Résumé

 

Name

 

Sebastian Helm

Email

 

sebastian@helm.org

Address

 

6352, 137th Place NE , #253
Redmond, WA 98052

Phone

 

425-885-9556

 

Skill highlights

People and resource connector

When I took over a project that was in disarray, where stakeholders (development, testing, PM, Redmond localization, Dublin localization) didn’t talk to each other out of frustration, I found common ground that no one had thought about and got the project going again, creating an atmosphere of trust.

Principled negotiator

As the representative of the Microsoft Office division, I led requirements elicitation and prioritization for our basic work tool. The challenge in negotiation was that there were about 12 user representatives with sometimes contradictory and unclear requirements on one side, and an overworked development team on the other. For this, I invented a system which brought all interests together.

Self critical learner

I wanted to know how I fit into the Microsoft Core Competencies, so I developed a graphical tool which my manager and I used to identify areas to work on. My manager wrote in my review: "I’m impressed by the thoroughness you applied to this and the focused way you drove it."

Skills and Certificates

PM

 

Certificate in Software Product Management from University of Washington

ITIL

 

Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management (ITIL)

University

 

Master of Science in Physics from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (grade: B+)

Soft Skills

 
  •  

Programming

 

Markup Languages

 
  • HTML
  • XML
  • XSL (XSLT, XPath)

Natural Languages

 
  • German (native language)
  • English (fluent)
  • French (working knowledge)
  • Chinese (2 University certificates, now working knowledge)

 

Work Experience

Feb 2006 – May 2006

Localization Project Manager‑ Microsoft Information Worker Division, through S&T

  • Driving two international projects

Nov 2005 – Dec 2005

Project Manager‑ FinanceScout.de

  • Developed database application for accounting system.

Nov 2004 – July 2005

Project Manager‑ Microsoft Business Intelligence, through Volt

  • Vendor management.
  • Coordination with worldwide support.
  • User interface design.

Dec 2003 – May 2004

Program Manager‑ Microsoft Developer Division, through Volt

  • Managed pilot localization of several Visual Studio components.
  • Prepared plans and strategy specs.
  • Coordinated developers, testers and localizers.
  • Trained new hires.

Mar 1998 – Dec 2003

Software Localization Engineer ‑ Microsoft

  • Led Office requirements elicitation, negotiation and prioritization for our basic work tool.
  • Introduced pseudolocalization to Office Pilot, which identified 30% of relevant bugs earlier, saving development time and increasing quality.
  • Developed tools and procedures that streamlined our processes.

1996 – 1997

“Team Leader for the German Localization” ‑ Inference Corp, Unterschleissheim, Germany and Novato, CA

  • Organized and led pilot localization.
  • Managed annual localization projects for all languages.
  • Conducted vendor management.
  • Developed tools to facilitate and assess localization tasks.