NICHOLAS SAVAGE

TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER
CLOUD | INFRASTRUCTURE
IT | SOFTWARE

Deriving Clarity
Promoting Effectiveness
Providing Transparency

Professional Summary

Results-driven Technical Project Manager & Consultant with 10+ years of experience delivering complex projects across Software, IT Infrastructure, Cyber Security, and Cloud Platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP, Hybrid). Proven expertise in delivering high-value projects autonomously, optimizing processes, driving cross-functional collaboration, and implementing agile methodologies. Adept at stakeholder consultancy, risk mitigation, and ensuring project delivery aligns with business goals.

Education & Certifications

  • Project Management Professional (PMP)® - PMI (2018)

  • Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)® - Scrum Alliance (2017)

  • Generative AI Overview for Project Managers - PMI (2025)

  • Azure Fundamentals - Microsoft (2020) | ID: 989873744

  • CompTIA IT+ - CompTIA (2022)

  • Bachelor of Commerce: Law & Management - University of South Africa (2008 - 2011)

  • AWS Solutions Architect Associate - Amazon (in Progress, 2025)

Key Competencies

  • End-to-End Project Delivery (Agile & Waterfall)

  • Cloud & Infrastructure Transformation (Azure, AWS, GCP, on-prem)

  • Stakeholder Consultancy & Vendor Management

  • Process Automation & Efficiency Optimization

  • Regulatory & Compliance Management (ISO 27001, GDPR, ITIL, NIST, CIS)

  • Business Change & Digital Transformation

Technical Skills

  • Project Management: Agile (Scrum, Kanban, Lean), Waterfall, SAFe, ITIL

  • Tools & Platforms: MS Project, M365, Jira, Confluence, AI tooling, Miro, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Kubernetes, Containerisation, FinOps (Cloud Cost Optimisation), Asana, Trello, Monday.com, GenAI

  • Key Deliverables: IT Infrastructure, CI/CD & DevOps, SaaS Migrations, Security Enhancements, Cloud Architecture & Implementations

〰️ Agile (Scrum, Kanban, Lean)

〰️ Waterfall

〰️ SAFe

〰️ ITIL

〰️ MS Project

〰️ M365

〰️ Jira

〰️ Confluence

〰️ AI tooling

〰️ Miro

〰️ Google Workspace

〰️ Salesforce

〰️ FinOps (Cloud Cost Optimisation)

〰️ Asana

〰️ Agile (Scrum, Kanban, Lean) 〰️ Waterfall 〰️ SAFe 〰️ ITIL 〰️ MS Project 〰️ M365 〰️ Jira 〰️ Confluence 〰️ AI tooling 〰️ Miro 〰️ Google Workspace 〰️ Salesforce 〰️ FinOps (Cloud Cost Optimisation) 〰️ Asana

Professional Experience

Savage Project Consulting
Freelance IT Project Manager & Delivery Consultant
March 2025 - Present

  • Established a personal consulting brand to provide IT project management and delivery advisory services to businesses in cloud infrastructure, SaaS migrations and agile delivery. Website design and development.

  • Actively engaging with industry networks and staying current on emerging technologies and delivery methodologies.

Board Intelligence
Technical Project Manager | Site Reliability Engineering
October 2022 - January 2025

  • Designed and implemented a project delivery & reporting framework integrated across Confluence & Jira, improving visibility for senior stakeholders.

  • Provided leadership and consultancy during an SRE leadership transition as interim lead, ensuring delivery continuity.

  • Automated administrative tasks using Jira automation, reducing manual processes by up to 40% with monthly templated, auto-generated patching tickets being one example.

  • Delivered major technical projects, including:

    • GCP Platform Setup & AI Model Migration

    • Storage, Database, Network & Kubernetes Upgrades / Migrations

Domestic & General
Project Manager | Core Functions
February 2021 - August 2021

  • Led a gap analysis for CIS security controls, resulting in stronger regulatory compliance and security protocols. Included CMDB POC & rollout, admin privileges review, a vulnerability management project & more.

  • Delivered an MPLS replacement project, ensuring secure site-to-site connectivity.

Derivco (Microgaming), Durban
IT Project Manager | IT Infrastructure Project Management Office
May 2018 - March 2019

  • Revolutionised the entire project framework within the PMO of 12+ Project & Program Managers, including a detailed process flow diagram from initiation right through to project completion. Assigned to me due to my proactive nature and adept understanding of software in question (Confluence, Jira and MS Teams)

  • Involved addressing the existing pain points within reporting (up to 6 tools/ methods previously) and streamlining the project delivery process into one dynamic and standardised dashboard allowing, through appropriate automation and integration, for both reporting and execution at scale.

