Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I am Senior Project Manager who leads I.T., machine learning, and A.I. teams in agile DevOps service delivery that employ user-centered design philosophy. As a dynamic and results-driven change leader, I bring over 15 years of progressive experience in leading collaborative teams across waterfall, agile, and hybrid environments. My extensive expertise in coaching teams towards achieving company objectives and fostering personal growth has been instrumental in driving success. WHAT AM I PASSIONATE ABOUT? People: When I say people, I mean both the team I work with and the customers and clients we serve. As the digital environment increasingly frames the interactions we have with the world, it is the experience in those interactions that are the difference between a good company and a great company. That experience has to be part of a great company’s brand identity, and it is its people who make the experience. This has fueled my passion for collaborative work environments. Knowledge only has value if it is shared. WHAT IS MY VALUE ADD? Over my career I have used my passion for collaboration and people to create a track record of bringing diverse groups of people together to achieve great results. This has allowed me to inspire teams by creating an experience of inclusiveness, trust and radical candor. I have had the privilege during my career of helping facilitate the progression of talented and hard-working teammates to positions of greater responsibility and decision-making in the organization I’ve worked in. WHAT IS MY LEADERSHIP STYLE? I would describe it as Connective Leadership. Collaboration requires building relationships with key players and top talent at all levels of the organization. It is not enough for the team to know what we are doing. They need to understand why we are doing it and what we hope to achieve. This stimulates everyone to bring their best selves to the effort and offer great ideas to the task at hand. I endeavor to always lead by example and project the behaviors, effort and ethics I expect to see in the team. KEY STRENGTHS: Team building; situational leadership; change leadership; creative thinker; thought leader; project coordination; problem and conflict resolution; brand development; internal training and development; community relations; contextual and cross-functional communication; business analysis; process improvement analysis; external talent recruitment
I oversaw the daily operations of Indigo's largest revenue flagship location in Calgary at Chinook Centre. Directly responsible for over 70 staff and 6 department managers. I effectively leveraged the skills of the core leaders during a site expansion of over 5000 sqft. and a planned revenue increase of $2 million year over year. This included the hiring of over 60 additional staff to the team and the further development of an in place team of 46 people. This resulted in a surpassing of the planned year over year sales increase by $1 million. Sales in the largest expansion investment component doubled year over year. Promoted one of these key leaders into a General Manager role within the Calgary region. The 5th department manager to come from the Chinook team during my tenure.
Responsible for the onsite coordination of the renovation and expansion at Indigo's two highest volume stores in Alberta . Role included liaising with head office department, third party contractors, regional directors and store staff. By leveraging and building relationships with top talent and key players at all levels of the organization, we delivered an on-time launch for both locations during the pivotal Holiday season. The opening weekend sales for both locations were the top two performers for the company.
Led the two highest volume stores in the Calgary region throughout multiple renovations and Indigo's transformational process from a book seller to the world's first Cultural Department Store. I consistently delivered on sales objectives and key performance metrics while managing profit and labour budgets and controlling store expenditures and shrink costs through operational efficiency and brand integrity. In 2013 I was awarded the Special Achievement Bonus recognizing exceptional efforts and contributions in that fiscal year. Successfully coached and developed a staff of over 60 employees on Indigo's transformational agenda and ensured the cultural brand was imbedded across all areas of the store business. Created a track record of hiring, training, coaching and developing a high performing leadership team with 4 Department Managers being promoted into General Manager roles in the region. Co-created and facilitated the HIPO ( High Performer ) development program pilot project to prepare department managers for General Manager roles. Effectively facilitated the implementation of standard operating procedures into numerous stores in the region while maintaining team morale through the change process.
Supported up to ten sites through a regular visitation schedule and tailored visits based on the needs of the individual business, ensuring compliance with company standards via quarterly audits. Professionally directed site transitions from outgoing to incoming retail partners and began the development of the standard operating procedures for that process to be used by regional managers. Identified operational deficiencies that left corporate and dealer sites susceptible to shrink issues, this resulted in two sites solving long-standing inventory discrepancies.