Alexandru POPA

As part of Merck's Manufacturing Division, I play a pivotal role in driving the development and deployment of blockchain solutions within the Digital Supply Chain organization, with a primary focus on Track and Trace use cases benefiting healthcare organizations (HCO) and professionals (HCP). In this capacity, I am:

• Conducting global design thinking discovery workshops to use case discovery and foster creative problem-solving, nurturing a culture of innovation within organization aligning with organization Objectives and Key Results.
• Write cases and value propositions
• Leading ideation, development, and implementation of Blockchain-enabled solutions across various track and trace streams, including Package Verification, Strategic Serialization, Patient Access Programs, and End-to-End Traceability. This involved overseeing progression from Use Case discovery, Proof of Concepts (PoCs) and Pilots to Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), ensuring seamless execution from concept development to deployment.
• Own, develop, communicate and adjust integrated roadmaps (IT, Business/Stakeholders and Local Markets), and build integrated Release Plans.
• Collaborating closely with cross-divisional teams to align requirements and ensure compliance with industry regulations, thereby facilitating successful integration of blockchain solutions into existing workflows.
• Successful enabled and deployed live Traceability solutions in diverse markets, including Hong Kong, India, Ecuador, and Mexico, where we achieved industry-first production blockchain implementations.
• Act as Product Owner for Analytics (BI Dashboards) and Application (Mobile Apps) layers of blockchain infrastructure to meet evolving business needs and align with required data models, ensuring optimal performance and usability.
• Managing enterprise systems data streams to ensure seamless integration with blockchain solutions while maintaining data privacy and security standards, safeguarding sensitive information.
• Driving transformation efforts by fostering alignment among senior leaders, local market representatives, pharmaceutical companies, technology providers, and governmental institutions, advancing blockchain-enabled healthcare ecosystems.
• Chairing both internal and external Steering Committees to facilitate collaboration and drive forward collaborative projects, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and industry best practices.
• Leading cross-divisional rollout of pharmaceutical product package verification and traceability solutions, orchestrating efforts across IT, Legal, Regulatory, Supply Chain Management, Commercial, Marketing, and Local Sites.
• Spearheading collaboration with external industry partners and stakeholders to establish consortiums and governance structures, catalyzing paradigm shifts in Pharma industry and driving innovation.
• Contributing to implementation of Agile methodologies to enhance organizational efficiency and adaptability, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and responsiveness to changing market dynamics.
• Serving as blockchain subject matter expert (SME), providing consultative support on technical aspects for all MSD use cases, and leveraging expertise to drive informed decision-making.
• Demonstrating strong persuasive skills in collaborating with internal and external C-level executives to garner support for innovative initiatives, effectively communicating technical and business aspects to diverse audiences.
• Representing MSD as industry leader by speaking at over 50 external conferences globally, showcasing our thought leadership and expertise in the field of blockchain-enabled supply chain solutions.
• Prioritizing tasks and allocating resources effectively to maintain team focus and productivity, fostering collaborative and high-performance work environment.

• Innovation in Clinical Trials: Drove innovation in clinical trials by incorporating digital endpoints. Facilitated adoption of mHealth tools and digital media (mobile apps) for investigators, providing opportunities to gather real-world data evidence from patients.
• Translating Clinical Study Requirements: Translated Roche pRED's Neurosciences and Rare Diseases clinical study managers' requirements into user stories for mobile development engineering teams.
• Mobile App Development Strategy: Built mobile app roadmaps, prioritized features, and continuously collected feedback from stakeholders to ensure alignment with clinical objectives.
• Product Life Cycle Management: Led internal efforts to advance assigned products through Product Life Cycle process, ensuring compliance with all necessary documents and deliverables for cross-functional teams.
• Cross-Functional Team Facilitation: Facilitated and supported cross-functional activities to achieve planned objectives, optimizing stakeholder demands and ensuring cohesive efforts.
• Application and Release Management: Acted as application, deployment, and release manager for mobile apps used in clinical trials, incorporating technologies such as smartphone and wearable sensors (gyroscopes, accelerometers, iPhone's 3D haptic sensor, magnetometers).
• Clinical Study Enrollment Management: Managed digital biomarkers study applications in clinical studies, enrolling over 3000 patients.
• Program Efficiency and Scaling: Delivered significant efficiency improvements in th Digital Biomarkers program. Introduced Mobile Device Management (MDM) for remote management of patient devices, streamlined configuration methods for Android, iOS, Tizen, and Wear OS, reducing provisioning time by 500%
• Quality Control Standards Update: Updated quality control standards, methods, and procedures to meet compliance (CVS) requirements, ensuring high standards of data integrity and reliability.
• Collaborative Relationship Building: Established and maintained productive working relationships with staff to resolve operational challenges, promoting interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to clinical service provision.

• Job domain / occupation: Life Sciences IT solutions

• Advancing Blockchain Technologies: Played a pivotal role in advancing blockchain technologies at CA. Led Blockchain R&D Team as a servant leader, researching and developing blockchain-based solutions tailored for company's customers and partners. Focused on evaluating new blockchain solutions to augment CA's diverse business unit (BU) portfolio offerings, converting blockchain hype into tangible use cases.
• R&D Organization Establishment: Successfully established CA's Blockchain R&D organization, laying the foundation for future innovations and technological advancements.
• Customer and Market Research: Conducted in-depth interviews with customers, market leaders, and competitors to identify and assess opportunities for blockchain use cases and product development.
• Market Research and Partnership Building: Undertook extensive market research and established partnerships with other companies and consortia, expanding CA's network and influence in blockchain space.
• Internal Collaboration and Workshops: Conducted workshops with internal department leads, fostering cross-functional collaboration and aligning departmental objectives with blockchain initiatives.
• Agile Leadership: Created and managed product backlog, driving development efforts using Agile Scrum framework to ensure efficient and effective project progression.
• Global Promotion of Blockchain Initiatives: Actively promoted CA Technologies' presence in blockchain space by presenting projects and company's blockchain journey at global conferences, enhancing CA's reputation as a blockchain innovator.
• Blockchain MVP Launch Launched company's blockchain MVP (Minimum Viable Product) on Ethereum MainNet platform, marking a significant milestone in CA's blockchain journey.