  • Projects included: PSTN Calling POC’s, Remote Working Solutions (VDI’s, Citrix, VPN), Office Setups, Production Systems hardware upgrades and patching, SSO setup & integration across multiple international offices & partners, Salesforce POC & rollout and public hosting (F5 reverse proxy) of business-critical web-apps and more.

Career Break (Sabbatical)
Personal Development & Family Focus
December 2024 – February 2025

  • Took a planned short-term sabbatical after 10+ years of continuous project delivery roles.

  • Spent quality time travelling through Thailand and Vietnam, including a meditation retreat focused on mindfulness, focus and resilience, as well as dedicating time to family.

  • Used this period for reflection, skills refresh and planning the next phase of my career through Savage Project Consulting.

Product Madness
Technical Project Manager | Technology Production
September 2021 - September 2022

  • Designed and implemented a project prioritization framework, streamlining project visibility & delivery for 10+ managers.

  • Introduced agile methodologies to Infrastructure teams, improving project velocity tracking. Roadmap generation and reporting to C Level.

  • Managed 12+ concurrent technical projects including M&A, SaaS migrations, cloud builds and office infrastructure setups.

  • Managed and directed the project workflow of up to 20 engineers.

Derivco Sports (Betway Sportsbook)
IT Project Manager | IT Infrastructure
March 2019 - January 2021

  • Awarded Sky High Award “Game Changer” in recognition for delivering business-critical infrastructure and IT operations projects.

  • Delivered key projects including:

    • Hybrid Cloud Architecture Implementation

    • Multiple office setups - networking, security, infrastructure, users

    • Enterprise Remote Work Solutions (Pre-COVID VPN Rollouts)

Derivco (Microgaming), Durban
Technical Project Manager (Software) | Game Integrations
June 2016 - May 2018

  • Responsible for technical account management of scores of high-profile online slot games through an extensive SDLC while solely responsible for ensuring a development house of over 60 users in Miami, Florida were able to meet technical, regulatory and market requirements

  • Further developed the following skills and abilities: practising elements of both waterfall and scrum, scope, risk and time management, prioritisation of tasks/projects, stakeholder management, accountability, and handling of high pressure/stressful situations when dealing with live issues or potential showstoppers during the project lifecycle

Recommendations

  • “I had the pleasure of working with Nick at Product Madness, where he excelled in his role as a Project Manager. Nick's drive and dedication are unparalleled, making him one of the most formidable professionals I've encountered in my career. His fearless approach to cross-functional collaboration was instrumental in aligning our team with broader business objectives. His deep understanding of project deliverables ensured our success in every venture we undertook.”

    Mike Duncan - Cloud Operations Director - from my time at Product Madness

  • “Ridiculously efficient is the phrase that comes to mind when I think about Nic.”

    Angelique Jardine - Senior Project Manager - from my time at Derivco

  • “As a Infrastructure Engineer I can only recommend working with Nicholas. He's not only a very good Project Manager, with a great attention to detail, great understanding of the product or business needs. Nic can easily plan the project - time and work-wise and help the team to deliver the solution. But most importantly Nic is a funny, open, willing to learn and easy to talk person who is a great addition to any company.”

    Kasper Poltorak - Infrastructure Engineer - from my time at Product Madness

  • “Nic has been nothing short of a pleasure to work with during my time with Derivco. Without his technical ability, tenacity and infrastructure nouse, the rollout of the programme we worked on together for the Asia region would have quite simply not gone ahead. A true asset to any company and I hope to work with him again in the future!”

    Graeme Mock - Project Manager - from my time at Derivco Sports

  • "I've had the pleasure of working with Nicholas for approximately 3 years. During our time together as team mates Nicholas had imparted his knowledge of project management onto myself and used it to the greater development of new processes and procedures for the betterment of the team. Nic has always shown the drive and will power to ensure that everything within his means can be done to see a project to completion. Further to this, he has used his people management skills and ability to negotiate with others to get the best teams, and results out of the people he has worked with and the projects he has delivered."

    Renesh Sukhoo - Technical Project Manager - from my time at Derivco

Contact Me

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*due to the sensitive nature of some of the projects I’ve worked on I have decided to password protect this section of my website.