Gabor Horvath

Freelance Program Manager

Gabor Horvath
Budapest, Hungary

Experience

Jul 2025 - Present
7 months

Freelance Program Manager

Woven Hills Project Lab

  • Advised a senior executive on strategy shaping and execution of digital and AI-enabled initiatives, providing delivery governance, scope definition, and dependency management across 3–5 parallel programs.
  • Established lightweight execution and reporting frameworks (intake, prioritization, cadence), reducing decision friction and escalation cycles by ~20–30%.
  • Translated strategic priorities into executable roadmaps, aligning operating models and roles across 40+ cross-functional FTEs to improve delivery predictability and risk control.
Apr 2023 - Jun 2025
2 years 3 months

Program Manager / Delivery Manager

MOL Digital Factory

  • Led a multi-year strategic transformation program to design and implement a new operating model across process, finance, procurement, HR, and tooling, impacting 100+ stakeholders across multiple business lines.
  • Planned and led the Atlassian (Jira / Confluence) Cloud migration on group level (2k+ users) in collaboration with third-party vendors, defining governance and operating standards, while supporting C-level leaders with targeted coaching to embed new ways of working and continuous improvement.
  • Owned end-to-end delivery of customer-facing digital products and data initiatives, coordinating Product, Engineering, Quality, and UX across 12–15 squads, stabilizing delivery and improving release predictability by 25%.
  • Established and led a central PMO function, defining intake prioritization, roadmap planning, dependency tracking, JIRA governance, and executive reporting, enabling clearer portfolio visibility and risk management.
  • Built and managed a PMO and delivery organization of 18–20 FTEs, while supporting C-level leaders with targeted coaching to drive adoption of new ways of working.
  • Supported organization-wide culture change by working directly with C-level executives and leadership teams on the adoption of new ways of working, providing targeted executive coaching, and overseeing the development of training and enablement programs to embed agility and continuous improvement at scale.
Jan 2020 - Apr 2023
3 years 4 months

Transformation Program Manager

British Telecom

  • Led a strategic, multi-year digital and operating model transformation program across global service and digital operations, redesigning service models and deploying IT service management platforms at scale, impacting 300+ stakeholders and improving operational efficiency, customer experience, and service responsiveness by 30%.
  • Initiated and built BT Global’s first Agile tribes and squads for digital operations and incident management, establishing governance, roles, cadences, and training frameworks from scratch and coordinating 6–10 cross-functional squads across multiple product and service streams.
  • Led and scaled multi-disciplinary teams (Service Designers, Business Analysts, UX, Data, Engineering), delivering a custom service portal for service management systems used across BT’s global customer base.
  • Designed and implemented squad formation and recruitment practices (including DISC-based team mapping), directly contributing to a 30% year-over-year improvement in delivery performance, as well as improved team health and retention.
  • Established a sustainable E2E Service Assurance model by merging and reshaping existing squads into a unified tribe, enabling clearer ownership, dependency management, and more predictable execution across services.
  • Drove continuous organizational adaptation by forming, scaling, and re-aligning squads in response to evolving business needs, maintaining alignment between business objectives, engineering constraints, and delivery capacity.
Aug 2019 - Dec 2019
5 months

Win Business Manager

British Telecom

  • Led delivery feasibility and assurance for complex bids from sign-on through handover, defining timelines, resource models, cost structures, assumptions, risks, and mitigations to support multiple successful, high-value bids.
  • Designed and implemented a standardized win-business (pre-sales) delivery process and governance model for project managers, improving bid consistency, predictability, and handover readiness across the local portfolio.
  • Built and coordinated a centralized pool of 15 FTE PMs to support concurrent bid opportunities, increasing response capacity and reducing bid preparation lead time by ~20%.
Jan 2018 - Dec 2019
2 years

Program Manager for Philips Lighting (Signify)

