PADMANABHAN SANKARAN
R&D LEADER | TECHNICAL PROGRAM MANAGER | PROGRAM & PRODUCT LEADERSHIP | TELECOM NMS
Lead Complex Programs that Align Technology Solutions with Strategic Objectives
Strategic R&D Leader and Senior Technical Program Manager with 20+ years of experience leading end-to-end program management,
vendor management, and product lifecycle management in Telecom and AI-driven enterprises. Proven expertise in program analysis,
KPI definition, budget management, profitability management, and regulatory standards compliance, delivering complex features for
global CSPs while maintaining high-quality standards and business alignment.
Expertise in handling multiple software development teams from creation and competence building to delivery. Highly skilled in project
management, leading cross-functional engineering teams, and aligning engineering efforts with business goals. Experienced in
Agile/Scrum, traditional project management tools including JIRA and MS Project and coordinating with engineering, product, and
business teams.
CORE COMPETENCIES
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Leadership: R&D Management, Resource Handling, Budgeting, and Performance Management
Telecom Domain: RAN, Core Network, Access Network, SDN/NFV, PSTN, NMS/EMS, and Netconf/Yang
Methodologies: Agile/Scrum, Waterfall, Release Coordination/Planning, and Risk Mitigation
Cloud & DevOps: Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, Jenkins, CI/CD, and Microservices
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Wipro Engineering - Chennai
Apr 2025 – Mar 2026
Senior Technical Manager
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R&D Management: Serving as Feature Owner and Project Manager for Nokia Solutions & Networks (MN MantaRay NM).
Release Execution: Managing end-to-end planning and execution of software features within global releases
Stakeholder Engagement: Leading customer interfaces for Sprint planning, roadmap alignment, and status review
Competency Development: Tracking team skill/competency levels and implementing cross-skilling through reverse KT and
targeted training
Nokia Solutions & Networks - Bangalore
2022 to Mar 2025
Principal Technical Leader
• Network Migration: Developed Migration strategy and Method of Procedure (MoP) for migrating network elements and data
between NMS products for 20+ customers
• Area Product Owner (APO): Led Architecture and Specification teams for Sprint, Release, and Pipeline planning
• Feature Accountability: Orchestrated planning and execution for SON (Self Organizing Network) features, collaborating with
Product Management and Validation teams
Nokia / Alcatel-Lucent India - Chennai
2012 to Oct 2022
Technical Manager / Senior Technical Specialist
• Team Leadership: Managed a 42-member R&D team (architects, specification engineers, developers and testers) through a
transformation from legacy modules to next-gen SDN/NFV using Netconf/Yang
• Quality Innovation: Received "Quality Champion" award for two consecutive years for implementing "left-shift" bug detection
and automating test effort by 60%
• DevOps Transformation: Automated manual test cases and institutionalized Unit Test frameworks to drive CI/CD.
PADMANABHAN SANKARAN
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Alcatel-Lucent / Lucent Technologies, Bangalore
Sr. Technical Specialist
2006 - 2012
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Optical NMS: Single point of contact for Element Management Layer (EML) delivery, interfacing with global teams for
SONET/SDH Network Elements.
EARLY CAREER SUMMARY
Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) | Team Leader (1997 – 2006)
• PSTN NMS: Technical Lead for Centralized NMS for BSNL; served on the technical committee for product implementation.
EDUCATION, CERTIFICATIONS & ASSOCIATIONS
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Executive MBA (PGPBM): IIM Trichy (Strategy, Operations, Information Systems)
Master of Computer Applications (MCA): Madurai Kamaraj University
Bachelor of Science (Applied Sciences): Madurai Kamaraj University.
Certifications/Training: Google Cloud Certified Generative AI Leader , AWS Cloud Practitioner , Microsoft Azure
Fundamentals, Startup School: Prompt to Prototype, Google Cloud Technical Series
TECHNICAL SKILLS
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Program & Project Management: Program Management, Program Analysis, Budget Management,
Profitability, Risk & Governance
Product & Delivery Leadership: Product Lifecycle Management, Technical Support Enablement, Quality Standards, Agile
Methodology, Continuous improvement, Traction on Key performance indicators
Tools & Platforms:
JIRA, Confluence, Power BI, MS Project, Git
Programming Languages:
Java, C, C++, Python, Perl, Shell, JSON, YAML
HONORS & AWARDS
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Quality Champion award (BU level global award) in two consecutive years
• Automation of tests and execution of these tests to detect issues early in the life cycle – a left-shift approach
(2013)
• Piloting of Unit Test framework and institutionalize the UT framework in the module (2014)
Group Award for successful validation of the NMS product (2000, 2001)
Nominated for the “Best All-rounder Award” in the executive MBA (IIM Trichy)
Award of appreciation from Nokia on the Industry Project
