled service delivery to ensure continued client relationships. Coordinated with Engineering, Product Delivery, Quality Assurance, and IT to align support operations with partner organizations. Navigated the implementation of ITIL best practices and regular reports on SLA adherence, as well as industry best practices and innovations.

Strengthened internal culture with team building and empowerment initiatives. Utilized NPS for customer surveys.

• Led the DevOps Team in application deployment automation; implemented auto-verification of cloud environments, raising resource allocation and utilization metrics in forecasting and budget management.
• Contributed to the development of the customer perspective product roadmap, as well as tracking issues and delivery of defects or PCR. Defined escalation matrix as point of contact for customer issues.
• Boosted efficiency with a redesign of application architecture and infrastructure, as well as the development of strategies focused on application support and related functional areas.
• Heightened revenue streams by providing in-depth benefits analysis and custom functionalities for customers.

1.  

Sigma Systems Canada, Toronto, ON

Regional Support Manager, December 2012 - December 2014

Superintended 4 direct reports in escalation and issue resolutions for regional clients; maintained open lines of communication on progress and next steps with customer and internal teams on P1 escalations. Guided the Sales Team throughout POCs for potential clients. Mentored Technical Support Representatives in internal technical processes and procedures in support of investigations and client incident closures. Developed and delivered monthly key performance indicators (KPIs).

• Subject matter expert (SME) for Hansen products, including RCA meetings.
• Established and maintained lasting relationships with customer operational teams, with a focus on transparency, communication, and partnership, to promote proprietary service offerings and solutions.
• Mobilized deployment management efforts for clients throughout upgrades, installations, and bug deliveries.

Sigma Systems Canada, Toronto, ON

Technical Account Manager, September 2011 - November 2012

SME and Product Expert on-site for customer support, product deployment, and tool management; triaged reported issues. Tracked, prioritized, resolved, and incorporated issues into the product release cycle on behalf of the clients. Tested and verified fixes prior to delivery. Documented all aspects and timelines of solutions in approachable language for clients.

Sigma Software Pvt. Ltd, Pune, MH, IND

Sr. Technical Support Engineer, December 2008 - September 2011

Application expert on OSS stack, hardware sizing and deployment management for different environments, system debugging and troubleshooting of incidents and problems, webLogic and Jboss application server administration, hands on experience with Oracle (sql/plsql) and with java, j2ee application troubleshooting, working simultaneously on multiple regions (APAC, EMEA and NA) and supporting customers issues, integrated application with northbound and south bound interfaces, coordinated testing with third parties (vendors) as required, SSL Certificate updates and configuration.

Playtech India Pvt. Ltd, Pune, MH, IND

Sr. Technical Support Engineer, August 2008 - November 2008

Sigma Software Pvt. Ltd, Pune, MH, IND

Technical Support Engineer, July 2007 - July 2008.

eGain Communication Pvt. Ltd Pune, MH, IND

Junior Product Specialist, May 2006 - July 2007

Unisoft Business Solutions, Pune, MH, IND

Software Developer, June 2004 - May 2006.

Education

Master’s in Computer Application

IMTR, Aurangabad, MS, India

Bachelor's in Computer Science

Deogiri College, Aurangabad, MS, India

Technical Proficiencies

• Unix, Linux, & Windows
• Java, J2EE, Shell, JavaScript, XML, & DHTML
• Oracle, SQL Server, & MongoDB
• WebLogic, JBoss, IIS, NodeJS, AngularJS, & Apache
• AWS, Azure, Git, & Ansible
• Toad, WinSCP, Putty, Active MQ, Docker, JForg Artifactory, Jenkins, Actuate, & Jasper
• DevOps, DOCSIS, ITIL, Salesforce service cloud, MS dynamics, Zendesk, Jira, data analyses, containerization.

Certifications

• ITIL Foundation Certification, 2016
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, 2020

Education

Master’s in Computer Application

IMTR, Aurangabad, MS, India

Bachelor's in Computer Science

Deogiri College, Aurangabad, MS, India

Certifications

• ITIL Foundation Certification, 2016
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, 2020