British Telecom

  • Led transition-to-in-life (T&T) delivery for a complex, multi-service managed services portfolio (WAN / SD-WAN, VoIP, security, telehousing), designing the delivery organization, governance, and operating model to enable stable in-life operations within 8 months.
  • Owned end-to-end delivery governance, including milestone planning, dependency and risk management, readiness for customer release, and operational handover across 4–6 parallel workstreams.
  • Coordinated globally distributed delivery teams (35+ FTE) across the Netherlands, UK, Hungary, and India, spanning project management, engineering, configuration, and field operations.
  • Managed global escalations up to C-level, ensuring continuity during transition and stabilization phases and maintaining stakeholder confidence during organizational and contractual change.
  • Finalized contract schedules and delivery commitments for sign-off by the newly formed Signify entity, ensuring alignment between commercial agreements and delivery capability.
  • Delivered a successful SD-WAN proof of concept, supporting technology validation and future service evolution for the customer.
  • Implemented account-wide delivery improvements (centralized AIR management, IPT and change management streamlining), reducing delivery overhead and enabling a net reduction of 2.5 FTE through process optimization and automation.
Jan 2016 - Dec 2018
3 years

In-life Program Manager for Zurich Insurance Group

British Telecom

  • Accountable for end-to-end in-life program delivery for a global managed services contract (WAN, LAN, WLAN, VoIP, Security), spanning EMEA and APAC and supporting business-critical services.
  • Drove execution of multiple parallel delivery initiatives, managing complex projects, service requests, and staffing while meeting committed SLAs, KPIs, timelines, and quality targets.
  • Led a globally distributed delivery organization of 24 FTE (project managers, configuration and field engineers) across Switzerland, UK, Hungary, and India.
  • Established structured delivery governance (reporting, dependency tracking, risk and escalation management), maintaining delivery visibility and resolving issues through senior and C-level escalation when required.
  • Continuously improved in-life delivery processes and service design, increasing operational stability and delivery predictability across the contract lifecycle.
  • Delivered 86 complex projects across EMEA and APAC (each $100k+ in value), consistently meeting customer commitments.
  • Supported a successful contract extension by delivering a Dolby teleconferencing proof of concept, demonstrating service validation and innovation capability.
  • Led a global customer-owned datacentre hardware consolidation, impacting Zurich employees worldwide and reducing infrastructure complexity.
Jan 2011 - Dec 2016
6 years

IT Project Manager, CIO

IBM

  • Owned security-focused program delivery across IBM’s European IoT and enterprise environment, ensuring compliance readiness (SOX, ASCA, ITCS104/300) and harmonization of a 150+ application portfolio, achieving 0 audit revocations across the managed landscape.
  • Led the global deployment of a custom VPN solution for a third-party organization, delivering secure access for 900+ external users worldwide within 6 months, with no major service disruption.
  • Drove enterprise security standards release management (ITCS104/300), coordinating multi-site deployments across EMEA and delivering four major standard revisions to meet evolving regulatory and security requirements.
  • Executed IT security infrastructure refresh programs (hardware and software), remediating 40+ firewalls and 5,000+ security rules, reducing risk exposure and improving audit outcomes.
  • Managed post-merger IT security integrations for four acquisitions (i2, Q1, Emptoris, Tririga), transitioning third-party environments into IBM’s infrastructure and compliance framework.
  • Led cross-functional virtual and on-site teams (5–20 FTE) across security engineering, system design, testing, and delivery roles, while supporting early Agile adoption through squad setup, role definition, and coaching.
  • Completed application portfolio (150+ app) harmonization 2 months ahead of schedule, improving tooling consistency across manufacturing, procurement, finance, and engineering functions.
Jan 2009 - Dec 2011
3 years

