Cian McDonnell
Summary
Delivery and PMO specialist with 7+ years' experience across financial services and enterprise technology within the First Derivative / KX group. Progressed through a structured Financial Engineer graduate programme into Support, PMO, and Project Management roles supporting production-critical global clients. Known for operating effectively in dual PM and PMO capacities - leading delivery phases while simultaneously supporting governance, tooling, ERP adoption, and process improvement without compromising quality. Strong track record coordinating UAT, releases, and cross-functional teams across multi-environment deployments. PRINCE2 Practitioner with strong delivery controls, reporting, and stakeholder management capability.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Project Manager & PMO (Dual Function Role)
KX
12.2023 - 03.2025
- Managed delivery phases for two production-critical enterprise platforms across regulated financial markets and industrial analytics domains.
- Led Phase 2 upgrade and enhancement programme (~6 months) for a trading surveillance platform used in regulated market monitoring.
- Managed continuous enhancement and release stream for an industrial analytics and operational efficiency platform integrating factory-floor sensor data.
- Delivered structured upgrade, enhancement, and release cycles across both platforms.
- Ran recurring client governance and delivery calls: Regulated financial platform: 3-4 per week; Industrial analytics platform: weekly.
- Primary delivery contact for client managers, senior engineers, and department heads.
- Coordinated cross-functional teams across engineering, QA, and platform groups.
- Managed delivery across development, simulation, and production environments.
- Oversaw UAT cycles: Financial surveillance platform: ~3-week structured UAT windows; Industrial analytics platform: rapid UAT cycles aligned to frequent releases.
- Maintained on-schedule release delivery across cycles with minimal delay impact.
- Performed PMO governance duties alongside PM role including standards support, documentation, and delivery reporting.
- Provided ERP and governance support to Project Managers across delivery teams.
- Contributed to Jira workflow and delivery reporting automation improvements.
Project Manager / PMO (Dual Function)
First Derivative / KX Group
11.2018 - 03.2025
- Completed First Derivative Financial Engineer graduate programme, passing internal exams and structured assignments over a two-year training path.
- Delivered client assignments during programme placements while meeting academic and internal assessment requirements.
- Progressed internally across Support, PMO, and Project Management roles within the same group.
- Demonstrated consistent upward responsibility growth across delivery, governance, and client coordination functions.
- Recognised for flexibility across delivery execution and PMO governance support.
PMO Analyst
KX
12.2022 - 12.2023
- Supported 20-25 Project Managers globally across active delivery portfolio.
- Worked directly with Head of PMO in lean, high-ownership governance structure.
- Ran recurring portfolio coordination touchpoints with delivery leads.
- Led PMO documentation and process framework improvements adopted across delivery teams.
- Played central role in organisation-wide ERP migration.
- Created ERP training guides and structured adoption documentation.
- Provided hands-on ERP adoption support to PMs and delivery teams.
- Co-coordinated migration of 10-15 live projects during corporate restructuring.
- Built delivery migration and validation checklists used across programmes.
Support Analyst
KX
12.2020 - 12.2022
- Delivered front-line enterprise platform support for client environments.
- Investigated production and non-production issues across multiple environments.
- Worked directly with engineering and platform teams on defect resolution.
- Supported platform installations and upgrades.
- Built technical platform knowledge later applied in PM and PMO roles.
Client Assignments
First Derivative Graduate Programme
01.2018 - 01.2020
- Northern Trust - Repurchase Agreement Analyst: Produced repo and collateral reports for daily trading activity; Reconciled trade and position breaks and resolved mismatches with clients and counterparties; Investigated data discrepancies across internal and external records; Supported controlled trade lifecycle and settlement processes.
- Bank of Ireland - Project Analyst: Supported mortgage portfolio sale-readiness project within a 25-person delivery team; Converted physical mortgage records into validated digital data files; Performed QA checks and data verification across regulated financial records; Resolved documentation and data inconsistencies during digitisation process.
Education
Masters - International Finance
National University of Ireland
GalwayBachelor of Science - Financial Mathematics & Economics
National University of Ireland
GalwaySkills
- Delivery & Release Management
- PMO Governance & Controls
- UAT & Environment Coordination
- Portfolio Reporting
- Risk & Issue Control
- Jira Workflow & Automation
- ERP Migration Support
- Process & Documentation Frameworks
- Stakeholder & Client Governance Calls
- Cross-Functional Delivery Coordination
- Jira
- Confluence
- ERP systems
- Slack
- Excel Reporting
Certification
PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner
PRMIA 1&2
AWS Foundations
Timeline
Project Manager & PMO (Dual Function Role)
KX
12.2023 - 03.2025
PMO Analyst
KX
12.2022 - 12.2023
Support Analyst
KX
12.2020 - 12.2022
Project Manager / PMO (Dual Function)
First Derivative / KX Group
11.2018 - 03.2025
Client Assignments
First Derivative Graduate Programme
01.2018 - 01.2020
Bachelor of Science - Financial Mathematics & Economics
National University of Ireland
Masters - International Finance
National University of Ireland
Desired Location
Dubai, UAE
Personal Information
- Title: Project Manager & PMO Specialist
- Availability: Currently residing in Thailand; looking to relocate to UAE