Robert MacDonald

Led the hands-on technical work, in close collaboration with a fellow developer, subject-matter experts and the business, to conceive, engineer and deliver the MVP case-processing tools within the HR branch's AI case-processing project: membership dues, commuting allowance, leave with income averaging and executive performance pay.

• No transcription, fewer errors: Aligned the tools' outputs with the Pay Centre's bulk-processing team so transactions, case notes and payment control were entered programmatically rather than retyped.
• End-to-end data pipeline: Set up, with the team, the end-to-end process that kept payroll and case-management data current in an Azure SQL database: Azure Data Factory (ADF) pipelines and Oracle GoldenGate database connectivity, with concurrency and error handling, alongside SQL-based data access and control logic for the MVP prototypes.
• Technical governance: Provided technical governance for a contracted AI document-processing program: reviewed and signed off on the contractor's technical approach and documentation, flagged gaps, and advised management on whether it was meeting its goals.

Informal technical lead of the four-developer team that conceived, built and ran the Pay Centre's analysis and automation tools from 2016: holding the team together, setting direction and carrying each product from idea to adoption.

• Pay History Analysis Tool: Drove the pay history analysis tool from idea to adoption: an Excel and VBA analytics tool built on data integration, joining 14 SQL queries of pay data with case details from the case management system into a day-by-day timeline of an employee's pay and career history.
• Upgrades and web version: Upgraded the original Excel and VBA tool with new SQL queries written to business requirements and published through change requests, brought its latest version, 4.0, through build and rollout, and led the requirements for its web version (TypeScript, HTML and SQL), available alongside it to every Government of Canada department.
• Client Information Centre (a compensation tool): Co-developed and championed, with its creator, the companion tool for case work: built-in standard operating procedures, automated letters and case notes, and links into the pay systems, used with the analysis tool as one system.

Learned the system to find the leverage -- Mastered the payroll's data, queries, policies and collective agreements well enough to see where automation would pay off most, then built it.

• Learned the system to find the leverage: Mastered the payroll's data, queries, policies and collective agreements well enough to see where automation would pay off most, then built it.
• The foundation the automation was built on: Built the SQL extracts, data tagging and quality reviews that the team's later case-closure, pay-history analysis and bulk-processing tools were built on.
• Bulk payment automation: Delivered a bulk payment automation that cut operational delays and became early proof that RPA could work in traditional pay processing.

Compensation Advisor, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) (Dec 2014 – Dec 2015); Distribution Clerk/Client Service Officer, Service Canada (CSD) (Aug 2010 – Dec 2014); Technician, PC Medic (Jan - Sept 2009); Payroll Administrator, Reg Plumbing and Heating (2009 – 2010); Material Purchasing Officer / Technical Support, Benjamin Heating (Feb - Aug 2008); Administrative Assistant, Correctional Services of Canada (2008 – 2009); Technical Support, Rogers Cable (2007 – 2008); Customer Service Representative, Telus Mobility (2003 – 2005); Data Pod Technician / Operations Support Specialist, TeleTech Canada, Orillia (2002-2003 and 2006-2007)