• Driving Application Adoption and Development: Spearheaded development and adoption of company's top iOS mobile applications for internal use. Successfully increased total user base from initial 700 to over 6 000.
• Strategic Planning and Budget Management: Built a solid business case, secured necessary budget, and developed a comprehensive product strategy to guide program's direction.
• Leadership and Team Management: Led two product teams, each comprising 8 engineers, and effectively managed stakeholder relationships, ensuring smooth project progression and alignment with business goals.
• Agile Collaboration with Technology Teams: Collaborated closely with technology teams to provide clear direction on Agile product backlogs, epic and user story requirements, and feature delivery, ensuring agile methodologies were effectively in use.
• Communication and Promotion: Communicated key product benefits to internal teams, prospects, and customers, enhancing understanding and engagement with mobile applications.
• Subject Matter Expertise: Served as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and evangelist for products under my responsibility, promoting their use and understanding within company.
• Leadership and Team Engagement: Acted as a leader to engage and energize teams, focusing on delivering products that delight users and meet high standards of company.
• Mentorship: Mentored junior Product Owners, sharing knowledge and experience to foster professional growth and skill development within team.

• Global Mobile Device Management: Responsible for management of MSD's global mobile device management infrastructure, over 50,000 devices enrolled.
• Mobility Infrastructure Development: Planned, developed, installed, configured, and optimized various mobility infrastructure environments, supporting a wide range of mobile devices across iOS, Android, and Windows Phone platforms.
• Strategic Vision for Enterprise Mobility: Developed a 'Mobile First' Enterprise Mobility strategic vision for organization, involving research and evaluation of new technologies to enhance mobility capabilities for employees.
• Vendor Relations: Regularly met with third-party vendors, including Apple, Microsoft, MobileIron, and Google, to ensure up-to-date knowledge of products and to maintain strong business relationships.
• Representative for Mobility Infrastructure Services: Acted as a representative for Mobility Infrastructure Services on various IT projects and business initiatives, ensuring alignment and integration of mobility services.
• Mobile Application Management Process: Developed and implemented a process for internal mobile application onboarding, updating, and retirement, streamlining application lifecycle management.
• Advanced Support and Team Management: Provided Level 3 support and assisted in management of offshore Operations team, identifying and addressing areas for improvement in operational tasks.
• Quality Assurance in MobileIron Environments: Ensured quality by conducting thorough testing for upgrades in MobileIron's testing, development, pilot, and production environments, facilitating rollout of upgraded applications and operating systems to devices.
• Technical Troubleshooting Experience: Gained extensive experience troubleshooting various technical issues, including DNS, IP Networking, Firewall, SMTP, HTTPS, Load Balancers, ActiveSync, and Email systems.
• Microsoft Server Technologies Expertise: Developed proficiency with Microsoft Server Technologies, including LDAP, ActiveSync, Active Directory, and ISA/T.
• Conceptual Design and Planning: Conceptualized and designed abstract ideas, built comprehensive plans, and delivered detailed solutions to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
• Business Partnership Management: Managed high-value existing and new business Mobile projects across various internal organizations and groups to deliver on objectives, , and enhance support and awareness.
• Training and Change Management: Conducted training and implemented change management processes to improve operations and ensure smooth adoption of new technologies and practices.

• Mobile App Deployment Leadership: Managed and established mobile app deployment as a distinct service within Novartis Mobile Competence Center. This involved setting up a dedicated framework for efficient distribution and management of mobile applications.
• Deployment of Mobile Application Deployed both internally developed (in-house) and external mobile applications, along with their upgrades and patches, on iOS and Android platforms for internal Novartis Mobile App Store.
• Security Testing Coordination: Coordinated security testing of applications before their release, ensuring that all apps met the highest standards of security and compliance
• Process Establishment: Established robust processes for Change Management, Release Management, Application Incident Management, and Problem Management, streamlining mobile app deployment and maintenance lifecycle.
• Compliance Assurance: Ensured application compliance with various standards and requirements, including GxP, Security, Risk Assessments, and Business Impact Assessments, to maintain integrity and reliability of mobile applications.
• Onboarding Workshops: Conducted onboarding workshops with requesters and app owners to discuss service scope, process to be followed, and next steps, ensuring clear communication and understanding of deployment process.
• Team Management and Support: Managed the offshore Support Operations Team and provided third-level support for user issues, demonstrating strong leadership in resolving complex technical challenges and enhancing user experience.

• Network Optimization: Played a key role in optimizing AT&T's mobile Radio Access Network, focusing on enhancing network performance and reliability.
• Software Upgrades for Network Components: Performed software upgrades for various 3G and 4G mobile network components, including NodeB, Radio Network Controller (RNC), Mgateway, eNodeB, and UNIX-based 5620 SAM technologies, primarily from Alcatel-Lucent vendor. This task involved ensuring that network components were up-to-date and functioning optimal.
• Technical Support and Network Outage Resolution: Provided crucial technical support in the event of network outages, swiftly diagnosing and resolving issues to minimize disruption and maintain network integrity.

• Technical Support for Radio Access Network: Functioned as a Technical Support Engineer for Orange Switzerland's Radio Access Network, specifically focusing on 2G and 3G technologies.