Project Manager – New Product Implementation

IBM ISC

  • Led new product introduction (NPI) projects for HDD and SSD components within IBM storage server manufacturing, coordinating suppliers and internal development teams across the US and UK.
  • Owned end-to-end qualification and approval lifecycle, including manufacturing line qualification, prototype validation, regression and stress testing, and final ship approval with IBM corporate stakeholders.
  • Successfully delivered 4 parallel NPI projects on schedule and within budget, enabling timely production readiness and stable handover to manufacturing operations.
Jan 2008 - Dec 2009
2 years

Engineering Teamleader

IBM ISC

  • Led a team of 8 failure analysis and procurement manufacturing engineers responsible for HDD failure analysis, testing, and supplier technical coordination for IBM mainframe and storage systems.
  • Owned supplier technical management, quality performance, and vendor stock control, maintaining stock levels below target for 8 consecutive quarters through data-driven monitoring and review processes.
  • Improved failure analysis response times by establishing direct technical communication channels with supplier development engineers, accelerating root-cause resolution and corrective actions.
Jan 2007 - Dec 2008
2 years

Procurement Manufacturing Engineer

IBM ISC

  • Managed HDD supplier quality and manufacturing performance, including incoming quality control, vendor stock management, and Return-to-Vendor (RTV) processes for IBM storage systems.
  • Led manufacturing qualification and monitoring initiatives, delivering 6 line-screening projects with 0% field escape, 3 monitoring programs, and 3 line-trial projects supporting stable production readiness.
  • Implemented a fortnightly stock review and validation process, improving RTV turnaround time by ~30% YoY and reducing vendor stock levels by 10% YoY.
Jan 2006 - Dec 2007
2 years

Failure Analysis Engineer

IBM ISC

  • Performed HDD failure analysis and manufacturing data analytics (yield reporting, parameter measurement, root-cause and pattern identification), delivering process improvements that reduced manufacturing scrap and generated $28k annual cost saving through corrective action implementation on the production line.

Summary

Senior Program Manager with an engineering background and 20 years of experience operating at the intersection of engineering, product delivery, and senior program leadership in large enterprise environments. Experienced in helping organizations shape strategic direction and execute it reliably at scale, delivering complex software and platform initiatives across global, cross-functional teams.

Proven track record driving end-to-end program execution across Product Management, Engineering, Quality, UX, and Operations, with hands-on experience across the full SDLC — from intake and portfolio planning through development, release, and in-life operation. Comfortable managing multiple parallel initiatives, complex dependencies, risks, and trade-offs while balancing long-term business goals with near-term technical constraints.

Background spans engineering, delivery, and large-scale transformation, enabling effective collaboration with senior leaders. Known for turning large, ambiguous programs into executable plans, maintaining delivery discipline through clear governance, tooling hygiene (JIRA/Confluence), and transparent reporting to drive predictable outcomes in complex, global organizations.

Skills

  • Program, Project Management
  • Strategic Planning, Organizational Transformation
  • Digital & Agile Transformation, Coaching
  • Operating Model Design, Resourcing
  • Business Agility, Continous Improvement
  • Lean-agile Leadership,lean Portfolio Management
  • It Service And Risk Management
  • Team Development & Leadership

Industry Experience:

  • Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Insurance
  • Retail, Manufacturing, It, Entertainment

Program & Project Experience:

  • Strategic Initiatives (Transition, Digital & Agile Transformation)
  • Service Delivery & Assurance
  • Global Business / Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Prototype Testing And Manufacturing & Go-to-market

Languages

Hungarian
Native
English
Advanced

Education

Oct 2002 - Jun 2006

Óbuda University – Kandó Kálmán Faculty of Electrical Engineering

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering · Electrical Engineering · Budapest, Hungary

Certifications & licenses

Certified Kanban System Design Professional

Prince2 Practitioner

Agile Hybrid Project Pro

PMI

SAFe Agilist (5.1)

Advanced Certified Scrum Master

PMP

PMI

ITIL Foundation (v3)

Certified System Auditor (CSA)

Six Sigma Green Belt

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