Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye
Azra Kartalkaya is a third-year Management Engineering student at Bahçeşehir University and a second-year International Entrepreneurship student at Istanbul University. In addition to her double major, she is pursuing a minor in International Trade and Business, further strengthening her academic background with a global and strategic business perspective. She began her professional career as a Learning and Development Intern at Watsons Türkiye, where she gained valuable experience in human resources, employee engagement, and organizational development. She later joined Penti as a Category Marketing Intern, contributing to strategic marketing initiatives and expanding her expertise within the retail sector. Most recently, she worked at Volvo Cars in the POD (Planning, Order & Distribution) Department within the EMEA Importers team, where she supported product planning, order management, and distribution operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Beyond her professional experience, Azra has demonstrated strong leadership and communication skills through her active involvement in university organizations. She served as Head of Sponsorship at the BAU Management Engineering Club after previously contributing as a team member in the Sponsorship Department. Driven, adaptable, and eager to grow, Azra is passionate about continuous learning, creating value, and building a successful career in dynamic international business environments.
• Supported planning, ordering and distribution operations across EMEA markets by assisting daily follow-ups of vehicle order flows, shipment status and delivery timelines. • Took part in operational tracking processes related to sea freight, air freight and road transportation, gaining exposure to different logistics modes used in international automotive distribution. • Monitored shipment movements and delivery lead times by following vessel schedules, truck operations, market delivery plans and transportation updates across multiple regional markets. • Assisted with the analysis of order, shipment and delivery data to support operational visibility, identify potential bottlenecks and improve follow-up accuracy within the distribution process. • Contributed to demand forecasting and sales planning support by working with historical order data, shipment volumes, delivery timelines and market-based operational inputs. • Supported the preparation of recurring and ad-hoc reports by organizing large sets of operational data in Excel and internal reporting tools, helping ensure consistency between planning, ordering and distribution records. • Assisted in tracking forecast accuracy, market demand changes, allocation updates and capacity-related follow-ups to support better coordination between planning and logistics teams. • Gained hands-on experience in international trade documentation, invoicing follow-ups, shipment coordination and cross-market operational communication within an automotive supply chain environment. • Followed daily operational updates related to vehicle availability, production planning inputs, transportation capacity, delivery risks and market priorities to support timely distribution decisions.
• Participated in the Work and Travel USA program, gaining international work experience in a multicultural environment. • Improved professional English communication skills through daily interaction with customers, colleagues and managers. • Worked in customer-facing roles, including reception and sales, while communicating with guests and customers from diverse backgrounds. • Supported daily front desk operations, customer inquiries, check-in/check-out processes and service coordination.
• Prepared weekly and monthly category performance reports to support data driven decision making. • Conducted competitor and pricing analyses to contribute to category strategy. • Supported new product launches by preparing product information files, coordinating content, and tracking stock. • Collaborated with design and retail teams to deliver in store campaign materials. • Assisted in preparing presentations for category meetings and cross functional briefings. • Reviewed customer feedback and e commerce reviews to identify improvement areas for the category. • Helped coordinate communication between marketing, supply chain and store operations teams to ensure consistent execution.
• Supported the planning and execution of company wide training programs and onboarding processes. • Assisted in preparing training materials, presentations and LMS content for employee development initiatives. • Monitored attendance, survey results and completion rates to track training effectiveness. • Conducted benchmarking and research on best practices for learning and development strategies.